"The Dead and the Countess" by Gertrude Atherton
A premature burial story that compares favorably to what is probably the most well-known tale in the subgenre, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Premature Burial."
But note the important differences: Atherton tells the tale not from the first-person perspective — Poe's protagonist is of course the one buried — but from the perspective of a credulous village priest who has a great deal of interest in the dead even before the living Countess is accidentally interred.
And this prior interest adds an additional dimension to the work: unlike Poe's study of morbid or extreme psychology, Atherton's story is, among other things, a critique of industrial technology.
Atherton's protagonist, the superstitious village priest, can also be compared to the narrator of William Wordsworth's "The Thorn", although there are significant differences to be kept in mind.
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"Discussion of 'The Dead and the Countess' by Gertrude Atherton."
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