This was a demoniac laugh – low, suppressed, and deep – utter, as it seemed, at the very keyhole of my chamber-door. The head of my bed was near the door and, I thought at first the goblin-laughter stood at my bedside – or rather crouched by my pillow: but I rose, looked around and could see nothing; while, as I gazed, the unnatural sound was reiterated: and I knew it came from behind the panels. My first impulse was to rise and fasten the bolt; and my next again to cry out, “Who is there?”
Something gurgled and moaned. Ere long, steps retreated up to the gallery toward the third-story staircase: a door had lately been made to shut in that staircase; I heard it open and close and all was still.
– Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre, Chapter 15. While trying to sleep in the early hours of the morning, Jane is disturbed by a presence outside her bedroom. She hears an unnatural laugh that sounds like it has come from a demon. Unknownst to Jane, Rochester’s wife Bertha Mason has escaped from the attic and is prowling the halls of Thornfield.