Personally, I always got the feeling from the record/story set I had as a kid that the Bride was barely perceptible in the darkness of the attic. This idea stuck in my mind somehow, so when I finally got to see her as an older kid (we lived in Japan for a couple of years in the 70s) I was actually kind of disappointed that she was so easy to see. I still feel like the heartbeat and candle suggest that you should have to look at her a little closer to understand what you're seeing. This would make her and the attic much creepier than the current in-you-face axe-wielding version. Does anyone know if this was the original intention?