Val Lewton did not like the article "I Walked With A Zombie" by Inez Wallace that had been optioned, so he adapted the story to fit the novel "Jane Eyre" because he felt the article's plot was too clichéd.
Edith Barrett, who played the mother, was only 3 years older than James Ellison, who played her younger son, Wesley. She was 2 years younger than Tom Conway, who played her older son, Paul.
Sir Lancelot wrote the song "Shame and Scandal in the Family" for this movie. In the early 1960s Lord Melody used the melody and the chorus and an old humorous story to create a new song, initially called "Wau Wau", though it became more familiarly known under its original title. The song was recorded by a variety of international artists (e.g.. The Kingston Trio, Odetta, Peter Tosh and The Wailers), even becoming a #1 hit in Australia. In the course of its life, the original writers have been ignored at times, with the authorship being attributed to a duo of Donaldson and Brown, instead of Sir Lancelot and Ardel Wray (the film's co-writer).
Hanging on the wall in Jessica's room is a copy of Arnold Böcklin's mysterious painting "Isle of the Dead," which would serve as the basis for another Val Lewton production with that title two years later (Isle of the Dead (1945)).
Although the screenplay is credited to Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray, the two did not work together on the film and in fact never even met each other. Wray was brought in after Siodmak left.