TeaOverCoffee

I know of several people who are in your interest area (English, at least) and have gone straight from B.A. to PhD (accepted, with funding/TA). Those people are few, and their backgrounds are pretty stellar. So, I would say it's entirely possible, that there is no reason to not go for it, especially if that's what you want to do. However, here's what I've seen/heard.
You have to have kick-@ss credentials, most of the time. Stellar GRE scores, a great undergrad GPA, and, of course, convincing SOP and recommendation letters. But, don't you want that for any graduate school application? Of course, but going straight from a B.A. to a PhD and competing with those students who have already received their M.A. makes it extra difficult, unless you choose to go to smaller schools, not as highly ranked schools, and schools which, as a result, typically have less funding. As I said, people have done it, and these friends of mine are going to do amazing things, I'm sure.
On the other hand, I applied to only English M.A. programs. However, I applied only to programs which explicitly stated that they have funding available for PhD and M.A. students. Now, the number of M.A. students admitted with funding is a pretty small margin, but no less of a margin than getting accepted into a PhD program. Granted, I haven't heard back from any of these programs yet, so I cannot attest to how successful this course of action will be. I know it has been successful in the past, however, with other people, and you don't have to necessarily be on the top of your game during the application process. Doing the M.A. first will give you some time to improve your credentials and maybe get some publishing/presentation experience.
I think the most successful route, from what I have seen, is to apply to both M.A. and PhD. If you have the money to shell out for the recommended 8 to 15 applications (or more, depending on who you talk to), you can split the number of M.A. program and PhD program applications. This way, if you get a fully-funded offer for an M.A. but get turned away from all your PhD programs, you have a back-up plan, and you know that you can improve your applications through your M.A. for applying to a PhD program. If you get accepted to a PhD program but get no funding from M.A., then you can decide between the potential challenge that lies ahead for PhD and the debt that will incur if you turn away the PhD for an unfunded M.A. 
I hope this helps! If you have more detailed questions, feel free to ask! 

One other thing, TeaOverCoffee - unless you have a specific reason for your geographic constraints beyond preference (like small children in the area, elderly parents you need to care for) you should really consider looking outside of the Northeast.  The best program(s) in your field for you may be outside of the Northeast, and if you give yourself more locational flexibility earlier in your career (PhD program) then you may have more choice in the latter part of your career.  I'm sure there are a myriad of great programs in the Northeast, too, but there's also places like Stanford, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Chicago, Duke, Northwestern, a couple of UCs, Emory... (I don't know, I'm just listing places that are well-reputed per the NRC, lol.)

Thank you so much, everyone. These were really useful comments. This time next year, I'll keep everyone updated on how it actually turns out.

I'm a senior in the fall, so I am definitely looking into programs now. In hopes of at least one acceptance into a Brit Lit Ph.D. program, I've already selected sixteen schools. I spoke to a few colleagues though, you know being entirely too excited/scared about grad school acceptances, and they informed me that they won't begin looking into grad school until around October. I just think that's a little too late to begin the entire process. The whole "better late than never" statement isn't really applicable when it comes to grad school acceptances, or so I'm told. Anyway, I really do wish you 2014 applicants the best of luck, as there still is time to get accepted, but I also do think it's "better early than never" to begin this thread. 

I'm a senior in the fall, so I am definitely looking into programs now. In hopes of at least one acceptance into a Brit Lit Ph.D. program, I've already selected sixteen schools. I spoke to a few colleagues though, you know being entirely too excited/scared about grad school acceptances, and they informed me that they won't begin looking into grad school until around October. I just think that's a little too late to begin the entire process. The whole "better late than never" statement isn't really applicable when it comes to grad school acceptances, or so I'm told. Anyway, I really do wish you 2014 applicants the best of luck, as there still is time to get accepted, but I also do think it's "better early than never" to begin this thread. 

Hi all! Sorry for the long response, I suck at editing myself down, and it just feels like there is so much to say!
 
I graduate this May with a BA in English Literature and Psychology, as well as a minor in Women's Studies.
Overall GPA: 3.97, Lit GPA: 4.0. GRE scores not as flashy - V: 162, Q: 147, W:4.5. I'm not even going to mention Subject test because I straight BOMBED it (bad day met with nerves met with the fact that my strongest subject hardly appeared and my worst seemed like it was 80% of the test).
 
Other information: 3 incredibly personal, sincere, and strong recommendations from tenured, full-time professors (one academic advisor & Victorianist, one McNair mentor, one is the senior of all the professors & teaches the women & gender stuff, additionally, I have taken multiple classes with all of them). Also a McNair Scholar and have both completed and presented independent research. I have also gotten several institutional awards over the last few years.
 
I should probably also mention my main interests - Victorians, Gothic literature, gender/women's/queer studies, Anglophone (I like some American, just more British). I really like writing about sex or culturally taboo subjects; analyzing things that are transgressive in literature make my insides do somersaults (in a good way). I kind of use a few different critical lenses depending on what subject I am writing about. I mostly use New Historicism and Gender/Queer theory, but sometimes also write using a psychoanalytic, archetypal, or feminist lens.
 
 
My downfalls -
 
Currently attending a small, no-name undergraduate institution that most people living in the same state, hell, in the same county as it, haven't even heard of. And as I I already mentioned, my GRE Subject scores were too abysmal to even admit to. Not worried about low Quant score because I actually got the chance to speak personally with the Director of Admissions @ Harvard and she said for Literature they "couldn't care less" about how well a candidate does in Math.
 
 
My last two qualms about myself (They're the biggest):
 
1. I didn't have a writing sample that was specific to my area of concentration - the last time I took a course that focused on Victorian literature was Freshman year, and god knows that wasn't even good enough to edit into writing sample shape. I took two capstone courses (I didn't even have to take one technically, but I love seminar courses!). One was my sophomore year and on Jane Austen, I re-read my final paper and it was a mess compared to what I can do now. The second was this past fall, but was on Herman Melville. I wrote about the divided-self and homoeroticism in Melville's works, but still, not quite Victorian or Gothic, just sort of captures the Gender & Queer Studies, and the Psychoanalytic. My independent research was on Aphra Behn (the only professor available to work with me was Early Brit Lit). My favorite paper was one I wrote this past summer on Why Beloved is the crowning achievement of American Gothic literature (still not British, but hell, at least it focuses on the gothic & has a women/gender studies bend to it). This last paper is by far the best one I have ever written . . . but it's only ten pages and I just did not have the time to expand it to a decent length. The only good thing about this is that I tried to present it as a negative - that I can take subjects that intially do not interest me and find ways to connect them to my interests.
 
2. SOP/PS - even though I had many people read and review it several times, and I personalized each one to the program, I still found mistakes and weaknesses after my app was submitted. I really, REALLY, don't want to sound big-headed or cocky, but this is going to sound that way, so I apologize in advance - the more achievements or strengths you have to point out, the harder it gets to write a SOP that is truly detailed. I found myself leaving out sections about specific professors I'd like to work with unless it was specifically specified to do so in the prompt (did more broad connections as to why I am a good fit, some places I quoted the website in my intro and then attempted to show how I meet that description/expectation).
Personally, I am still a little lost how in 1,000 words you're suppose to: detail accomplishments, explain relevant coursework, explain relevant experiences outside coursework (research, work ex.), talk about how you would be an attribute to program moving forward, explain future research interests, mention specific professors you would like to work with and seamlessly weave in stuff from their research, talk about how you fit the program as a whole, mention why you want to get a graduate degree, mention what inspired you to want to get this degree/go into this field, don't be too anecdotal, and in all that, somehow sell that you are extremely passionate about the program. I know some of these topics mentioned can be combined, but even then . . . geez, it seems like an impossible task!
 
 
So pretty much - there are about a million things I would have done differently if I could do it all again. Retake GRE for better score on V & W, retake Subject test and hopefully not absolutely embarrass myself on it this time, create a writing sample that actually shows off my interests, and have more people read my SOP/PS and ask them specifically to tear it apart as much as they can. I only received one rejection so far, but the UMich-AA acceptances went out yesterday and I did not get one, and that was my top program. The other program I'm really in love with is Rutgers, but they required subject test scores, and no matter how great my other pieces of my application were, I'm convinced my subject test scores will doom me.
 
So at this point I feel dejected, misterable, and just want to stay in bed all day cuddling with my cat and reading.

I'm a senior in the fall, so I am definitely looking into programs now. In hopes of at least one acceptance into a Brit Lit Ph.D. program, I've already selected sixteen schools. I spoke to a few colleagues though, you know being entirely too excited/scared about grad school acceptances, and they informed me that they won't begin looking into grad school until around October. I just think that's a little too late to begin the entire process. The whole "better late than never" statement isn't really applicable when it comes to grad school acceptances, or so I'm told. Anyway, I really do wish you 2014 applicants the best of luck, as there still is time to get accepted, but I also do think it's "better early than never" to begin this thread.