The Canterville Ghost
An American family buys an English castle, ghost included. But the Otises refuse to be frightened, and the poor ghost of Sir Simon, three hundred years in the haunting trade, is the one who ends up terrified. By Oscar Wilde (1887). A public-domain classic.
🎧 New: every story can be read aloud. Tap Listen to try it.
How it begins When Mr. Hiram B. Otis, the American Minister, bought Canterville Chase, every one told him he was doing a very foolish thing, as there was no doubt at all that the place was haunted. Indeed, Lord Canterville himself, who was a man of the most punctilious honour, had felt it his duty to mention the fact to Mr. Otis when they came to discuss terms."We have not cared to live in the place ourselves," said Lord Canterville, "since my grandaunt, the Dowager Duchess of Bolton, was frightened into a fit, from which she never really recovered, by two skeleton hands being placed on her shoulders as she was dressing for dinner, and I feel bound to tell you, Mr. Otis, that the ghost has been seen by several living members of my family, as well as by the rector of the parish, the Rev. Augustus Dampier, who is a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. After the unfortunate accident to the Duchess, none of our younger servants would stay with us, and Lady Canterville often got very little sleep at night, in consequence of the mysterious noises that came from the corridor and the library." Keep reading →About this story
An American family, the Otises, buy an old English country house called Canterville Chase even after being warned that it has a ghost. When Sir Simon de Canterville, who has frightened the household for three hundred years, tries his usual tricks, the Otises are not impressed. Mr Otis hands him a bottle of lubricating oil for his chains.
Oscar Wilde published it in 1887, first in a magazine. It is a comedy about a haunted house, and about the differences between old England and new America, but under the jokes is a story about a ghost who has been miserable for a very long time.
- Themes
- Humour, England and America, loneliness, forgiveness
- Good for
- A funny ghost story; reading aloud, especially around Halloween
- Worth noticing
- How the ghost’s attempts to scare people keep failing, and what he feels about it.