The Canterville Ghost
By Oscar Wilde and Vladislav Trotsenko
()
About this ebook
Illustrated by Vladislav Trotsenko.
Oscar Wilde
Born in Ireland in 1856, Oscar Wilde was a noted essayist, playwright, fairy tale writer and poet, as well as an early leader of the Aesthetic Movement. His plays include: An Ideal Husband, Salome, A Woman of No Importance, and Lady Windermere's Fan. Among his best known stories are The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Canterville Ghost.
Read more from Oscar Wilde
The Picture Of Dorian Gray Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Works Of Oscar Wilde Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A House of Pomegranates Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Greatest Christmas Stories of All Time: Timeless Classics That Celebrate the Season Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Great Love Letters You Have To Read (Golden Deer Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Comedies: Lady Windermere's Fan, An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance, and The Importance of Being Earnest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDe Profundis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Importance of Being Earnest: A Play Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Poems Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Blood, Sperm, Black Velvet: The Seminal Book Of English Decadence (1888-1908) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGothic Classics: 60+ Books in One Volume Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Beautiful Christmas Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Penny Dreadfuls MEGAPACK ®: 10 Classic Shockers! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Complete Works of Oscar Wilde Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Oscar Wilde: A Life in Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Oscar Wilde Collection: The Picture of Dorian Gray, De Profundis, and A House of Pomegranates Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Own Dear Darling Boy: The Letters of Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Canterville Ghost
Related ebooks
The Canterville Ghost Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Canterville Ghost: A Humorous Ghost Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Canterville Ghost and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterville Ghost, Illustrated Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Canterville Ghost: "We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language." Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHumorous Ghost Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Canterville Ghost: Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Top 10 Short Stories - 19th Century - Ghost Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Canterville Ghost: (Fantasy and Horror Classics) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterville Ghost: Bilingual Edition (English – German) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIl Fantasma di Canterville (The Canterville Ghost) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Canterville Ghost: Bilingual Edition (English – French) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe House by the River Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Siege of Conisbrough Castle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMr. Wycherly's Wards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Duke in the Suburbs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Return of the Soldier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of Mortimer Fenley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Secret of the Tower Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Mandarin's Fan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeaumaroy Home from the Wars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fever of Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Patrician Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Canterville Ghost Retold Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Great Man Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShadows Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Reputed Changeling; Or, Three Seventh Years Two Centuries Ago Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Great Man (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Statesmen Snowbound Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Pasteboard Crown: A Story of the New York Stage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Ghosts For You
Before You Sleep: Three Horrors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghost Stories: Classic Tales of Horror and Suspense Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLovecraft Country: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Craven Manor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lost Gods: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Sincere Warning About The Entity In Your Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Collected Ghost Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hell House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twelve Nights at Rotter House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ghost Bride: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Luminous Dead: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selections from Fragile Things, Volume One: 4 Short Fictions and Wonders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Entity Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Kill Creek Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Children on the Hill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Library of the Dead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5House of Windows Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Elementals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Burnt Offerings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dweller on Two Planets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ghost Writer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ritual: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Haunting of Ashburn House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Linghun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Black: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gallows Hill Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Toll Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selections from Fragile Things, Volume Two: 6 Short Fictions and Wonders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Second Glance: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Canterville Ghost
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Canterville Ghost - Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
The Canterville Ghost
The story is about a family who moves to a castle haunted by the ghost of a dead nobleman, who killed his wife and was starved to death by his wife's brothers. The home of the Canterville Ghost was the ancient Canterville Chase, which has all the accoutrements of a traditional haunted house. Descriptions of the wainscoting, the library panelled in black oak, and the armour in the hallway characterise the setting. Wilde mixes the macabre with comedy, juxtaposing devices from traditional English ghost stories such as creaking floorboards, clanking chains, and ancient prophecies.
Illustrated by Vladislav Trotsenko.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
I
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.»
«My Lord,» answered the Minister, «I will take the furniture and the ghost at a valuation. I have come from a modern country, where we have everything that money can buy; and with all our spry young fellows painting the Old World red, and carrying off your best actors and prima-donnas, I reckon that if there were such a thing as a ghost in Europe, we'd have it at home in a very short time in one of our public museums, or on the road as a show.»
«I fear that the ghost exists,» said Lord Canterville, smiling, «though it may have resisted the overtures of your enterprising impresarios. It has been well known for three centuries, since 1584 in fact, and always makes its appearance before the death of any member of our family.»
«Well, so does the family doctor for that matter, Lord Canterville. But there is no such thing, sir, as a ghost, and I guess the laws of Nature are not going to be suspended for the British aristocracy.»
«You are certainly very natural in America,» answered Lord Canterville, who did not quite understand Mr. Otis's last observation, «and if you don't mind a ghost in the house, it is all right. Only you must remember I warned you.»
MISS VIRGINIA E. OTIS
A few weeks after this, the purchase was concluded, and at the close of the season the Minister and his family went down to Canterville Chase. Mrs. Otis, who, as Miss Lucretia