The two youngest members of the family called the Stars and Stripes set wicked traps for the ghost, while the daughter Virginia is the only one who can truly appreciate the poor ghost's situation.

The Americans believe in a robust, healthy and practical way of life and use all manner of branded cleaning products. The English mansion is steeped in legends about ancient curses and the diabolical doings of a seventeenth century specter. The American diplomat and his family are products of a purely pragmatic culture which has no patience with sentimentality and superstitions. So Lord Canterville sells his grand old house to an American family. The plot is one that leaves the reader chuckling at every turn. The Canterville Ghost John Escott (Adaptor), Oscar Wilde 3.51 416 ratings60 reviews There has been a ghost in the house for three hundred years, and Lord Canterville's family have had enough of it. He had a successful career as a journalist and poet and consequently turned to fiction and drama. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights. It appeared in a magazine in 1887 and provides a prophetic glimpse into Wilde's genius for comic timing, dialogue and situational comedy. He was an Irish playwright, poet, and author of numerous short stories and one novel. The Canterville Ghost was the first of Oscar Wilde's short stories to be published. Yet, the reader is totally unprepared for Oscar Wilde's brand of tongue in cheek humor as he takes all the ingredients of a traditional ghost story and turns it on its head, and creates a hilarious parody instead of a morbid saga! The story progresses with creaking floor boards, mysterious passages, dark attics, clanking chains, and weird howling.

They're warned by the owner that it is haunted by a most horrifying and gruesome spirit who had once cruelly murdered his own wife. An American diplomat's family moves into an ancient stately mansion.

The canterville ghost book