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About the author
Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. Among his greatest works are the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, the plays A Woman of No Importance and An Ideal Husband, and the short stories 'The Happy Prince', 'The Selfish Giant', and 'The Canterville Ghost'. In 1895 Wilde was found guilty of homosexual conduct and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment and hard labour. After his release he went into exile in Europe and died in Paris in 1900.
Summary
Everybody in the county knows that the great manor of Canterville Chase has been haunted for three hundred years. But when the American minister Mr Otis moves in with his wife and family, they refuse to be frightened by something as Old World as a ghost.
The Canterville Ghost vows to have his revenge and terrify them all to death with his most despicable and evil deeds. But after the minister offers practical solutions such as Pinkerton's Champion Stain Remover for the blood stain in the sitting room, and Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator for his rusty chains, and the twin boys torture him by throwing pillows at his head and pelleting him with their pea shooters, it's the poor ghost who is left severely spooked.
Can he possibly rescue his reputation, or will the family finally offer him a chance to lay his - detachable - head down forever?
Foreword
'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.'
