Book Review: The Canterville Ghost

He made me see what Life is, and what Death signifies, and why Love is stronger than both

This is a horror story that isn’t a horror story. Bear with me on this one. So this very modern American family, The Otis’s buy this really old house: Canterville Chase, I mean its hella old and it has a very rich history too. Lord Canterville, who owns it warns this very modern family that a malicious ghost haunts it. Many people who have been haunted by the canteville ghost have suffered greatly. They have gone mad or have died of fright! So your typical haunting, however this family are somewhat different and our ghost gets a bit confused. 

So first thing first, it is common for a ghost to clank his chains as he drags his dead feet along the gallery, groaning and breathing deep rasping breathes that resonate through the walls till you feel it in your bones! That is until Hiram Otis opens his bedroom door and gives him oil for his chains, because the clanking is annoying. Our ghost Canterville is somewhat abashed, never in all his life has his pride been duly hurt. People should be quaking in fear at the sight and sound of him! Not offering oil for his chains! There is also the question of the bloodstains on the living room floor, that no matter how hard you try, it will never come out! And indeed it doesn’t! Or, so it seems… one day the blood is a dark vermillion, the next a bright green.. something fishy is definitely going on with this ghost.

Now our ghost is in a bit of a state, having been so offended at being offered oil for his chains he decided to try a bit more haunting, creep up on them in the night. Except the Otis family have twins… and they’re mischievous twins. No sooner had the ghost opened their bedroom door than a bucket of cold water fell on his head! Our ghost flees with fright! These twins carry on their war against our Canterville ghost, they place trip wires everywhere, dress up ghoulish mannequins and basically make his life, or afterlife I guess, an absolute misery.

But with every gothic story must have its heroine and our heroine is the very lovely Virginia. She is young and lovely- the a-typical beauty of Wilde’s era. She has fallen in love with a young man- the next Duke of Cheshire. But seeing as neither of them are of age, they cannot marry. But she is so graceful even our Canterville ghost cannot bring himself to terrify her. Yet Virginia is sweet and charming decides to help our Canterville ghost but not before yelling at him first. Because it turns out Canterville was using her paint pots to top up the blood stains (hence why it was bright green one day). She helps him cross to the other side, however our Canterville ghost requests that she weep for him because he has no tears, pray for him because he has no faith and then they go and meet the Angel of Death and ask that Canterville ghost be allowed to die.

This is my first foray into Oscar Wilde, and what a ride it was! It gently makes fun of the gothic that had become a prominent genre in the 19th century, it looks at the old world of Britishness and the new world with the arrival of the American nouveau riche. Its humour transcends time and I was still giggling over 150 years later. It was light, short and a great read, go on give it a whirl.