A Ghost Story

by Mark Twain

Free online fiction

From tor.com:

'Ghost Week continues with this Mark Twain story, simply titled “A Ghost Story,” though sometimes published as “A Ghost's Tale.” As with our other Ghost Week reprints, this comes from the Random House/Vintage anthology The Big Book of Ghost Stories edited by Otto Penzler. “A Ghost Story” was originally published in Werner's Readings and Recitations (New York, Edgar S. Werner Company, 1888).'

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Horror, Fiction, Humor, Fantasy, Collections

5 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1888

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature." His novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." Twain also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894), and co-wrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twain sets up a very chilling scene that has you prepared for an intense scare, but then dashes it away with rationalization, practical logic, and satirical humor. A moderately good story that was probably better received in the ghost's heyday, but still a fitting and double reminder that things aren't always what they seem.

https://americanliterature.com/author...

Tip: You'll have a better understanding of the story if you're familiar with the Cardiff Giant.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quite enjoyable tale about why one particular ghost chooses to haunt. Very amusing and clever.

[Quirkyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a funny ghost story written by the well known American satirist Mark Twain. I got a an even bigger laugh out of the story because I was familiar with the story behind "ghost" that he wrote about.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This humorous tale of Mark Twain's is based on the infamous 19th-century hoax of the Cardiff Giant, in which a "petrified giant" was carved out of stone and buried in the ground by a skeptical atheist named George Hull for others to "discover." Nearly a year later, some workman digging a well found the statue, and the world was duped into believing that the archaeological phenomenon of a petrified giant man had been discovered. People came in droves to pay money to see the giant. After a failed bid to buy the statue, the legendary promoter P.T. Barnum made a replica of it and claimed it was the original. Barnum’s fake copy of a fake giant eventually became the more popular spectacle. The public, it seemed, was fooled once again into handing over their money just to catch a glimpse of the fake of a fake.

[Badseedgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

At only 5 pages long, it really should not have taken me 20 days to read this! Not really a scary story, more of a comedy. Knowing Twain's writing style, it is probably some kind of satire, but I'm just not invested enough to do the research to figure out what it is!

[K. Anna Kraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have arranged my thoughts into a haiku:

"One need not know facts
For a superb performance.
That's just for results."

[Calalo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Por un momento se traslada de una situación incomoda expectante a un parodia que requiere mucho contexto para ser entendida. Quiza la mayor desventaja es que esté atado al caso de "El gigante de Cardiff", un fraude que pocos lectores modernos conoceran y que como consecuencia le hace parecer irrelevante. Sin embargo ahi se mantiene la habilidad de escribir y la satira que, de manera inintencionada, me otorgó un poco de historia de otros tiempos.

[Gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A funny little story.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was part of my Halloween binge-reading of shorts discovered on americanliterature.com. In the past these stories although sometimes pronounced as classics have been hit or miss for me while unfortunately Twain's A Ghost Story is yet another miss.

The telling of this particular story for me seems to start off like almost any of Poe's original writings and does build a nice suspense for the reader. The whole time that you are reading about the blankets being pulled down had me wishing the guy would just open his eyes to see what was lurking at the foot of his bed but that would finish this particular tale rather early would it not? And the fact that these ghosts were rather mindful on how long they stayed to haunt this man or approach his door without entering to build the suspense is rather telling that this isn't going to be any regular haunting.

Unfortunately it is finally upon the appearance of our main wraith that the story takes a turn from one that would be a good ghost tale into one that comes into less comedy, more faux anecdote than anything since who hasn't done something embarrassingly stupid before?

And you most definitely don't need to know anything about the Cardiff Giant to read this story although it would provide the reader with a bit more context about an event occurring that isn't really discussed much anymore besides perhaps in anthropology classes.

There is definitely not going to be much market for this particular Twain work just since it isn't one of his best nor does it actually fall into either the horror or comedy genres for the more modern-focused reader. Otherwise if you are just looking for a quick read for around Halloween than this will surely do the trick.

[Sadia Mansoor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the typical spooky descriptions of any horror story. The narrative style was on point. It felt like someone was sitting in front of me & telling me about a mysterious encounter with a ghost (Y)
What made me give 3 stars rating was the ending... I wish the ending was better, then I would have liked the story more.. :/
This is the story .. http://www.hauntedbay.com/tomes/stori...

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read at Tor.Com

Fantastic! Written in 1875. Twain jumps right into the story with the unfortunate hotel tennant's description of the unsettling thud of eerie footsteps and unnerving chain-dragging sounds in and around the room and stairwells. As Twain always does so well is imbue the bleak corners of this story with dark humor. A very fun read.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining fantasy listening 🎧
Another will written fantasy horror short story by Mark Twain about taking a room in New York City and the ghost 👻the haunts it. I read this as part of the Classic Tales of Horror - 500+ stories very good. Enjoy the adventure of reading all kinds of different novels 📖 and books📘 . 2022 😎🎉👿

[Ghost in the Library · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amusing.

[Aracne Mileto · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5

[Rouya Majid Nasiri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was amusing to read.
In fact, it made me laugh. I mean the haunting part of Cardiff Giant😆seriously?
Totally wasn’t expected

[Jordan Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on a ghost story. It makes you feeling scared and intrigued to realistic and unique.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story is set in a rundown hotel-type place. The MC soon has an encounter with a ghost at the hotel. I liked that this seemed at first to be a creepy ghost story but it ended up being really humorous. I loved the conversation between the MC and the giant. This wasn't what I expected but it was really funny and enjoyable to read.

[April Helms · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the funniest ghost story I've ever read. A man stays in a room, which he fears is haunted- only to be confronted by the biggest spectre known in the late 1800s. Don't want to give too much away, but fans of Twain's wry humor and way with words should enjoy it. Not too scary, if someone is looking for a fairly short read for older children.

[Rick West · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A Ghost" is a pretty simple title for a pretty simple story. Mr. Twain gets your attention from the beginning with some pretty spooky happenings. But, unfortunately the rest of the story falls prey to Mr. Twains sense of humor. The end result is still a cute little ghost story.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this silly short story. The beginning was very stereotypical, the protagonist describing every usual kind of haunting. The ending was silly and fun. Very enjoyable.

[Joel Gomes · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts somewhat scary, but it ends tremendously funny. A very short big story.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent short story ... Clever in its own way ...

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too dated to be funny, but I guess he knew that readers of the time would get it.

[Katrina McCollough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious, poor guy.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Droll!

[Thomas Houghton · Rating 3 out of 5]

As ghost stories go, this one isn’t particularly scary or dramatic, but it does have a certain charm that makes it very different from other texts of the genre. This is especially prevalent in the ‘ghost’ itself which subverts many of the norms of spectral literary figures, and the fact that the story ends on an unexpectedly positive note.

[Shreyanjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first introduction to Mark Twain's writing. Honestly, for me the writing was not an easy one, but not too difficult to be understood. I am deeply impressed by the ending. It took an unexpected turn and ends with humor and sarcasm which are not the usual characteristics of horror stories.

[Shreyanjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first introduction to Mark Twain's writing. Honestly, for me the writing was not an easy one, but not too difficult to be understood. I am deeply impressed by the ending. It took an unexpected turn and ends with humor and sarcasm which are not the usual characteristics of horror stories.

[Walter · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh, not much of a story really

[Octavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Correcto cuento.