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The Queer Chair
The Queer Chair, a short fiction ghost story by Charles Dickens. Part of The Pickwick Papers.
- GenresShort Stories
25 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1837
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22 people want to read
About the author
Charles Dickens
12.7k books31.4k followersCharles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.
Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.
(from Wikipedia)
Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 31, 2018
It's the lowest rating I could give, honestly it was a load of shit.
December 14, 2022
3.5⭐
This short story is told within the book The Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens Chapter XIV titled "Compromising a Brief Description of the Company at the Peacock Assembled; and a Tale Told by a Bagman".
The plot concerns Tom Smart, a delivery man (bagman) who finds himself in a cozy inn on a rainy night. Tom likes the establishment, the food, the punch, the serving girls and especially the widow landlady. But she is being pursued by a tall suitor, whom Tom takes an immediate dislike to. Once in bed, the odd-looking chair of the title begins to form human features, the legs and arms become man-like, the backing a head. The chair tells how he fears he will be sold off when the widow marries the scoundrel, who has a wife and six kids and many debts.
This short story is told within the book The Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens Chapter XIV titled "Compromising a Brief Description of the Company at the Peacock Assembled; and a Tale Told by a Bagman".
The plot concerns Tom Smart, a delivery man (bagman) who finds himself in a cozy inn on a rainy night. Tom likes the establishment, the food, the punch, the serving girls and especially the widow landlady. But she is being pursued by a tall suitor, whom Tom takes an immediate dislike to. Once in bed, the odd-looking chair of the title begins to form human features, the legs and arms become man-like, the backing a head. The chair tells how he fears he will be sold off when the widow marries the scoundrel, who has a wife and six kids and many debts.
December 22, 2020
"Book" is stretching it. It's a very short story.
February 5, 2024
kinda funny but also kinda meh
February 24, 2025
The Queer Chair
Charles Dickens
As Snoopy would have typed: It was a dark and stormy night.
And the chair talked to Tom but then he’d just had 5 hot punches.
Charles Dickens
As Snoopy would have typed: It was a dark and stormy night.
And the chair talked to Tom but then he’d just had 5 hot punches.
Read
May 17, 2025that was so silly bahahahah
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews