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The Doll's Ghost: A Ghost Story for Christmas
Mr. Puckler is a doll doctor, and the dolls he repairs become very, very lifelike.
64 pages, Paperback
Published October 26, 2021
3 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
F. Marion Crawford
1,348 books86 followersFrancis Marion Crawford (1854-1909) was an American writer noted for his many novels. He was born at Bagni di Lucca, Italy. In 1879 he went to India, where he studied Sanskrit and edited the Allahabad Indian Herald. Returning to America he continued to study Sanskrit at Harvard University for a year, contributed to various periodicals, and in 1882 produced his first novel, Mr Isaacs. This book had an immediate success, and its author's promise was confirmed by the publication of Doctor Claudius: A True Story (1883). After a brief residence in New York and Boston, in 1883 he returned to Italy, where he made his permanent home. He also published the historical works, Ave Roma Immortalis (1898), Rulers of the South (1900) renamed Sicily, Calabria and Malta in 1904, and Gleanings from Venetian History (1905). The Saracinesca series is perhaps known to be his best work, with the third in the series, Don Orsino, set against the background of a real estate bubble, told with effective concision. A fourth book in the series, Corleone, was the first major treatment of the Mafia in literature.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
September 12, 2019
In Cranston House a beautiful doll named Nina is broken Lady Gwendolen. Can Mr Puckler, the doll doctor, mend the doll? What happens after Nina's deep gash is healed and Else (Puckler's daughter) tries to return the doll to its owner? Atmospheric story set in London with an uncanny doll and some spine tingling scenes. It's a classic tale with a doll that somehow comes to life. Quite liked the tale like story and can really recommend reading it. No slasher and no Chucky but a story full of refined horror.
December 23, 2021
As he turned the key in the lock, his heart stood still, for he knew that he was awake and not dreaming, and that he really heard those tiny footsteps pattering to meet him inside the house along the passage.
another year, another three books in seth's ghost stories for christmas series.
this is an unexpectedly heartwarming story of a father and his daughter and the creepy doll that reunites them.
it opens with a GOTCHA that only works if you haven't read the synopsis, before redirecting the focus of the story over to mr puckler, a renowned doll doctor who lives with his 12-year-old daughter else, whom he loves slightly more than the dolls in his care, although bestowing the name "else" on a child already burdened with the surname "puckler" seems needlessly cruel.
mr puckler does not seem to realize that dolls are inherently creepy, in fact, he loooooves them:
He was a very susceptible man, and he often fell in love with the dolls he mended, and found it hard to part with them when they had smiled at him for a few days. They were real little people to him, with characters and thoughts and feelings of their own, and he was very tender with them all. But some attracted him especially from the first, and when they were brought to him maimed and injured, their state seemed so pitiful to him that the tears came easily. You must remember that he had lived among dolls during a great part of his life, and understood them.
"How do you know that they feel nothing?" he went on to say to Else. "You must be gentle with them. It costs nothing to be kind to the little beings, and perhaps it makes a difference to them."
And Else understood him, because she was a child, and she knew that she was more to him than all the dolls.
good news for else, for when she goes missing whilst returning a newly-repaired doll to its owner one evening, he's concerned enough to go looking for her despite some eerie things going on at the homestead. more frightened for his missing daughter than by the pitter patter of creepy little dollfeet, he is able to bring the mystery to a cheerful resolution, although perhaps not so much for creepy-doll-heroine nina in her mother hubbard frock. uplifting and unsettling and perfect for fireside xmas-reading.
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August 15, 2023
An almost-very-creepy short story enlivened by Seth’s art.
March 22, 2019
I really like the story’s strong, humorous opening, in which the spoiled six-year-old Lady Gwendolen drops her doll Nina down a marble staircase, breaking it. She doesn’t seem all that upset for very long.
Luckily Mr. Puckler the doll doctor is there to make Nina better again. Mr. Puckler loves his job and the dolls that he repairs, but he loves his daughter Else more. He develops a special fondness for Nina, perhaps because she reminds him a little of Else.
Luckily Mr. Puckler the doll doctor is there to make Nina better again. Mr. Puckler loves his job and the dolls that he repairs, but he loves his daughter Else more. He develops a special fondness for Nina, perhaps because she reminds him a little of Else.
December 28, 2021
I’m biased, but this was the scariest story I read in my first ever collection of Ghost Stories aged 7. The shivers are still real. Not lost it’s power in my reread
May 4, 2019
Starts of funny, and it ends up being a nice little ghost story!
October 24, 2022
This is a delightful Victorian Ghost Story! At about 45 pages, it’s best to go in blind, without spoilers.
October 24, 2018
Update, 10/24/18:
Moving this over here since Goodreads now has a spot for it.
Read in The Complete Wandering Ghosts
Original review, 10/21/14:
I don't reckon I have any kind of doll phobia, but I do find many of them to be a tad bit creepy.
Seriously, why would anybody EVER have this thing just sitting around the house? Even if it didn't get up, start fires, and kill people. Even if it just sat there immobile forever. This thing is just too fucked-up looking to be allowed.
Since this is another ghost story, it should be creepy. I normally read with light music on in the background, but I read this one with the music off. It was nighttime, the cuckoo clock was ticking on the wall, the grandmother clock ticking in the foyer, the sound of the clanking flap on the furnace reverberated through the heat registers, and the mood was set. They all lent an air of eeriness to the experience. These are sounds I'm quite accustomed to, but as the doll started walking around and saying "pa-pa" in the story, there was a rustle and a clonk from the trashcan by my chair. I have no idea what made the noise. I hadn't put anything in it for a while, and I suppose it could've been a mouse since we will get one from time to time, but it's been a couple of years. Digging around yielded no satisfying results. I can only assume it was the ghost of the doll Nina reaching out from the pages of my book to say "Hey there, bucko. Just wanna say hi and thanks for reading about me." Either that or I'm hearing things. (It wouldn't be the first time).
, but I still enjoyed the journey, short as it was.
Moving this over here since Goodreads now has a spot for it.
Read in The Complete Wandering Ghosts
Original review, 10/21/14:
I don't reckon I have any kind of doll phobia, but I do find many of them to be a tad bit creepy.
Seriously, why would anybody EVER have this thing just sitting around the house? Even if it didn't get up, start fires, and kill people. Even if it just sat there immobile forever. This thing is just too fucked-up looking to be allowed.
Since this is another ghost story, it should be creepy. I normally read with light music on in the background, but I read this one with the music off. It was nighttime, the cuckoo clock was ticking on the wall, the grandmother clock ticking in the foyer, the sound of the clanking flap on the furnace reverberated through the heat registers, and the mood was set. They all lent an air of eeriness to the experience. These are sounds I'm quite accustomed to, but as the doll started walking around and saying "pa-pa" in the story, there was a rustle and a clonk from the trashcan by my chair. I have no idea what made the noise. I hadn't put anything in it for a while, and I suppose it could've been a mouse since we will get one from time to time, but it's been a couple of years. Digging around yielded no satisfying results. I can only assume it was the ghost of the doll Nina reaching out from the pages of my book to say "Hey there, bucko. Just wanna say hi and thanks for reading about me." Either that or I'm hearing things. (It wouldn't be the first time).
, but I still enjoyed the journey, short as it was.
December 23, 2021
Short story of the doll broken and repaired by the doll doctor. Less scary than haunting.
June 27, 2024
The creepiest part of this is that the main character is a "doll doctor" who is like really into his work.
December 9, 2022
A doll is broken when her young owner falls down the stairs holding her. Taken to a doll hospital, she is lovingly repaired by a man who sees her as almost a living creature. He finally asks his young daughter to return her to her rightful owner, but then his daughter doesn’t return home. He is in great despair and anguish, and then, he sees the ghostly figure of the doll. It’s quite a chilling tale, gripping and intriguing, and the end may surprise and sadden you a bit. Masterfully written, it holds up quite well even by today’s standards.
December 24, 2022
This is a beautiful short ghost story from the around 1900. Modern illustrations and the small size make it a perfect gift or keepsake. As the book jacket says, read a ghost story on Christmas Eve. As I am a doll dealer, it’s nice that the doll is treated sympathetically in the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 18, 2021
I was completely unaware that it used to be a tradition to read ghost stories on Christmas Eve. It was during Victorian times. Its a quick read and definitely spooky.
July 27, 2021
I think this story shows Crawford as something of a remarkable writer--it is a story that shows his virtuosity in writing. In the main, this story is deeply emotional, scary, and humorous (the latter two are technically emotions, but I mean "deeply emotional" in the sense that great sadness and great happiness are elicited therefrom). The story opens comedically when all the servants of the house mistake a broken doll for a dead child, and, wonder of wonders!, appear visible in the house they work within (as opposed to doing their work perfectly without seeming to show their 'vulgar' selves--as in the concept of the "perfect butler.") It continues along this line when we reach the doll makers' place and see that the doctor has a deep attachment to dolls, almost believing them human; however, when Else leaves to deliver the now-fixed doll back to her owner, she disappears. And the pattering of feet are heard to follow the doll maker as he walks through his dark abode. This is the beginning of the fearful section of the story. The doll maker, after hearing all this, and significantly worried for his daughter (the already-mentioned Else), shoots to the streets in search of her, but, unable to find her, returns home so down caste that the fear of the little pattering feet are meaningless to him. As he mourns, the ghost-doll comes up to him, and he realizes that it came not to make him miserable, but to act as guide to his daughter--a daughter who he finds well in hospital after having been beaten up by some boys. The aspects of the father's love and the reunion are the happiness and sadness--are, in other words, the "deep emotions"--we feel.
To me, this story is about kindness and love--once the doctor falls in love with Nina (the doll he was tasked to fix) he treats her with the utmost care, and, by the end, when she is completely smashed up as a consequence to Else's fight, she appears to him again as a ghost or inhabited by the spirit of Else, reciprocating the attention he had given her (not just his attention to the doll, but also his attention to Else, who he values more than all the dolls he has helped).
To me, this story is about kindness and love--once the doctor falls in love with Nina (the doll he was tasked to fix) he treats her with the utmost care, and, by the end, when she is completely smashed up as a consequence to Else's fight, she appears to him again as a ghost or inhabited by the spirit of Else, reciprocating the attention he had given her (not just his attention to the doll, but also his attention to Else, who he values more than all the dolls he has helped).
August 8, 2020
“Something was following him in the dark. There was a small pattering, as of tiny feet upon the boards. He stopped and listened, and the roots of his hair tingled.”
“The Doll’s Ghost” is about exactly what it sounds like and is among the very first to ever address the “haunted doll” trope in literature. The whole setting is so wonderfully crafted, the Victorian era has in itself a way of making the mundane feel sinister and when you add in a kindly be it creepy “doll doctor” who “falls in love” with the dolls he mends, convinced that they are just as human as we then you really get the making of a spine chilling story even without the supernatural. I love short creepy supernatural stories like this, no matter how many I read they all still have the power to send shivers up my spine. The best part is that it does not stand out as a horror story but it becomes that more and more by degrees.
“The Doll’s Ghost” is about exactly what it sounds like and is among the very first to ever address the “haunted doll” trope in literature. The whole setting is so wonderfully crafted, the Victorian era has in itself a way of making the mundane feel sinister and when you add in a kindly be it creepy “doll doctor” who “falls in love” with the dolls he mends, convinced that they are just as human as we then you really get the making of a spine chilling story even without the supernatural. I love short creepy supernatural stories like this, no matter how many I read they all still have the power to send shivers up my spine. The best part is that it does not stand out as a horror story but it becomes that more and more by degrees.
December 14, 2022
“Something was following him in the dark. There was a small pattering, as of tiny feet upon the boards. He stopped and listened, and the roots of his hair tingled.”
That's just one of many spine-tingling moments in F. Marion Crawford's "The Doll's Ghost", a truly great Victorian ghost story.
A young girl falls down the stairs and is devastated that the beautiful doll she had been holding is broken. Thankfully, there's a doll doctor nearby, and he repairs the doll with such tremendous care, it's as though he sees her as a living creature. The doctor asks his own daughter to deliver the now-repaired doll to her home. The daughter does not return from this errand, but someone does -- can you guess who?
This one’s truly creepy. But also somehow sweet. Like the best episodes of The Twilight Zone.
March 22, 2025
[Penguin Books] (2021). SB. 52 Pages. Purchased from Amazon.co.uk.
Dolls, like zombies, leave me stone cold. That said, this is an atmospheric story with some peculiar features…
“…the three nurses gathered round Lady Gwendolen and patted her, and gave her unhealthy things out of their pockets…”
The drab, naive drawings by “Seth” (Gregory Gallant (1962-)) bring nothing worthwhile to this book. Additional contextual information, for instance a more detailed biographical sketch of the author*, would have been a welcome substitute. (*A mere six lines… but ten for the illustrator…)
Dolls, like zombies, leave me stone cold. That said, this is an atmospheric story with some peculiar features…
“…the three nurses gathered round Lady Gwendolen and patted her, and gave her unhealthy things out of their pockets…”
The drab, naive drawings by “Seth” (Gregory Gallant (1962-)) bring nothing worthwhile to this book. Additional contextual information, for instance a more detailed biographical sketch of the author*, would have been a welcome substitute. (*A mere six lines… but ten for the illustrator…)
January 10, 2018
Listened to this on The Classic Tales Podcast. It was enjoyable and a nice way to help work go by. It did have an interesting plot twist but felt on par with Marion’s other stories - which try hard to be eerie but don’t do much for me. I am pretty into horror though so perhaps I’m just desensitized. It seems like it would be a great read for a young, budding horror reader though. I think I would’ve enjoyed this as a complement to something like Scary Stories.
February 3, 2021
A nice little classic ghost tale. I won't say that it is extremely scary. But at times it is creepy. However, I find the story really fascinating. In the initial phase, the narration has a funny interesting angle to the whole doll theme. There are points where I could not stop myself from giggling. Then the horror factor comes in. And finally, it gives way to an ending which is a tad emotional. In over all, I thoroughly enjoyed the story!
April 2, 2022
Wonderful entertaining listening 🎧
Another will written family short story of love and caring by F. Marion Crawford about a doll getting broken and taken to the doll doctor. The doll is repaired and the daughter takes the doll back to it's owner but does not arrive. Why? The doll ghost will lead the way! I highly recommend this novella to reader of fantasy, horror and ghosts 👻. Enjoy reading and listening to books. 2022
Another will written family short story of love and caring by F. Marion Crawford about a doll getting broken and taken to the doll doctor. The doll is repaired and the daughter takes the doll back to it's owner but does not arrive. Why? The doll ghost will lead the way! I highly recommend this novella to reader of fantasy, horror and ghosts 👻. Enjoy reading and listening to books. 2022
December 16, 2024
A solid 4.8 for me!
The Doll's Ghost was the 10th and final read in my 3 day readathone. I thoroughly enjoyed this literary piece, and it strangely fit the most wintery night I picked it up. It's more of an emotional, macabre fitting description than that of a horror!
Part of me didn't give it a 5, since I was looking for a rather spooky turn of events but maybe when I revisit this someday it'll turn out to be that then!
The Doll's Ghost was the 10th and final read in my 3 day readathone. I thoroughly enjoyed this literary piece, and it strangely fit the most wintery night I picked it up. It's more of an emotional, macabre fitting description than that of a horror!
Part of me didn't give it a 5, since I was looking for a rather spooky turn of events but maybe when I revisit this someday it'll turn out to be that then!
January 20, 2024
SYNOPSIS: "When the Lady Gwendolen, age six, drops her doll down a staircase, her ladyship solemnly digs her fractured companion a grave. Luckily Mr Puckler, renowned doll doctor, thinks he can help — but when his daughter Else goes missing, he's not sure whose voice he hears calling to him in the night." (www.biblioasis.com)
December 30, 2024
I am now working on making my way through this set of ghost stories from The Haunted Bookshelf to help bring back the tradition of ghostly tales at Christmas. This is my first one and I enjoyed it a great deal. I loved the supernatural aspect and that a man's passion brought him the direction he needed to save his daughter. I will be reading this one again in future Christmases.
October 26, 2018
Unnerving and emotional. A doll "doctor" sends his daughter out into the London streets to make an evening delivery, but doesn't come home. As a parent, I found it extremely unsettling. As a lover of ghost stories, I found it beautiful.
December 9, 2017
A creepy story with an unexpected ending. Listened to on Classic Tales podcast.
http://classictales.libsyn.com/ep-546...
http://classictales.libsyn.com/ep-546...
December 19, 2017
Audio book on Classic Tales podcast. Short, eerie tale for after work evening in traffic.
October 10, 2018
Creepy little story! Pitter, patter!
June 27, 2021
A lovely little story about what it says on the tin.
July 11, 2021
Maybe it's because this is so different from (and not racist like) most of the other stories in my collection, but I thought this one was particularly well done and even kinda spooky.
4/5 stars
4/5 stars
October 25, 2021
The surprise about this doll's appearance in a ghost story is its kindness rather than sadistic / psychopathic murderousness.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews