Charles Dickens, The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain

Daniel Stuart (Texas Tech University)

Ed. by Grace Moore, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1848

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novella

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Charles Dickens’s

The Haunted Man

marks the author’s fifth and final work in his series of Christmas books from the 1840s. Alternatively titled

The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain

, the story chronicles an encounter between a solitary professor and his doppelgänger in ghost-form who grants the professor the ability to forget painful memories and bestow the same power onto others.

Dickens originally intended the story to be published in time for Christmas 1847, which would have marked the fifth consecutive year he had released a Christmas-themed novella. However, finding himself overwhelmed with work on Dombey and Son (1848), he postponed publication until the following year. Officially released a week before Christmas 1848 as The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain, a Fancy for

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3133 words

Citation: Stuart, Daniel. "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 June 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=24935, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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