When the Americans Mr and Mrs Otis and their four children move into Canterville Chase, its previous occupant Lord Canterville warns them that the ghost of his ancestor still haunts the house. Their disbelief is soon shattered by the nightly sound of rattling chains in the hallways and the appearance of mysterious bloodstains in the living room. However, the ghost struggles to intimidate his new victims, as they counter his ghoulish behaviour with typically transatlantic pragmatism, offering lubricator for his chains and cleaning up the stains with detergent. As the spirit is deserted by his capacity to scare, Virginia, the Otises daughter, gets to know him and learns the tragic tale behind his sad fate. Sparkling with his trademark wit, this classic tale is one of Oscar Wildes finest stories and is presented here with three other comic mystery stories, Lord Arthur Saviles Crime, The Sphinx without a Secret and The Model Millionaire, all of which were first published together in 1891.

 

 

This book features in the following series: Alma Junior Classics, Oxford Progressive English Readers .

This book has been graded for interest at 12 years.

There are 124 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2016 by Alma Books Ltd .

Oscar Wilde was born in Ireland in 1854 and is known for his poetry, plays and the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray . He died in Paris in 1900.

This book has the following chapters: The Canterville GhostLord Arthur Savile's CrimeThe Sphinx Without a SecretThe Model Millionaire