The Canterville Ghost

The story takes place in an old English country house, Canterville Chase, which has all the accoutrements of a traditional haunted house. An American family moves into Canterville Chase, but the skeptical Americans do not believe in ghosts – not, that is, until their daughter Virginia disappears after a series of uncanny incidents.

Wilde’s Gothic setting helps emphasize the contrast between cultures-setting modern Americans in what could arguably be a classic symbol of British history-and underscores the “modern” thinking of the house’s mismatched residents, the Otises.