3 h 51 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 3 h 51 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if you could forget every sorrow, but lose the part of yourself that knows how to care?
On a cold Christmas Eve, Mr Redlaw sits alone in an old college, surrounded by books and instruments. A chemistry professor worn down by grief and resentment, he longs to escape the pain of his past. Then the Phantom appears: his own ghostly double, offering to take his painful memories away. The bargain sounds like mercy, but it comes at a price.
Charles Dickens brings Redlaw's dark wish into contact with lives full of need and affection. Milly Swidger cares for the poor and sick. The Tetterbys crowd together in their shabby home, while the young student Edmund Denham needs friends. Through them, this short Christmas tale asks whether sorrow is only a burden—or also a source of pity and forgiveness.
What you’ll discover
- A bargain by the fire Enter a dim college room where a lonely man's wish takes a ghostly shape.
- The cost of forgetting Explore the unsettling bond between painful memories and the kindness we offer others.
- Milly's quiet care Meet a gentle woman whose days revolve around people who need her help.
- A shabby, loving home Step inside the Tetterbys' crowded household, where poverty sits beside warmth and affection.
- Christmas with a shadow Discover a solemn Dickens tale that brings Gothic unease to questions of human compassion.
Who will love it
For readers who love Dickens at Christmas, ghostly bargains and stories of memory and forgiveness. It also speaks to anyone who has carried grief or resentment.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A lonely teacher sits with his sorrows
- A phantom offers to erase the pain
- Forgetting spreads through the college
- Milly and the wild boy
- The Tetterbys and a shabby, loving home
- What the tale means and how it is told
Who’s who
- Mr RedlawA solitary chemistry professor, worn down by old sorrow and wrong, who wishes to forget his past.
- The PhantomA ghostly double of Redlaw who offers to take away his painful memories, at a price.
- Milly SwidgerThe gentle wife of the college keeper, who spends her days caring for the poor and the sick.
- William SwidgerThe cheerful keeper of the college, who looks after Redlaw and his household with good humour.
- Old Philip SwidgerWilliam's very old father, who loves to recall happy days and the people of the college.
- Mr TetterbyA small, kindly newsagent who loves his crowded family and his shabby little shop.
- Edmund DenhamA young student lodging with the Tetterbys, ill and in need of friends.
- The Wild BoyA ragged child of the streets with no home, no family and no gentle memories.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 3 h 51 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Der Spukmann und der Handel mit dem Geist in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Der Spukmann und der Handel mit dem Geist
by Charles Dickens · 1848
On Christmas Eve, a lonely chemistry teacher meets his ghostly double, whose offer puts memory and kindness at stake.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain is a short Christmas book by Charles Dickens, published in 1848. It was the last of the five Christmas books he wrote in the 1840s, after A Christmas Carol.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A lonely teacher sits with his sorrows
The story opens on a cold Christmas Eve in an old college, where Mr Redlaw is a professor of chemistry. He is a tall, pale, gloomy man who lectures to students and then retreats to a dim room full of books and instruments. People say he is haunted. Dickens means this in a double sense. He is haunted by his own past, and soon he will be haunted by something that looks exactly like him.
Redlaw has known real loss and real wrong. The tale hints that he was betrayed and bereaved long ago, and he cannot let it go. He has built a life around a locked room of memory. He does not say much about it, but his face and manner show how heavily it presses on him.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Der Spukmann und der Handel mit dem Geist
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain about?
It follows a bitter chemistry professor, Mr Redlaw, who is offered the chance to forget all his sorrows by a ghost that looks like him. The gift harms those around him and teaches a lesson about memory.
Who is the Phantom in The Haunted Man?
The Phantom is a ghostly double of Redlaw. It stands for his own dark thoughts and bitterness, and it tempts him with a bargain that seems to promise peace.
When was The Haunted Man by Dickens written?
Dickens published it in 1848 as the last of his five Christmas books. It is a work of fiction, a ghost tale set in a college at Christmas, not a true story.
The author
Charles Dickens
1812–1870 · English novelist
Charles Dickens was an English novelist born in Portsmouth in 1812. He lived in London and later at Gad’s Hill Place in Kent, where he died in 1870. His books include The Pickwick Papers (1836–1837), A Christmas Carol (1843), David Copperfield (1849–1850), and Great Expectations (1860–1861).
More by Charles Dickens
All 27 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
