2 h 23 minAudiobook10 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A lonely signal box, a damp railway cutting, a tunnel: how little does it take for dread to begin?
Three Ghost Stories gathers Charles Dickens's tales of the supernatural, including The Signal-Man. Beside a tunnel, deep in a steep railway cutting, an ordinary place becomes a setting for fear. Dickens works through plain speech and quiet detail, letting unease grow where you might expect only the familiar routines of daily life.
These stories belong to a Victorian tradition of ghost tales told on dark winter evenings. Many of Dickens's supernatural tales first appear in his magazines' special Christmas numbers. Beneath their chills lie questions of guilt and fate: what do we owe those we wrong, or those we fail to help?
What you’ll discover
- A railway cutting's dread Enter the lonely setting of The Signal-Man, where a signal box stands beside a tunnel.
- Fear in quiet details Feel unease build through small habits, exact places, and conversations that stay deceptively calm.
- Ghosts with moral weight Look beneath the supernatural encounters to questions about guilt, fate, and the help people owe.
- Christmas shadows Discover the old-fashioned chills of a storytelling tradition rooted in long, dark winter evenings.
- A shorter path into Dickens Meet a side of Dickens his long novels only hint at, in tales suited to an evening.
Who will love it
Readers who like ghost tales told with wit and atmosphere, fans of Victorian Christmas fiction, and anyone who enjoys a narrator who tries to explain the strange and fails.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A rented house and a sister's plan
- Master B. haunts the mirror and the night
- Two men and a face in Piccadilly
- Twelve jurors and one more
- A signalman troubled by a red light
- Doubters, tone and the unseen
Who’s who
- JohnThe sensible narrator of The Haunted House, who rents a feared house, suspects human tricks and sleeps in the room of Master B.
- PattyJohn's spirited sister, who proposes living without servants and filling the house with trusted friends so the haunting can be tested.
- Master B.The ghost of a boy in a cheap salt-and-pepper suit, who leads John away from the garret on night journeys.
- IkeyThe village stable hand with a round red face, who loves ghost talk and tricks that help the haunting along.
- The ForemanA banker and bachelor in Piccadilly who sees a murdered man before the trial and is chosen to lead the jury.
- The Murdered ManA waxen-faced apparition who beckons, points and follows the jury, wanting justice for his death.
- The SignalmanA careful, educated railway worker in a lonely cutting, who is tormented by a figure at the red light and cannot decode its warning.
- The TravelerA curious visitor to the signal box who tries to calm the signalman with reason and decides to find him a doctor.
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
- 2 h 23 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 10 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 Tre racconti di fantasmi 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.
Tre racconti di fantasmi
A signalman dreads a red light, a juror sees a dead man, and a bell rings in Master B.'s room.
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
Three Ghost Stories gathers three tales by Charles Dickens, who died in 1870. They are The Haunted House, The Trial for Murder and The Signalman.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A rented house and a sister's plan
The first tale begins in daylight, which is the point. The narrator, John, steps off a night train, still irritated by a fellow passenger who spent the journey taking down messages from spirits. Walking on, he comes to a damp, neglected house called the Poplars, shadowed by six tall trees, with a sign saying it is to let.
In the village inn, the landlord will say only that he would not sleep there. Bells ring with nobody ringing them, and feet tread about when nobody is there. A stable hand named Ikey tells of a hooded woman with an owl, said to have been murdered while the owl hooted. One bell in the house is labelled Master B., and it rings most often. John has already lived in a haunted Italian palace in peace, so he rents the house for six months.
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 Tre racconti di fantasmi
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 are the three ghost stories by Charles Dickens in this book?
The book holds The Haunted House, The Trial for Murder and The Signalman. The first is a comic and tender tale about a rented house, the second follows a juror haunted by a murdered man, and the third is set beside a railway tunnel.
Who is Master B. in The Haunted House?
Master B. is the ghost said to haunt a small triangular garret. A bell labelled with his initial rings most often. Nobody knows what the B stands for, and the narrator, who sleeps in the room, spends many nights guessing.
What does the red light mean in The Signalman?
The red light is the danger signal beside the mouth of a railway tunnel. It is the spot where the signalman sees a figure that waves and cries out, so the light comes to stand for warning and dread.
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 books
Free
Free
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Free
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
Popular in short stories
See all
Free
Free
Free
