The poor old Canterville Ghost does not know what to do. His work is to frighten people, but the Americans who have just moved into Canterville Chase are not frightened by anything he does to them. Things get even worse when the young twins start to play tricks on him.

The Canterville Ghost is three hundred years old. He is very tired, but he cannot rest. He would like to stop frightening people and go to sleep for ever more in the Garden of Death, but he cannot open the gate. As he wonders if anyone will help him, Virginia, the beautiful young daughter of the family, comes to talk to him.

In this and six other short stories, love and selfishness meet in many different ways. The results are sometimes sad and sometimes funny, but always interesting.