Told After Supper

"Told After Supper" by Jerome K. Jerome is a collection of humorous ghost stories written during the late 19th century. This work captures the festive spirit of Christmas Eve as it explores the tradition of telling ghost stories among friends and family during this time. The book revolves around the theme of supernatural encounters and the folkloric characters associated with them, all served with Jerome's characteristic wit and satirical flair. Once the scene is set in the cozy atmosphere of a Christmas gathering, the characters—friends and relatives—take turns narrating their own ghostly tales. Each story presents a blend of humor and pathos, showcasing eccentric ghosts and their often comical interactions with the living. From the faithful ghost of Johnson and his lost love, Emily, to a series of misadventures involving a miser's hidden treasure and other eccentric spirits, the tales reflect a lighthearted take on the ghost story genre. The prose captures the essence of camaraderie among the storytellers, while the interplay between comedy and the supernatural keeps readers both entertained and engaged. Ultimately, Jerome's work celebrates the quirkiness of life and death through its fantastical narratives, inviting readers to enjoy the blend of laughter and spine-tingling suspense that defines the ghost story tradition. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Jerome Klapka Jerome was an English writer and humorist, best known for the comic travelogue Three Men in a Boat (1889). Other works include the essay collections Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1886) and Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow; Three Men on the Bummel, a sequel to Three Men in a Boat; and several other novels. Jerome was born in Walsall, England, and, although he was able to attend grammar school, his family suffered from poverty at times, as did he as a young man trying to earn a living in various occupations. In his twenties, he was able to publish some work, and success followed. He married in 1888, and the honeymoon was spent on a boat on the River Thames; he published Three Men in a Boat soon afterwards. He continued to write fiction, non-fiction and plays over the next few decades, though never with the same level of success.