A Ghost Story by Mark Twain. Short summary

5 seconds

The narrator encountered the spirit of the Cardiff giant. He asked for his remains to be buried. The narrator clarified to the ghost the history of its creation, saying that the original was in Albany.

1 minute

The narrator rented an apartment across the street from the Cooperstown Museum. A hoax is on display there, a stone sculpture of the Cardiff Giant that supposedly existed in ancient times. At night, someone disembodied came into the narrator’s bedroom, trying to pull the blanket off him. Rustles could be heard in the house, the clinking of chains, the chilling touch of icy hands.

Finally, the ghost let himself be seen. It was the spirit of the Cardiff giant. He said he wished to rest in the ground rather than stick out as a museum piece for all to see. To that end, he decided with the other spirits to scare people. But since there are no visitors in the museum at night, the gang of ghosts moved into the house across the street.

The narrator revealed the truth to the spirits. The Kupperstown Museum has a plaster replica on display. Yes, and the original, kept in Albany, is a hoax. Sculptor Hull confessed that he created it and buried it on a farm in Cardiff to convince himself of the existence of a race of giants. The ghost walked away, ashamed.