Discover Virginia Woolf’s lyrical exploration of love and memory in her short story ‘A Haunted House,’ and read the complete text online for free.
“Whatever hour you woke there was a door shutting.” With this enigmatic opening, Virginia Woolf invites the reader into the subtle, shimmering world of A Haunted House, the title story of her 1921 collection. This very short story—more of a prose poem—is a radical departure from the conventional ghost story. There is no terror here, no rattling chains or vengeful spirits. Instead, Woolf conjures a gentle, benevolent haunting: the whispered presence of a ghostly couple searching through their former home for a buried treasure, watched by the living couple who now dwell there.
Woolf uses the conceit of the haunting to explore the essence of a shared life and the persistence of love beyond death. The ghostly pair are not frightening but familiar, “beating on the wall” with a sound as soft as a heart’s pulse. As they flit from room to room, drawer to drawer, the living woman narrator gradually intuits what they seek: “the light in the heart,” the accumulated joy and love of a lifetime lived together in that house. The story becomes a beautiful palimpsest, where past and present, the dead and the living, overlap in a single, continuous pulse of domestic happiness.
A Haunted House is a quintessential example of Woolf’s modernist style, where plot is subordinated to moment, sensation, and the flow of consciousness. The narrative voice slips seamlessly between the living narrator’s thoughts and the perceived whispers of the ghosts. Time compresses and expands. The house itself becomes the central character, a vessel for emotion and memory. In just a few pages, Woolf captures a profound truth: that the places we love are never empty, but are forever imprinted with the echoes of the lives that filled them.
On this page, you can experience Woolf’s delicate and profound magic. We offer the complete short story for online reading.
Book Info
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | A Haunted House |
| Author | Virginia Woolf |
| Year of Publication | 1921 (in the collection Monday or Tuesday) |
| Genre | Short Story, Modernist Fiction, Prose Poem |
| Language | English (Original) |
| Legal Status | Public Domain |
| Format | Online Reading |
Read A Haunted House Online
Listen for the whispers in the walls. Begin this luminous story by exploring its opening lines interactively below.
This preview draws you into the story’s haunting atmosphere, but the full, revelatory journey and its poignant, culminating line are available in the complete text for our subscribers.
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About A Haunted House
In under 1,000 words, Woolf constructs a multidimensional narrative about the nature of love, time, and place. The story is a technical marvel of compression and suggestion.
A Haunting of Joy
Woolf completely inverts the Gothic tradition. The haunting is not a curse but a blessing; the ghosts are custodians of happiness, not purveyors of fear. Their search is not frantic but purposeful and tender. This reframing allows Woolf to explore the idea that intense emotion—especially love and joy—can leave a permanent impression on a physical space, a kind of psychic resonance.
The House as a Living Entity
The setting is not a backdrop but an active participant. Woolf brings the house to life through synesthetic imagery: “The window panes reflected apples, reflected roses; all the leaves were green in the glass.” The wood of the stairs “cries out” with the memory of the past. The house holds the treasure, guards it, and finally reveals it. It is the connective tissue between the two couples across time.
The Stream of Consciousness
The narrative flows like a thought process. Sentences are fragmented, impressions are layered, and the point of view fluidly shifts. We hear the ghosts’ whispers (“Here we left it,” “Oh, but here too!”) intercut with the living woman’s realizations. This technique creates a dreamlike, immersive quality, making the reader feel they are overhearing the secret life of the house.
The Treasure: “The Light in the Heart”
The MacGuffin of the story is purely metaphorical. The treasure is not gold, but the intangible accumulation of shared moments: “Kisses without number.” “Waking in the morning.” “Silver between the trees.” “Upstairs… In the garden… By the river.” The final, triumphant revelation—“The light in the heart.”—identifies the treasure as the capacity for love itself, which both couples share. The living have found it, and in doing so, they complete the ghosts’ search.
Why Read A Haunted House Today?
In a culture obsessed with material wealth and productivity, Woolf’s story is a gentle, powerful reminder of what truly constitutes treasure. It celebrates the quiet, daily accumulation of love and the way it sanctifies ordinary places. It is a story about finding meaning not in the extraordinary, but in the deeply lived-in.
It is also a perfect introduction to Woolf’s style. Its brevity and breathtaking beauty offer a accessible point of entry before tackling her longer, more challenging novels like Mrs. Dalloway or To the Lighthouse. To read it is to experience a moment of perfect, quiet revelation.
FAQ
Can I read A Haunted House for free?
Yes, you can read the beginning of the story for free via our interactive preview. The complete short story is available with a subscription.
Is this a scary ghost story?
Not at all. It is a gentle, lyrical, and ultimately joyous story. It uses the framework of a ghost story to explore themes of love and memory.
What is the significance of the repeated phrase “Safe, safe, safe”?
It is the ghosts’ refrain, and later the living woman’s realization. It signifies the security of the love they found and left in the house. The treasure is “safe” because it is immaterial and eternal, locked not in a drawer but in the very fabric of the home.
How long does it take to read?
It is extremely short, often less than five minutes. But its poetic density invites—and rewards—slow, repeated reading to catch all its nuances.
Can I read it on my phone?
Absolutely. Its short length makes it ideal for reading on a mobile device, a moment of literary beauty to carry with you.