The Haunted Dolls' House

"The Haunted Dolls' House" is a short ghost story by the British author M.R. James. It first appeared in print in the March 16, 1923 issue of the magazine Empire Review. It was republished in 1925 as part of the anthology A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories. The story concerns an antiques dealer named Dillet who acquires a beautiful antique dolls' house for a relatively low price. The dolls' house comes complete with dolls which represent servants and a family made up of two children, a father, a mother and a grandfather. At one o'clock in the morning, Dillet sees a ghostly drama play out in the dolls' house. It shows how the mother and father murdered the grandfather by poisoning him and the consequences of that crime.