The story "The Lawyer and the Ghost" by Charles Dickens and "20th Century Ghost" by Joe Hill are very similar. Dickens story talks about a lawyer who moves into an old inn and once there he finds a paper press. Once the lawyer is settled into the new place a ghost appears. The ghost says that he use to live and work here and that the lawyer must leave. The lawyer talks to the ghost and persuades him to leave. The lawyer never hears from the ghost again. Similar to Dickens story Hill's story also talks about a ghost and a man. The man is the owner of a movie theater. The ghost is a woman who shows herself first to the main character when he was a young boy. He becomes attached to the ghost and eventually buys the theater. Alec, the main character and owner of the theater, eventually becomes to old to run the theater and sells in to an old friend who is now a movie producer. In the end of the story Alec is found dead in the theater after the reopening after a renovation of the theater. When people find him a short clip of what happens in seen on a video camera. The clip is of Alec and the ghost kissing. There are many similarities throughout both stories; the main comparison between the two stories compare is that in the end both the ghost in Dickens story and Alec in Hill's story are both set free from their suffering and oppression they are facing and go to somewhere that is better.

Many similarities between the two stories are seen throughout. One main similarity is that the ghosts in both stories show themselves to humans. In "The Lawyer and the Ghost" the ghost only shows himself to one person while the ghost in "20th Century Ghost" shows herself to many different people throughout the story. However in Dickens story the Lawyer convinces the ghost to leave, while in Hill's story the ghost in a way makes Alec leave. This difference causes the stories to have two very different endings. This difference also shows the power that the super natural can have on a human and also the power a human can have on the super natural. Both stories have the usual image of ghost and how they are portrayed in today's books and movies. In the "20th Century Ghost," the ghost is introduced by the description of, "one of the glass doors slowly opened, disclosed a pale and emaciated figure in soiled and worn apparel...there was something about his skin, and gaunt and unearthly appearance...which no being of this world was ever seen to wear" (Dickens, 308). This description creates that suspenseful and frightening atmosphere that usually accompanies ghosts. Similar to the ghost in Dickens story, Imogene, the ghost in Hill's story, is introduced by, "There was a fresh runner of blood leaking form her left nostril and blood on her lips...A white moth had landed on her face. It was crawling up her cheek. She didn't notice...She glanced at him and smiled. She had blood staining her teeth," this creates a sense of horror (Hill, 317). The imagery received from both stories creates a chill that goes down the spine.

The time period that "The Lawyer and the Ghost" was written in has a large impact on the story itself. Written between 1836 and 1837 England was over come by long lasting lawsuits and never ending court processes (Chapter 4, 307). The court process included having to go through a pretrial, a trial with a judge, possibly a trial with a jury and eventually the conclusion of the process (Langbein). In the story the ghost goes through this menacing process, which eventually leads to his death. Dickens was fascinated with the courts of England and their overwhelming processes and this is shown throughout many of his stories (Chapter 4, 307). The theme of the court system is also seen with the lawyer in the story. In today's society lawyers are wealthy and well respected but in this time period lawyers were overworked and fairly poor. This can be seen in the story when the place the lawyer is staying in is described, "an old, damp, rotten set of chambers, in one of the most ancient Inns," (Dickens, 307). The difference between the ghost and the lawyer however is that the lawyer is not brought down by the struggles of the court system. He has found a way to cope with the hard times. The lawyer drank, "the first glass of two gallons of whiskey he had ordered," the lawyer decides to deal with the struggles of the times with alcohol (Dickens, 308). He also helps the ghost get to a better place in his life by asking why he and many other ghosts like him return to the "places where you have been most miserable," this makes the ghost realize that he does not have to be bound to this horrible place anymore and is free to go where he pleases (Dickens, 309). This somewhat compares to the story of "20th Century Ghost" and what happens to Alec.

In "20th Century Ghost" Alec loses his brother to World War II. This happened when Alec was only fifteen. A few days later he goes to the movie theater and meets Imogene, the ghost of the theater. After he meets Imogene he runs out of the theater because he is so scared and meets the owner, Harry. Harry tells Alec what happened to Imogene and gives him the obituary. After hearing what happened Alec feels a kind of connection to Imogene because he just lost his brother in a similar fashion. Both his brother and Imogene died at a young age with a full life ahead of them. Alec also feels this connection because his brother, Ray, took him to see movies at the theater, so this strengthens the tie between Alec and Imogene. As a result of this connection he feels, Alec develops an attachment to her and later on in life buys the theater. Alec does this because after the loss of his brother he is emotionally distraught and Imogene offers some sort of comfort to his distraught feelings. In the story a strong visual of how upset Alec was can be seen Hill writes, "The stinging in his eyes was so intense he couldn't stand it, and it hurt to breathe. He rubbed at his wet nose, and focused intently on crying as soundlessly as possible," (Hill, 320). This sort of crutch that Imogene provides to Alec can be compared to the alcohol that the lawyer in Dickens story relies upon.

Although the two stories have many differences the crutches that each character relies upon in the stories can be compared to each other. The alcohol and Imogene both provide a relaxing and comforting feeling to the lawyer and Alec. As well as these crutches in the end Alec and the ghost in "The Lawyer and the Ghost" are both set free from their suffering. Alec is set free from his old age and his worrying about the theater and the ghost is set free from his imprisonment from the old inn.
