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 The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain is Dickens’ final independently published Christmas ghost story. Although it was relatively popular at its release in 1848, ironically, The Haunted Man seems to have quickly dwindled from public memory. It begins similar to Dickens’ other Christmas books – a lonely old man, Mr. Redlaw, sits by himself in front of his fire – yet the “ghost” of this story is not the spectre of someone long since deceased, but rather Redlaw’s own self in the form of a phantom doppelgänger. In addition to being undead, the spirit is also a familiar one to the protagonist. Redlaw is neither surprised nor terrified when he senses his phantom-self lurking behind his arm chair. The “ghost” of this tale offers to make a deal with the wallowing Mr. Redlaw – he will take away every memory of wrong and sorrow from him with the caveat that: 

For being a Christmas story, there is very little reference to the holiday in The Haunted Man.  The reader knows it its winter from how the narrator introduces Mr. Redlaw, "there, upon a winter night, alone," but it is not until his servants arrive on the scene and the pure-hearted Mrs. Williams begins decorating his chambers with festive branches that we learn Christmas is nigh (Dickens 3).  The ensuing conversation between Redlaw and the elderly Mr. Philip Williams reveals the theme of the story as they discuss the memories of Christmases past and how Redlaw would sooner forget all of his painful memories while Philip's most cherished possession- and secret to staying sharp at his age- are his memories, both good and bad.  Aside from this interaction though there is very little holiday cheer in this story.

Similar to both A Christmas Carol and The Chimes, the characters in The Haunted Man span from lower class to middle/upper-middle class. Mr. Redlaw is at the top of the social ladder while the other characters, such as the Williams, the Tetterbys and the poor orphan boy occupy the lower rungs. Interestingly though, despite the obvious social  hierarchy of the characters, the story is not so much about charity - as is the case with The Carol - but rather about the importance of remembering past sorrows and wrongs and learning to forgive and show compassion towards others who might be suffering.

According to the phantom's warning, Redlaw will pass on his "gift" to all whom he encounters; however, there are a couple exceptions to this rule. The amiable Mrs. Milly Williams and the orphan boy are unharmed by Redlaw's presence while others whom he encounters forget their past wrongs and in turn become bitter people. The orphan boy has not lived enough life to differentiate between wrong and right and thus has nothing to forget and Milly is the very picture of purity. In fact Milly acts as everyone's guardian angel and has learned the secret to forgiving and cultivating bad memories into reminders of the universality of pain, thus, Redlaw's gift cannot pass onto her either.