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The process of illustrating The Haunted Man began in a leisurely enough way, with Dickens interviewing John Tenniel about the initial plates on October 30th, then reporting by letter to his lead artist.

The Frontispiece, a full-page illustration repeated and elaborated on later by Leech's "Redlaw and the Phantom," serves as an overture to the programme, but is lacking a caption. Thus, without any mediating textual comment the reader is engaged in the psychomachia of a Christmas holly wreath (preparing him for the closing words of the text, delivered in the final plate on page 188, "Lord, keep my memory green") surrounding the vignette of an apprehensive man, seated before the fire, with a shrouded wraith whispering in his ear.

A horned demon, above, presides over the whole scene. To his left (stage right) angels rise, throwing spears and shooting arrows at demons right as other demons drag human souls down. At the very bottom a soul struggles, enmeshed in latticework. We shall never meet the angels or the demons in the printed text, but soon shall meet the seated professor (Dickens's only intellectual protagonist) and his ghostly double.

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Last modified 19 October 2004