i in the process of watch or revisit all of lloyd short and feature work and the first few short i have watch that i have not previous see and most notably number and please . and have not seem to have the inspired genius of his feature and rely more on the tired run fall down slapstick violence and chase of the over rat keystone film and roscoe arbuckle . they certainly have good moment but be do not offer the harold of the feature . in haunted spook though we have a film that be ingenious and hilarious and inspire . from a wonderful introduction to harold ( he in frame a good 30 second before you see him and a truly brilliant reveal ) the invention never let up . the film could easily have sustain 4 reel or more and there be so much go on . the highlight be a hilarious sequence where harold and leave suicidal by yet another rejection and try to find way to do the deed . the result of one attempt involve drowning be priceless and a funny a gag a lloyd ever produce . another involve the typical self absorbed nature of people a a man pause him in another attempt to ask for a light and then the time while fail to notice the circumstance be equally riotous . it be a gloriously dark vein of comedy for lloyd and and one he would revisit and that bring to mind keaton who often get great fun out of the subject and perfectly demonstrate the fine line between tragedy and comedy . here lloyd do the same perfectly . to so generally happy a character a lloyd generally portray ( in contrast to keaton more dour screen persona ) be ought to be a sad moment ( and be one chaplin would have milk for sentiment ) but the triumph of humour over the tragedy be his genius . i know some over serious type find the subject distasteful but that be to miss the comment which be the fine line between tragedy and comedy and a subject all the fine of the silent comedian ( chaplin and lloyd and keaton ) understood well and exploit to wonderful effect . thankfully the overt ugly and lazy slapstick of violence and chase be largely miss here in favour of genuine laugh and ingenious device . bizarrely in the haunt house section of the film there be even a moment that evoke thought of fw murnau nosferatu despite the fact that lloyd film pre date the german masterpiece by 2 year ( and it u premiere by 9 ) . mildred davis and harold future wife and be as delightful a always but it be harold mature in comedic style here that mark this out a a special piece . the only vague marring of the film be a racial stereotyping of the servant in the house an unfortunate byproduct of the time that see through modern eye gain a more negative aspect but we must remember the time in which the film be make and not judge too harshly for that in fact lloyd give the moment of triumphant discovery to the butler and ably demonstrate his generosity in not always take centre stage ( in fact lloyd be miss from probably a quarter of the film entirely ) . it be also interest to note that the accident with a prop bomb which claim index finger and thumb from his right hand and nearly kill him happen during production of haunt spook and halt production for some month and and the prosthetic glove by wore to disguise this be first evident here . indeed there be scene clearly show his real hand and others with the much lighter in colour prosthetic . a must see for anyone who not only want a good laugh but want to see the mastery of lloyd at his best in his short .