The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (play) reception was enthusiastic, critical reception was mixed. Frank Rich in "New York Times" reported dull passages piling up as "dead weight", while John Simon in the "New York Magazine" felt that the work was a "middlebrow enterprise" doing "scant justice" to the novel. In contrast Mel Gussow, again in "The New York Times", noted that ""Nicholas Nickleby" remains true to Dickens – many of the lines are taken directly from the novel, dialogue as well as narration – and to first principles of theater" when describing the RSC's recast production in 1986. Playwright and reviewer Thomas Hischak, writing in retrospect
The Haunted House (story) The Haunted House (story) "The Haunted House" is a story published in 1859 for the weekly periodical "All the Year Round". It was "Conducted by Charles Dickens", with contributions from others. It is a "portmanteau" story, with Dickens writing the opening and closing stories, framing stories by Dickens himself and five other authors: "The Mortals in the House" (Charles Dickens) "The Ghost in the Clock Room" (Hesba Stretton) "The Ghost in the Double Room" (George Augustus Sala) "The Ghost in the Picture Room" (Adelaide Anne Procter) "The Ghost in the Cupboard Room" (Wilkie Collins) "The Ghost in Master B's Room"