The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales is a collection of short stories by the British author Rudyard Kipling, first published in 1888. It was issued as part of the Indian Railway Library series by the publisher A. H. Wheeler & Co. in British India. The work is also known under the alternate title The Phantom 'Rickshaw & Other Eerie Tales.
The collection contains four stories, all set in colonial India:
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"The Phantom 'Rickshaw" — The title story is a horror narrative about a man named Jack, who, after ending an affair with a Mrs. Agnes Keith-Wessington in Simla, is haunted by her ghost. Following her death, her phantom rickshaw and its bearers repeatedly appear to him, leading to his increasingly erratic behavior, the collapse of his engagement to Miss Kitty Mannering, and his eventual descent into despair.
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"My Own True Ghost Story" — The narrator stays at a dâk-bungalow in Katmal, India, where he hears the sound of billiards being played in an adjacent room. He later learns that no one was present that night and that the building had once been a billiard hall, with the ghost of a deceased engineer believed to be responsible for the sounds.
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"The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes" — An Englishman named Morrowbie Jukes falls into a ravine and finds himself trapped in a village of the "living dead"—people who appeared to have died of diseases such as cholera but revived before cremation and were subsequently imprisoned. The story follows his attempts to escape alongside a ruthless Brahmin named Gunga Dass.
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"The Man Who Would Be King" — One of Kipling's most famous stories, it recounts the adventures of two adventurers, Daniel Dravot and Peachey Carnehan, who travel to Kafiristan to establish themselves as kings. They initially succeed, being regarded as gods by the local people, but their deception is exposed when Dravot bleeds, leading to his death and Carnehan's crucifixion and eventual return to Lahore.
The collection is notable for its blend of supernatural horror, adventure, and Kipling's detailed portrayal of life in British India. The stories had largely appeared in periodicals before being gathered into this volume. The 1890 edition, published by A. H. Wheeler & Co. in Allahabad and Sampson Low in London, included a facsimile of the 1888 cover. The work remains a significant example of Kipling's early fiction and of the ghost-story genre in colonial-era literature.
