Abstract
Tales about haunted houses are practically a subgenre in fantastic literature; attempting to find an explanation (if any is to be found) is the main topic of these stories. Two stories with haunted houses are compared and contrasted: “The Open Door” by Charlotte Riddell and “La casa tomada” by Julio Cortázar, taking into consideration the definition of “fantastic” and the “uncertainty” of the active reader by Tzvetan Todorov. The comparison and contrast between the stories will be discussed from three perspectives: the description of the houses, the movement toward the place, and the character of the protagonists. At the end, in both cases there is a change; however, the difference remains in the chances of the reader to solve the mystery.