In novels like "Toppleton's Client" – and in collections like" The Water Ghost and Others", which contains his best work, "Ghosts I Have Met and Some Others" and "Over the Plum Pudding" – John Kendrick Bangs attempted to master a comically debunking style of fantasy which was like that of Mark Twain.
John Kendrick Bangs (May 27, 1862 – January 21, 1922) was an American author, humorist, editor and satirist. (Wikipedia)