A small sheet ghost with oval black eyes and a ragged fringed hem sits beside a round orange pumpkin on a worn wooden shelf, while a tall tarnished brass candlestick holds a cream candle with a small flame and wax drips. At right, a black cat with amber-green eyes and a small white chest patch sits facing the viewer, its tail curling over the shelf edge.

Behind them, a dark antique floral backdrop of faded terracotta, ochre and mauve-grey blooms with olive leaves fills the upper two thirds. Lit mainly by the single candle flame, the scene is low-key chiaroscuro with deep soft shadows and gentle highlights on the ghost and pumpkin. Thick palette-knife impasto shapes the ghost's drapery on coarse linen canvas.