a-ghost-in-the-closet
Explanation
The Joke
A child tells her grandpa there are ghosts in her closet. The grandfather investigates and finds not scary ghosts, but the ghosts of his deceased friends having a dance party. He discovers the music is still playing and they want him to join for one last waltz before "the lights go out." The ghosts invite him to dance, and he's deeply moved. He goes into the closet to join them. The child asks what's happening and hears only "just things" -- clothes and boxes, "just things." The final panel shows the grandfather in the closet dancing with the ghosts (implying he has died), while the child's parent says "That'll teach the little brat" -- suggesting the entire ghost scenario was engineered as a disciplinary measure, and the grandfather's death was an unintended (or perhaps intended) consequence.
The Humor
The comic masterfully sets up what appears to be a sweet, poignant story about an elderly man reuniting with his departed friends for one final dance -- a genuinely touching scene. Then it pulls the rug out with the dark final panel, where it's revealed that the parents apparently orchestrated this as a way to scare or discipline their child, with the grandfather's passing treated as collateral. The tonal whiplash from heartwarming to darkly comedic is the core of the joke. The phrase "That'll teach the little brat" is hilariously disproportionate -- using a grandfather's supernatural death as a parenting technique is absurdly extreme. The comic plays with the reader's emotions, making the dark punchline land even harder because of the genuine sentiment that preceded it.