Bruce Coville's Book of Ghosts II:
More Tales to Haunt You
Author(s): Bruce Coville and others
I'm a complete fan of old Scholastic paperbacks...the sort we all ordered from school book order forms and websites back in the day. I love it when I find them in thriftshops, used bookstores, garage sales, and online. I grab them up, read them, then donate them back so others can enjoy! And, a few favorites are proudly displayed on my keeper shelf.
My very favorite sort of OOP middle grade books are mystery and ghost stories. Fiction or non-fiction...doesn't matter. Love the spooky stuff! July is close enough to Halloween and spooky season to let a few ghostly books start trickling into my reading. Why not!! Read what you like -- right? I'm figuring all year is spooky season for me because I love scary/weird/creepy stories!
The book I'm reviewing is unfortunately out of print, as many of these lovely Scholastic gems from the past are. The author has a website where you can order some of his books, but this one is on the out of print section of the site. [I used to include a link to author's sites in my reviews, but I had a post get taken down because someone reported an author's website as a spam/dangerous site and I had to remove the link for my post to be put back......so just search for Bruce Coville. It will pull up a link to his site.] I have two copies of other out of print story collections from this author and editor, but found a copy of this one online. Used paperback copies are available online. Just be sure you find a listing with a fair price. Out of Print should not mean ridiculously expensive!
Now.....on to the book!
I love the front cover! The ghostly face on his toasted marshmallow is just wonderful! The poor kid heard one too many scary tales around the campfire, that's for sure! I love the brightly colored covers on Coville's story collections. Very eye catching. I could see the cover grabbing the attention of reluctant readers who love ghost stories -- a great way to get a book in the hands of a kid who just doesn't really enjoy reading. Or ones who do! Short stories like this make great writing prompts. Story collections are awesome to get kids writing book reviews or making their own illustrations for their favorite story as an art project. These tales are short enough to be wonderful to use for reading aloud, or for bedtime reading. The tales are a bit scary but not so scary to keep middle grade kids awake.
In this collection, Coville gathers 11 ghostly tales from various authors. I enjoyed all of them!
The book starts out with Part 3 of an ongoing story with parts included in other Bruce Coville books, The Monsters of Morley Manor. It's a fun story about a wooden box filled with miniature monsters that turn out to be actual monsters, rather than toys. Each piece of the story ends on a cliff-hanger and has the title of the book that contains the next piece. Nice reader hook! And, the story is entertaining! Unfortunately with most of the books now out of print, finding a used copy or an online copy is required to read the entire story.
Now for the stories! This collection is varied with creepy tales about all sorts of different things! All of the authors but one were new to me, so I looked each one up to see what I could find out about them and their writing.
The stories:
Leaves by Mary K. Whittington. Old Mrs. Foss was scary and horrible in real life. She's even worse when she's dead! Great story!
I didn't find very much information about this author in my research online. She published 3 children's books: The Patchwork Lady, Winter's Child, and Carmina, Come Dance! All of the books appear to be out of print and I found no biographical information on her.
George Pinkerton and the Bedtime Ghost by Lawrence Watt-Evans and Julie Evans. Mr. Pinkerton is a librarian....and a monster hunter. A family just bought a house and finds out it's haunted. George is brought in to solve the problem.
Lawrence Watt-Evans is a prolific writer who pens mainly fantasy novels, but also dabbles in sci-fi, comic books, horror, etc. He wrote this story with his wife, Julie. His website states that George Pinkerton developed as a character through stories they made up to tell their kids at bedtime. He wrote several George Pinkerton tales (and told even more to his kids but never wrote them down) and this is one that sold. Two more George Pinkerton tales are in other Bruce Coville story collections.
A Cry in the Night by Nancy Varien Berbereck and Greg LaBarbera. Peter just moved into a big old house with his parents. The house is ok, but at night the wind sounds just like someone calling for help. A very creepy-cool story!
Nancy Varien Berbereck is a fantasy writer who has written several Dragonlance books. I tried to find information on Greg LaBarbera, but found no information other than finding him listed as co-author with Nancy on stories included in other Bruce Coville story collections.
Haunted by a Pig by Mel Gilden. Howard's room is haunted by a pig. And only his eccentric Uncle Max can help get rid of it. What a bizarre but fun story!!
Mel Gilden has written more than 40 books for adults and children. He has also worked as attraction consultant for Universal and Disney, and has written adaptations and television scripts.
Call Me Ghost by Lael Littke: A teenage ghost has haunted a house for 200 years. Can a living teenage girl help him move on? Great ghost story!
Lael Littke is the author of many YA novels and short stories, including several books in the Point Horror series.
After You've Gone by Michael Markiewicz. A boy overcomes stage fright with a bit of ghostly help. Awesome story! This one is my favorite from the collection.
I really wasn't able to turn up any additional information about this writer other than he had seven short stories published in collections edited by Bruce Coville from 1993-2000. I did not find any additional works published by this writer. There is a non-fiction author by the same name, but I found no indication that they are the same person.
The Tenant Who Frightened a Ghost by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. Harriet Leighman sure can make up a great story! A very short tale, but quite cute and clever! Enjoyed it!
Jessica Amanda Salmonson writes mainly fantasy and horror fiction, but has also penned non-fiction, short stories, poetry and has edited several story collections. She won a World Fantasy Award for her 1979 story collection Amazons!.
Soul Survivor by Neal Shusterman. A bored spirit gets into some real trouble. A totally creepy and awesome story!
Neal Shusterman is the author of the Scythe series and has won several awards for his writing. He writes mostly YA fiction, but has also written several murder mystery games, short stories, and screenplays.
Shark! by John Gregory Betancourt.Never bully a fossil. Not a wise choice. Awesome, creepy little tale! Loved it!
John Gregory Betancourt writes Sci-fi, fantasy and mystery novels, including four Star Trek novels. He has also written short stories and edited Amazing Stories, Weird Tales and H.P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror.
Biscuits of Glory by Bruce Coville. Benjie helps a ghost who is cursed to make biscuits every week forever. Cute story!
Bruce Coville has written many novels for YA readers and edited many story collections for YA.
All in all, this was a very entertaining collection of slightly scary stories for kids. I enjoyed reading each one!
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