A Ghostly Playmate

Shivers #25

by M.D. Spenser

Virginia's best friend is a ghost who plays games with her and won't let her quit. The ghost wants her as a playmate forever.

Genres: Horror, Childrens, Fiction

122 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

M.D. Spenser is a children's author, journalist and music critic. Born in the United States, he lives now in the UK.

"The Enchanted Attic," Book 1 of his popular SHIVERS series of novels for children, was republished as an e-book in August 2011. It is available at amazone.com, Barnes & Noble, Sony and iBookstory. Book 2, "A Ghastly Shade of Green," and Book 3, "Ghost Writer," followed shortly afterwards.


The rest of the 36-book series will be published as ebooks over time.

Also, an internet petition is circulating asking that the entire 36-book series be republished in paperback: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/md...

Reviews

[Horror Sickness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Virginia Leigh is eleven. All her life she has been living in Leigh Hall, a big mansion with servants and tutors for her.

However her family has a setback and they need to move into a small apartment in New York. Moving from Alabama to the loud and busy New York and having to go to a regular school is a real challenge for her.

However she will make a new friend that has a very dark secret.

This story was so dark and so disturbing that it has become one of my favorites from the Shivers book series. This is a story that is a lot more than a simple ghost tale.


TW: child death

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished what is probably the rarest Shivers book in my collection.This one is called A Ghostly Playmate.And boy was this something.The story follows this girl named Virginia.She and her family just moved to New York from Alabama,because her dad lost his job or something.He is an inventor.And right now he is trying to make something.We don't know what it is but we do near the end.In the book the dad and mom are both very neglectful and they don't pay attention to Virginia as they should.The dad even calls her the wrong name at one point.He calls her Caroline.Virginia explains who Caroline is though.Caroline was Virginia's little sister who tragically passed away soon after she was born.Thats pretty deep for a Goosebumps knock off book.But it gets deeper.One day she sees this girl in a mirror,I belive she's in her bedroom.The little girl introduces herself as Carly.They talk for a bit,Carly informs Virginia that her mom can't know about her.So she hides in the closet when her mom comes upstairs or something like that.When the mom leaves,Virginia goes to the closet and notices that Carly is gone.She reaches throughout the closet not knowing where the girl went.She reaches this blanket in the closet,pulls it out and finds something I'd never in a million years would've guessed I'd read.This leads to the family calling the cops.The cops come they can't figure out something.But one cop refuses to give up.Carly keeps popping up randomly and they become good friends.One day,Carly wants to teach Virginia how to play cards,only when Virginia tries her hand goes through her.This isn't a spoiler because of the cover so im going to elaborate,just in case any of you don't think this will be your book to read.When Caroline was born her family already had a little girl.The family was struggling to make ends meet.The mom couldn't read or write.The dad kept losing his job and resorted to alcohol.So when Caroline was born they put her in the closet and left her there.That is the single handedly darkest thing I've ever read in a children's book.We learn also that Carly wants Virginia to be dead to play with her.So when she's trying to be friends with her,it seems she's only doing it to get close to her to kill her,which hurts Virginia.We do get a true form of Carly also,which is super creepy.I had alot of fun with this book,it's easily my favorite so far.I liked the dynamic of Virginia not having friends and settling with Carly.the only negatives I have were the writing at the begining.It goes away though and Carly even playfully mocks her.I also was a little mixed on the idea of Carly being evil.On one hand it was super scary,on the other I just wanted them to actually be friends.The ending makes all this great though as it's super sad and really good.We even learn the invention of what the dad is making and it's honestly great.We learn why the parents are like this and it's even kinda understandable.Not ok ,but I get it.Im honestly going to give this book a perfect five out of five stars.I never thought I'd see the day that a Shivers book gets this high of a ranking but this one was good.

[Fareeda Sabra · Rating 2 out of 5]

No

[Ti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this multiple times as a kid and definitely won't mind reading again. This book is creepy in the best way

[Carmen Tudor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spenser's material is very moving and no doubt beyond the scope of this type of kids' series. However, I do believe children should be exposed to concepts like infant mortality and child abuse in literature in order to strengthen empathy and an understanding of how different life can be for those who don't live with safety and love, or are dealing with grief and profound loneliness.

These days the book would probably carry a warning. I don't remember reading this title as a child and it seems that most people reading the series now are adults. If I had encountered it at 11 or 12 I would have felt privileged to read it. It is depressing, while also being charmingly weird, but the above themes should be noted if you intend to offer it to a younger reader.

NB The indifference to the ill treatment of lab rats nearly made me put the book down for good. It will likely offend animal rights adherents even though it is all depicted as a) not intentionally harmful and b) occurring in the name of science and resulting in a solution for SIDS.

[Nader Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10

[Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Depressing, sad story? Bruh, where's my shivers at? False advertising book. It's not scary, just thought the writing was descent.

[Raoum Mathkour · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a really great story loved the shift in feelings when spring came. And the sweet ending =)

[Emma]

Omg I can't believe after all the years (ok talking 20 years, here) I have rediscovered this book.
The book itself is terrible and not worth re-reading but I'm so glad that I did not makeup the weird story of the girl who moves to an apartment and finds a baby skeleton in the closet. Phew! Mystery solved!