Ghost's Hour, Spook's Hour

by Eve Bunting, Donald Carrick (Illustrator)

There's something strange about tonight. What's that woo sound outside my window?

Genres: Halloween, Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Dogs

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 1987

About the author

Also known as Evelyn Bolton and A.E. Bunting.

Anne Evelyn Bunting, better known as Eve Bunting, is an author with more than 250 books. Her books are diverse in age groups, from picture books to chapter books, and topic, ranging from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. Eve Bunting has won several awards for her works.

Bunting went to school in Ireland and grew up with storytelling. In Ireland, “There used to be Shanachies… the shanachie was a storyteller who went from house to house telling his tales of ghosts and fairies, of old Irish heroes and battles still to be won. Maybe I’m a bit of a Shanchie myself, telling stories to anyone who will listen.” This storytelling began as an inspiration for Bunting and continues with her work.

In 1958, Bunting moved to the United States with her husband and three children. A few years later, Bunting enrolled in a community college writing course. She felt the desire to write about her heritage. Bunting has taught writing classes at UCLA. She now lives in Pasadena, California.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young boy wakes near the witching hour to find the electricity off, and his parents missing. He bravely ventures through the house with his dog, and finds logical explanations for the things that scare him. Carrick's broody illustrations are a nice accompaniment.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young boy awakens to a strange midnight world in this eerie picture-book from veteran children's author Eve Bunting, discovering that the lights don't work and that his parents are not in their bedroom. Accompanied by his dog Biff, he sets out to discover what is going on, tentatively making his way downstairs, where he encounters a frightening white apparition. Is it a ghost? And where are the boy's parents...?

All is happily resolved of course, as the story moves effortlessly from spooky to reassuring. Combining a well-paced text with expressive artwork that captures the frightening aspects of the boy's nighttime experiences, Ghost's Hour, Spook's Hour is a great shivery read for younger children who enjoy ghost stories. Although not specifically related to the holiday, I did find this one on my public library's Halloween display, and I think it would make an excellent selection for this time of year!

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute book of a boy that wakes up at midnight and walks through the house looking for his parents but ends up spooking himself with the shadows around the house. It's about the childhood illogical fear that children feel at night in the dark. The illustrations are very nicely done.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really felt like the illustrations were great and overshadowed this drab story. Ghost's Hour, Spook's Hour (1987) by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Donald Carrick, is about a boy who wakes up in the middle of the night to discover the power has gone out in his home. As he makes his way through the house to find his parents, he encounters all the scares and spooks of the witching hour, only it's not as fun as I just might have made it sound, unfortunately. There are no ghosts or real spooks in this book which was a huge letdown. My rating - 2/5

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad my daughter liked this one. I checked it out from my elementary school library multiple times when I was in 1st grade or so. Every so often over the years I would think about this book but could never remember the title. Another book my daughter liked recently had a similar feel and, sure enough, there was this one on the read alike list. It was difficult to find a physical copy, I had to get it through interlibrary loan.

[David Haggett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, Eve Bunting captures the mood of being young and waking up in the middle of the night (though the mirror reflection is a stretch), and Donald Carrick captives with his photograph-like drawings.

[Y.Poston]

Very creeepy &
reassuring for children.

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alissa was scared and didn't want to finish listening to it.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heart Eve Bunting

[Patrycia Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ghost’s Hour, Spook’s Hour by Eve Bunting tells the story of a young boy who woke up in the middle of the night, startled by a storm, and immediately found everything in his house frightening. The funniest thing about the story is the fact that the little boy didn’t realize that it was a storm and his parents were in the next room. Everything that he was imagining was taken place was all in his head and he was actually safe and secure in his home. Taking into consideration the language, context, and illustrations of this story, this story would most likely appeal to students in 2nd or 3rd grade or moderate readers considering the fact that the language used in this story is slightly more complex than what would be comfortable for a beginning reader. The illustrations used in this story are slightly more dull and gray in an attempt to fit the theme of the story. The book also uses a series of exclamation marks in an attempt to capture the reader’s attention and express the fear of the little boy.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book for a teacher. However, if a teacher has a student who is interested in scary stories, this would be an excellent book to capture that student’s interest and attention. It’s always good for a teacher to have a wide range of genres in his/her collection of books being that each student has a different set of interests.

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

One night a little boy is wakened by an wailing sound. He tells himself not to be scared that it's only the wind. When he tries to turn on his bedside lamp nothing happens. The boy and his dog, Biff, leave the bedroom in search of the boy's parents. When he finds their bed empty he is quite concerned. Their bedroom light won't light either, and Biff is howling in imitation of the wind. Then a branch bounces against the window. The boy tells his dog not to be scared. They set out again, and the clock booms 12 times. It's midnight! The boy thought, "Ghost's hour, Spook's hour." He tells Biff to follow him downstairs, but he won't. The boy carries the dog down. Then a shiny whiteness comes at them from the darkness! The boy screams and so does the whiteness. It is only his reflection in the big wall mirror; the whiteness is Biff. Suddenly the dining room door bursts open. The boy and Biff run and jump into father's arms. Mother and Father are sleeping on the couch. All four pile onto the couch bed and go to sleep.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com

[Ashli Stroyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bunting’s story of a young boy and his dog begins with the young boy waking up to the howling of the wind outside his window. The boy then mistakes this for a ghost! He then goes to look for his parents, but on his search for his parents he encounters many other seemingly scary things. The book ends with the young boy finding his parents and sleeping in their bed with them. This book could be interpreted by showing children how our imagination can run wild and sometimes things appear to be different than they actually are, and that it is important not to jump to conclusions. Many children will be able to relate to this book. This would be a great book for those children who are often scared to sleep in their own room and can be used as a tool to show children that what might seem scary is actually their imagination. Ghost’s Hour, Spook’s Hour would also be a good book to read around Halloween as well.

[Madison Godfrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

When a little boy wakes up to the howling of the wind his imagination runs wild, turning not so scary things into spooky things and leads him to wind up in bed with his parents. I had mixed feelings about this book because it is a children’s book but at the same time it is a very spooky and scary book for young children to be reading because it is about how it scares them. One thing I do suppose is good for the reader if they are young, is that they are reading something truthful about what really happens when you read something scary or spooky. I think this is a good book to read your children or a classroom around the time of Halloween, and it could include that there is usually a logical explanation for why things happen and why things are even scarier in the dark.

[Chelsea Cameron]

A young boy is awoken from his sleep in the wee hours of the night only to notice a spooky power-outage. This book would be a great one to share to students around Halloween time, it gives off perfect vocabulary to add extra thrill and has really detailed and somewhat dark illustrations. I think this book does a great job of really showing the boy’s feelings and describes the sounds and objects he is seeing with great detail. Luckily enough the boy’s parents tell him what happened and really explained the situation and afterwards told him that he could sleep in their room for the rest of the night, this really put the boys anxiety at ease. I think that a lot of kids could relate to this book because some kids do get scared and often have to sleep with their parents on occasion.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange noises wake Jake up. There are trees scraping windows and wind whistling through cracks. Jake and his dog Biff head downstairs to investigate. Suddenly a white blob heads towards him. Jake realizes that it's midnight, ghost's hour, spook's hour. Yelling for help, he and Biff dive under the dining room table. When Jake's dad appears in the room, he and Biff launch themselves at him for comfort. Mom then shows up and explains that the storm has knocked the power out. The family decides to camp out together in the living room.

[Suzanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bunting’s story of a young boy and his dog begins with the young boy waking up to the howling of the wind outside his window. The boy then mistakes this for a ghost! He then goes to look for his parents, but on his search for his parents, he encounters many other seemingly scary things. The book ends with the young boy finding his parents and sleeping in bed with them. Ghost’s Hour, Spook’s Hour would be a good book to read around Halloween or to lead in to a lesson about the history of Halloween.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy wakes up from sleep in the middle of the night to a power-outage. His imagination goes wild with all of the sounds, feelings, and sights. Luckily, his trusty dog is there to keep him company. He finds his parents who explain the situation and invite him to sleep in the living room. I think this book would be good to read around Halloween or if a child is scared of the dark. It could show that there usually is a logical explanation for the spooky things that happen in the dark.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though not truly a Halloween book, this is a good book to read at that time of year. Jake wakes up in the dark and is scared. The lights are out and there are a lot of noises in the night that are a little frightening. It's a good book to read aloud with children, followed by a discussion about being afraid in the dark. Our girls also enjoyed listening to this book read on tape by a child.

[Eden Silverfox · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is about a young boy and his dog who wake up in the middle of the night to a storm.

It was okay. Not a bad book, but I didn't really enjoy it as much as the other books I've read by this author.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book perfectly explores the fear a child experiences upon waking during the night. The slight suggestion of an actual ghost fits perfectly with how many real ghosts find a way to manifest themselves: through the surface a mirror.

[Kirsten Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun seasonal read.

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jake is afraid of the sounds he is hearing late at night. He and Biff, his dog, go to find mom and dad, but their bed is empty. What happened?

[Miss Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

GR Level: ?

Elementary: E BUN

Jake is afraid of the sounds he is hearing late at night. He and Biff, his dog, go to find mom and dad, but their bed is empty. What happened?

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite Read a loud's for October.

[Susan Howson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty much the scariest Halloween type story we read this year. A kid walking around a house and being unable to find his parents--yikes.

[Jeremiah Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great anchor text for personal stories.