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Choose Your Own Adventure #52
Ghost Hunter
Read the book over and over while creating a new ghost story ever time. Readers can decide between choices how they want the story to end.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
5 people are currently reading
185 people want to read
About the author
Edward Packard
169 books125 followersEdward Packard attended and graduated from both Princeton University and Columbia Law School. He was one of the first authors to explore the idea of gamebooks, in which the reader is inserted as the main character and makes choices about the direction the story will go at designated places in the text.
The first such book that Edward Packard wrote in the Choose Your Own Adventure series was titled "Sugarcane Island", but it was not actually published as the first entry in the Choose Your Own Adventure Series. In 1979, the first book to be released in the series was "The Cave of Time", a fantasy time-travel story that remained in print for many years. Eventually, one hundred eighty-four Choose Your Own Adventure books would be published before production on new entries to the series ceased in 1998. Edward Packard was the author of many of these books, though a substantial number of other authors were included as well.
In 2005, Choose Your Own Adventure books once again began to be published, but none of Edward Packard's titles have yet been included among the newly-released books.
The first such book that Edward Packard wrote in the Choose Your Own Adventure series was titled "Sugarcane Island", but it was not actually published as the first entry in the Choose Your Own Adventure Series. In 1979, the first book to be released in the series was "The Cave of Time", a fantasy time-travel story that remained in print for many years. Eventually, one hundred eighty-four Choose Your Own Adventure books would be published before production on new entries to the series ceased in 1998. Edward Packard was the author of many of these books, though a substantial number of other authors were included as well.
In 2005, Choose Your Own Adventure books once again began to be published, but none of Edward Packard's titles have yet been included among the newly-released books.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 10, 2019
3.5 stars
I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid and while I don't think I read this particular title back in the day it still held a very nostalgic element to it. It was also still a lot of fun to read it as an adult. The story follows a character who is trying to start a ghost hunting business. I read through multiple times and made different choices so sometimes I had a successful ending and other times not so much! There was a good mix in the directions that the stories took, some being supernatural and others non-supernatural so that kept it interesting.
I loved the Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid and while I don't think I read this particular title back in the day it still held a very nostalgic element to it. It was also still a lot of fun to read it as an adult. The story follows a character who is trying to start a ghost hunting business. I read through multiple times and made different choices so sometimes I had a successful ending and other times not so much! There was a good mix in the directions that the stories took, some being supernatural and others non-supernatural so that kept it interesting.
June 29, 2018
Ghost Hunter is definitely one of the weakest entries in the CYOA series. Once again, this is an entry in which most of the book is “turn to page...” rather than making choices. And again, the low number of possible endings (20) is an indicator that you should pass this one up. There are indeed a couple of spooky endings (which is the only reason I gave two stars rather than one) however, getting to them is too tedious for it to feel like a payoff of any sort. Additionally, there are some paths that actually end up in the same place as if you had made a different choice in the beginning—what is the point?
In a nutshell: The setup is too much, the passages are too long, choices too few (as mentioned), and to top it off we do not even get Paul Granger’s illustrations, we get Ted Enik’s, which are just not as appealing. I would not read this CYOA unless you are desperate and literally have no other options. :P
In a nutshell: The setup is too much, the passages are too long, choices too few (as mentioned), and to top it off we do not even get Paul Granger’s illustrations, we get Ted Enik’s, which are just not as appealing. I would not read this CYOA unless you are desperate and literally have no other options. :P
July 5, 2020
La serie de Elige tu propia aventura es, literalmente, un clásico de nuestra infancia. He releído algunos, años después, y me parecen un poco cortos de miras, limitados en las posibilidades, pero cuando tenía 10 años cada uno de ellos era una maravilla lista para ser explorada hasta que hubiera dado todo lo que tenía dentro.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
Al final siempre sabías que ibas a recorrer todos y cada uno de los caminos posibles. La emoción estaba, por tanto, en ganar y pasarte la historia al primer intento. Si no podías, pues nada, seguro que en el intento 18 acababas encontrando el camino. A veces los autores iban "a pillar", poniéndote los resultados buenos detrás de decisiones que eran claramente anómalas.
Recuerdo haber aprendido tanto palabras como hechos y datos en estos libros. No nadar contra la corriente cuando quieres llegar a tierra, dónde colocarse cuando un avión va a despegar, un montón de cosas interesantes y un montón de historias vividas, decenas por cada libro, que convirtieron a las serie en una colección fractal, donde cada vez podías elegir un libro nuevo entre los que ya tenías.
Llegué hasta el tomo 54 y dejé de tener interés por la serie, pero la serie siguió hasta superar los 180 títulos. Tal vez mis hijos quieran seguir el camino que yo empecé. Si quieres que lo sigan, pasa a la página 7.
April 23, 2021
5th grade level - good for an active kid with a shorter attention span
May 21, 2018
Ah, Choose Your Own Adventure, that paper bridge between that 5th grade fantasy map (see my Hobbit review) and my life-changing discovery of Dungeons & Dragons in the 7th grade.
Some of them were great, some punishing, some arbitrary, but they revealed to me for the first time that I could make choices and that they had immediate effect the course on my (fictional) reality. For a kid whose home life felt largely hopeless and inescapable, the empowerment of making my own way by the power of my own choices and facing consequences traceable directly to my decisions - wow!
While day-to-day reality seemed to deal out arbitrary, unpredictable punishments regardless of my actions, here was a place where I could experiment and learn and grow in safety and if I was punished there was always a why.
Some of them were great, some punishing, some arbitrary, but they revealed to me for the first time that I could make choices and that they had immediate effect the course on my (fictional) reality. For a kid whose home life felt largely hopeless and inescapable, the empowerment of making my own way by the power of my own choices and facing consequences traceable directly to my decisions - wow!
While day-to-day reality seemed to deal out arbitrary, unpredictable punishments regardless of my actions, here was a place where I could experiment and learn and grow in safety and if I was punished there was always a why.
May 23, 2019
N° 44 del Reading Challenge
Cuando empecé a leerlo dije que iba a reseñar/puntuar respecto al primer final que me tocará. Por desgracia el final que me tocó fue muy rápido y medio ¿decepcionante? porque quería saber más sobre los cazadores de fantasma.
El segundo final que me tocó fue mucho más "bajo" por lo que me decidí que el primer final a pesar de no ser mi favorito no me pareció malo.
Aún así estuvo bien. Voy a leer algunos de los números anteriores para ver qué me parecen.
Cuando empecé a leerlo dije que iba a reseñar/puntuar respecto al primer final que me tocará. Por desgracia el final que me tocó fue muy rápido y medio ¿decepcionante? porque quería saber más sobre los cazadores de fantasma.
El segundo final que me tocó fue mucho más "bajo" por lo que me decidí que el primer final a pesar de no ser mi favorito no me pareció malo.
Aún así estuvo bien. Voy a leer algunos de los números anteriores para ver qué me parecen.
January 27, 2024
No hay mucho que decir, es muy divertido de ser el protagonista y tomar desiciones que hacen que co tiene o afecte la historia. Me encantó.
May 9, 2023
Ironically, I always liked the Dungeons and Dragons series of Choose Your Own Adventure books more than the original Choose Your Own Adventure series. In my opinion, D&D's version has superior plotlines. However, they wouldn't exist without the wildly popular original series, so I enjoy revisiting both.
July 26, 2016
Ghost Hunter (CYOA #52) is the sequel to the earlier Choose Your Own Adventure book 'Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?'. It's written by Edward Packard and the plot finds you entertaining the notion of trading in being a detective (who's now famous after solving the Thrombey case) for being a ghost hunter. There are essentially three main paths in this book. You can help a gangster get rid of ghosts that are haunting the old Thrombey house, which he has just bought. Or you can help Thrombey's niece recover diamonds that she inherited that are hidden in the old Thrombey house. Or you can help your friend Jenny investigate a possible haunted mansion. Unfortunately the latter path always ends rather quickly and seems to be more of an afterthought tacked on. But you can still team up with Jenny sometimes in the other paths.
This is a cute story with illustrations by Ted Enik that fit the mood well. They're detailed and a bit cartoony. I also really like the cover, though it's definitely done by a different artist. What's also nice about this book is that the pages are full. Some other CYOA books have page after page of only one or two sentences but this one doesn't skimp on writing. There's also some nice touches where something learned earlier helps you choose the correct path.
One thing that stuck out as a little odd is that apparently neighbors seeing lights on at night and dogs roaming the yard of an occupied/lived-in house equals them assuming the house is haunted. I'm guessing that neighborhood doesn't have a very effective welcoming committee.
This is a cute story with illustrations by Ted Enik that fit the mood well. They're detailed and a bit cartoony. I also really like the cover, though it's definitely done by a different artist. What's also nice about this book is that the pages are full. Some other CYOA books have page after page of only one or two sentences but this one doesn't skimp on writing. There's also some nice touches where something learned earlier helps you choose the correct path.
One thing that stuck out as a little odd is that apparently neighbors seeing lights on at night and dogs roaming the yard of an occupied/lived-in house equals them assuming the house is haunted. I'm guessing that neighborhood doesn't have a very effective welcoming committee.
February 1, 2016
A little too accurate for a fictional ghost story, this Choose Your Own Adventure book does not hold back on what your decisions could lead to as you read your way through the book prompts. Death is prominent with several endings, as well as dog bites and other scary things besides the ghost. A classic setting, with characters and situations that could be the same even if it was written today, this book holds up well against the flow of time. Creative and worth the time needed to read through several (or all) of the potential endings for the story, this book will get readers of all ages thinking. Recommended for elementary school age (reading level and maturity depending) and older individuals that are interested in: mystery/adventure/ghost/survival stories, and interactive reading experiences.
November 13, 2015
This book was alright, just a little underwhelming. It had the potential to be so creepy and spooky like the much better Curse of Chimney Rock. A lot of it stems from the illustrations, which are done well, but are just very cartoony. The ominous ghost looks like a harmless grandfather. The dangerous guard-dogs look like grumpy pets. The story is about investigating a house for ghosts and coming across something even more sinister. I like the detective aspect of it, which bumped it up a star, but it's just not in the same level of the great classic CYOA books. Still good, but skippable.
July 7, 2015
This was not good. It ended way too soon, no matter what choices I made. But for kids, it's probably a better fit. I read a teenage multiple choice book once, and loved it, but that was also longer than this.
July 2, 2008
I have, like, 10 of these from when I was a 'tween. Still love them, and after 10+ years, I forgot all of the endings--Yay new books I already read!
July 29, 2008
Number 52 of the 'Choose your own adventure' series, Ghost Hunter... in these books the reader gets to be the central character by choosing what path the tale follows through a variety of endings...
July 9, 2013
the adventures that I went through when I was bored I just read these books over and over again you would never get to the end of the story.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews