Seven Ghosts (Everyone Can Be a Reader

by Chris Priestley

“As you all know, Grimstone Hall is thought to be the most haunted house in England. But there’s something more important than that. I think we are the only haunted house where all the ghosts are children. It’s rather special, don’t you think?” 
 
Jake and the other finalists in a ghost-story writing competition for children have been invited to tour Grimstone Hall where they’ll learn about the seven ghosts who haunt the grounds! As their guide leads them through grand rooms, hidden nooks, and magnificent grounds, they hear all about the ghosts. But strange shapes and shadows follow Jake as they move through the house, and the tour guide starts behaving very suspiciously. With each tale told, Jake grows more anxious. Soon he’ll discover something is very, very wrong . . .

Union Square & Co.’s EVERYONE CAN BE A READER books are expertly written, thoughtfully designed with dyslexia-friendly fonts and paper tones, and carefully formatted to meet readers where they are with engaging stories that encourage reading success across a wide range of age and interest levels.
 

Genres: Horror, Middle Grade, Ghosts, Short Stories, Fiction, Childrens, Fantasy

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

His father was in the army and so he moved around a lot as a child and lived in Wales. He was an avid reader of American comics as a child, and when he was eight or nine, and living in Gibraltar, he won a prize in a newspaper story-writing competition. He decided then “that my ambition was to write and illustrate my own book”.
He spent his teens in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, before moving to Manchester, London and then Norfolk. He now lives in Cambridge with his wife and son where he writes, draws, paints, dreams and doodles (not necessarily in that order). Chris worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for twenty years, working mainly for magazines & newspapers (these include The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Economist and the Wall Street Journal) before becoming a writer. He currently has a weekly strip cartoon called 'Payne's Grey' in the New Statesman.

Chris has been a published author since 2000. He has written several books for children & young-adults, both fiction and non-fiction, and
has been nominated for many awards including the Edgar Awards, the UKLA Children's Book Award and the Carnegie Medal. In recent years he has predominantly been writing horror.
Ever since he was a teenager Chris has loved unsettling and creepy stories, with fond memories of buying comics like 'Strange Tales' and 'House of Mystery', watching classic BBC TV adaptations of M R James ghost stories every Christmas and reading assorted weirdness by everyone from Edgar Allen Poe to Ray Bradbury. He hopes Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror will haunt his readers in the way those writers have haunted him.

Reviews

[Cristina Di Matteo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un racconto ad alta leggibilità che ci conduce in un intreccio spettrale deliziosamente agghiacciante tra suspense, brividi e colpi di scena. Una lettura imperdibile per gli amanti di Halloween e non solo. Da 11 anni ❤ https://ilmondodichri.com/seven-ghost/

#sevenghost #altaleggibilità #biancoeneroedizioni

[🌶 peppersocks 🧦 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reflections and lessons learned:
“I think we are the only haunted house where all the ghosts are children”

Ooo, definite checking over my shoulder shudders from this for such a short book… good one! An author I’m interested to read more from, and very excited to find so many available as library loan ebooks

[Anthony Burt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harking back to Chris Priestley’s classic Tales of Terror books – which involved one character being told a series of short, unsettling tales culminating in a spooky twist at the end – his new book, Seven Ghosts, is total “haunted mansion” genius!

On a school trip to a stately Manor house, Jake joins a group of kids who won a writing competition with the prize of a ghost tour around the huge house and gardens. At each point in the tour, their guide stops at different locations to tell the children a story about the ghost associated with that place.

Jake listens to all the stories carefully, but he also sees shadows, shapes – and possibly ghosts – himself along the way, but the other children don’t. What is going on – are all the ghosts trying to tell him something? And how has he got these special powers to see the dead?

To tell you anymore would be to give away the story – suffice to say, this is a brilliant book by Chris and I love Barrington Stoke books because they are written and published to be accessible to young readers and those with dyslexia/reading difficulties. And, as this book is a spooky one, having the pages a different colour (to aid reading) makes the illustrations and story seem even more freaky.

It’s a wonderful little book and I highly recommend it!

[stefiereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriously, how come Chris Priestley write great stories every single time?!

[Nurul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not expect that ending at all! Each ghost story was beautifully descriptive and it started getting darker towards the end of the book.

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading this to my class. Several lovely ghost stories with an unexpected twist at the end.

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful short story, supposedly meant for age 8 plus, about a group of children who visit an old Hall for a ghost tour of the building & grounds. It's a quick read with some genuinely spooky parts and I loved the illustrations throughout.

[Jessica Louise Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Priestley nunca decepciona!! Já li "Contos de terror do tio montague"e "Contos de terror do navio negro"e amei demais os dois! Com "Seven Ghosts" não foi diferente, entrou de novo pros meus livros favoritos <3 Uma história infanto juvenil de fantasmas já tem tudo pra dar certo, mas o autor sabe deixar a história mais interessante do que a gente imagina, amo a escrita dele e acho as histórias super criativas. Queria tanto que mais gente lesse esses livros! Pena que os outros livros do autor são difíceis de encontrar aqui no Brasil, preciso ler todos pra ontem!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! Very creepy stories and I really liked the way it was told via a tour guide taking round 7 children through an old manor house (even though I did guess that twist immediately, it was still written really well).
Would have been 5 stars if it wasn't for the use of gypsies/travellers/tinkers. The first story was manageable as the traveller child was the 'hero' (sort of), but the second was an unnecessary comment about where the old lady got her mysterious bell from and it reinforces the stereotype that the travelling community are of the occult/have the ability to curse you etc. etc. Seeing as this was a book I would have liked to use with my students who are travellers, I am now in a bit of a quandary. Maybe they can edit that line out in future editions? Other than that - great book! A must read!

[Kevin Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read of this from the school library. Looking for an alternative class reader for our Year 8 Gothic fiction unit based around ‘The Woman in Black’ as some of our less able students struggle with the language and don’t end up finishing the novel.

This certainly fits the bill in terms of its reading age, but unfortunately it just does not do enough language-wise to be able to meet our learning objectives.

Will have to keep looking - nice little spooky selection of stories though…

[KZ]

I read this to see if my year 7 would like it for guided reading and honestly I loved this book myself. It was spooky and mysterious. It felt like you were reading so many stories at once learning about each ghost and honestly I didn’t see the ending coming. They are all going to freak and I can’t wait.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounding down to 3 for GR - this is my fourth book by Chris Priestley, I quite enjoyed it, but I wish it had been a bit more fleshed out. A very solid middle grade horror novel, if you enjoy Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror I'd absolutely recommend this.

[Wiktoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up on a whim from the library and it may have been the best decision I made in a while! This book, despite it's short length was such a rollercoaster! The ghost stories were perfectly creepy and the twist at the end - though predicable - was just perfect.

[Wendy Bamber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good spooky story for middle grade, easily readable short chapters. I’m not a big fan of ghost stories, too creepy for me, but I think kids will find this creepy enough.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little book with a twist. I liked that there was a twist but I didn’t like the twist.

[The Bibliognost Bampot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story. Priestley is such a talent - captivating and really spooky stories but short and punchy to keep even reluctant readers engaged. Not as spooky as some of his others but still poignant and clever.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bra bok med fin berättarteknik när historierna om de sju spökena presenteras. En bra twist på slutet gör boken lite mer unik.

[Giorgia S · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The compact easy to read ghost story will appeal to a lot of readers. Jake is part of a group of children touring a haunted house. There is a mystery running through it surrounding our narrator Jake, who keeps seeing things and getting strange looks from the tour guide. This leads to a wonderful twist in it's tail. It would make a great read aloud and starting inspiration for students to come up with their own ghost stories. It is also a Barrington Stoke imprint book (dyslexia friendly format).

[Samantha Pope · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, short novel with some scares for middle grade readers. Also excellent for reluctant readers and those with dyslexia.

[Christina Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the perfect read for just before Hallowe'en, with just the right amount of eerie goings-on and creepiness to make it a chilling and enjoyable read, without being one that is going to keep me up with nightmares every night! I would have no hesitation recommending this for Year 4 + as the reading level is low yet the interest level is high and the twist, while foreshadowed, it very satisfying to read.
I really liked each individual ghost's stories and how they were linked together by the house, as well as how each story fits into the overall narrative.
3.5 stars.

[Luna's Little Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set just at the right shade of eerie the tales told in Seven Ghosts reminiscent of the campfire ghost stories in horror films, before it all goes so desperately wrong for the narrators.

There is a sense that the overall story builds to something bigger, and in a way I guess it does but the spookiness of each ghost story is pretty evenly distributed. My personal favourite was the story with the bell.

[Helen Mears · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Priestley has a knack of producing eerie little ghost tales for young people about young people - often meeting grisly ends. It's kind of Poe-lite! What's great about this book is that it's in a dyslexic friendly typeface and is on cream coloured paper to help those with Irlen's syndrome. Love it.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as spooky as I had hoped but I really liked the ending.

[Emma Mullins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for secondary school library. Great for reluctant readers. A bit predictable. Interesting story

[Sarah Sarah]

Predictable but enjoyable, Maisie was my favourite ghost.

[Nialla Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was so good the ending was amazing 👏

[Stephan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grimstone Halls historia sträcker sig ända från medeltiden till våra dagar. En historia fylld av ond bråd död och sorg. Inte konstigt att det sägs att det spökar här.

Idag är Grimstone Hall ett populärt hotell. Hit kommer folk från när och fjärran som vill övernatta i et äkta spökhus och kanske till och med få se en skymt av ett spöke. Hit kommer också barn och unga i grupper för att få höra om de ruskigheter som utspelats kring det gamla godset.

Just idag har Jake och flera andra barn blivit inbjudna på en rundtur som pris i en novelltävling. Under rundturen får vi berättat om sju av de spöken som huserar på Grimstone Hall. Sju berättelser som är lika sorgliga som skrämmande. Men samtidigt som vi får följa barnen på deras rundtur, så börjar vi undra... Över guiden, Fru Fox. Över skepnaderna som rör sig i skuggorna. Över de våta fläckarna på golvet. Är det bara statister och skådespelare som försöker skapa en kuslig stämning, eller är det något mycket värre? Jake börjar verkligen undra, och slutet kommer med en mycket obehaglig överraskning...

Har man läst Priestleys tidigare böcker: Onkel Montagues spökhistorier, Spökhistorier från det svarta skeppet och Spökhistorier från den mörka tunneln så känner man igen receptet. Men det är ett vinnande koncept och det fungerar fortfarande. Det enda jag beklagar är att berättelserna hade kunnat vara aningen längre och twisten var litet förutsägbar.
Men vadå?

En härlig samling spökhistorier med en bra ramberättelse och i miljöer som känns väldigt verkliga. Definitivt en bok som kan locka många i mellanåldern!

[Rosie Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 STARS!

This book is a masterclass in suspense, atmosphere, and sheer storytelling. From the very first page, it draws you in with its eerie, almost oppressive atmosphere that keeps you on edge the entire time. It’s dark, it’s creepy, and it has that perfect gothic feel that keeps you turning pages late into the night.

But let’s talk about the twist, because honestly, I could not get over it. I was completely blindsided by what happened. The way Priestley set it all up—I mean, I thought I had it all figured out, but nope. The twist slayed me. I had to stop reading for a moment and process it. The entire time, you’re led to believe one thing, and then BAM, it turns everything upside down. It’s the kind of plot twist that makes you want to go back and reread the whole book to catch the clues you missed. Brilliantly done.

What’s great about this book is how it builds up so much tension, not just through the plot but also through the characters. Every ghost, every haunting moment, feels real, and you’re constantly questioning what’s real and what’s not. The sense of dread creeps in slowly, and when you finally get to the twist, it’s like a punch to the gut that you never saw coming.

The atmosphere, the characters, and that plot twist all come together so perfectly. Priestley takes what could be a simple ghost story and turns it into something much more complex and satisfying. It’s clever, it’s chilling, and it leaves you thinking about it long after you’ve finished.

If you love psychological thrillers with ghostly twists and turns, Seven Ghosts is an absolute must-read. It’s the kind of book that keeps you up at night, not just because you’re scared, but because you can’t stop thinking about the twist. Chris Priestley knocks it out of the park with this one!

[Joey Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After winning a ghost story writing competition Jake and a bunch of other children attend to a haunted house for the event. Whilst at this event the tour guide Miss. Fox shares about the seven children ghosts that reside on its land and the misfortune that happened to them.

I really enjoyed the ghost stories within the actual ghost story it was so creative, I liked the setting in an old Manor House, places that that always have so much history and so many ghosts walking around it. It really added so much to the story with it being in a setting like this.

I liked how naturally the tour guide shared the stories, though they were devastating, I liked how she shared them with the children, taking them to the locations they frequent the most and seeing them herself as she walks round the grounds. It was done really well and she had such dedication to each child’s story.

Though to me I figured out the plot twist, not every reader would figure it out which would make it so much more fun for them. It was also very tame in it horror, it was still eerie and creepy in places, but is perfect for young readers and those that like ghost stories but don’t want to be very scared.

This was a good dyslexia friendly read, I really enjoyed learning about the seven ghosts that resided in this manor and why. I also enjoyed the history that we learnt throughout of the actual manor and it’s changing hands constantly. It’s very creatively written.