Spooky Cemeteries

by Dinah Williams

Do the dead tell tales? Readers will find out in this scary trip through 11 of the world's spookiest graveyards. Among the Chestnut Hill Cemetery in Rhode Island. That's where a little girl named Mercy Brown is buried. In the late 1800s, her family was hit by tuberculosis. First, her mother and sister died. Then Mercy herself became sick and died. In desperation to save his tubercular son, her father--who had become convinced that Mercy was a vampire rising from the grave each night to suck the life blood from her sibling--dug up her body, cut out her heart and burned it, and served the ashes to her brother. Such compelling historical nonfiction will keep readers eagerly turning the pages in this macabre exploration of the world of the dead. Spooky Cemeteries is part of Bearport's Scary Places series.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ghosts, Childrens

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Dinah Williams, an editor and children's book author, is fascinated by odd and unusual stories. Her nonfiction books include Terrible but True: Awful Events in American History; Secrets of Walt Disney World; and Spooky Cemeteries, which won the 2009 Children's Choice Award. Dinah's newest book, True Hauntings Deadly Disasters, is coming from Scholastic in 2020. She lives in Cranford, NJ with her husband and daughters, who hate all things scary.

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had really great pictures and a promising premise. I read it because the publisher sent me an email saying it was voted best book by kids. However, I didn't really like the writing style. I thought it was not in depth enough. There wasn't enough text to give that spooky feel that a lot of kids like in their scary or ghost stories. If you wanted a little info about these 11 different places, this would be good. One big problem I had with this is that there were several places where vampires were described and it made it sound like they really existed. It wasn't just vampires, either, but other things as well. I definitely won't be recommending this for JCPL to purchase.

[Baroness · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re a taphophile or an aspiring one or if you’re looking for what the normies call a creepy read then get your read on.
My three star ⭐️ rating is due to not enough information on the cemeteries that were in the book. Would have been so much better if the author had dug deeper haha.
RIP ⚰️

[HappyGay Bakunzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great

[Melyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children's Choice Award Finalist 2009

[Karen Arendt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creepy, but informative. The layout is visually appealing with plenty of pictures to balance the text. Content seems more appropriate for 4th or 5th grade...

[Sarahnm · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are great books for reluctant readers. My students love them!