Bruce Coville's Book of Ghost Tales to Haunt You

Bruce Coville's Book of Ghosts #1

by Bruce Coville (Editor)

From the popular author of My Teacher Is An Alien comes a spooky collection of ghost stories for young readers. In stories that range all the way from the humrous to the frightening, Bruce Coville and other authors show that ghosts can touch our souls in ways both terrifying and wondrous!

Introduction: Restless spirits / Bruce Coville --
The ghost let go / Bruce Coville --
The grounding of Theresa / Mary Downing Hahn --
A true story / James D. Macdonald --
The pooka / Michael Markiewicz --
Ghost walk / Mark A. Garland --
For love of him / Vivian Vande Velde --
Ghost stories / Lawrence Watt-Evans --
Mrs. Ambroseworthy / Jane Yolen --
Not from Detroit / Joe R. Lansdale --
Jasper's ghost / Nancy Etchemendy --
The secret of city cemetery / Patrick Bone --
The ghost in the summer kitchen / Mary Frances Zambreno

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

180 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 1995

About the author

Bruce Coville was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1950. His family lived in farm territory, about twenty miles north of Syracuse. Bruce grew up around the corner from his grandparents' dairy farm, where he spent a great deal of time as a child, dodging cows and chores to the best of his ability. As a young reader he loved Mary Poppins and Dr. Dolittle, and still has fond memories of rising ahead of the rest of his family so he could huddle in a chair and read THE VOYAGES OF DR. DOLITTLE. He also read lots of things that people consider junk (Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, and zillions of comic books). His only real regret is the time he spent watching television, when he could have been reading instead. (A mind is a terrible thing to waste!)

His first book, THE FOOLISH GIANT, was published in 1978. It was illustrated by his wife, Katherine, whom he had married in 1969. This was followed in 1979 by SARAH'S UNICORN, also illustrated by Katherine. After a long period of working separately, the Covilles began collaborating again with SPACE BRAT and GOBLINS IN THE CASTLE, both published in 1992.

Before getting published Bruce earned his living as a toymaker, a gravedigger, a cookware salesman, an assembly line worker, and finally as an elementary school teacher (second and fourth grades). He left teaching in 1981 to devote himself to becoming a full time writer - though it took another five years to achieve that goal!)

Bruce has published over 100 books, which have appeared in over a dozen countries around the world and sold more than sixteen million copies. Among his most popular titles are MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN, INTO THE LAND OF THE UNICORNS, and THE MONSTER'S RING. In 2001 he founded Full Cast Audio, an audiobook company dedicated to creating unabridged, full cast recordings of the best in children's and young adult literature.

Reviews

[Kayla Martin-Gant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will never stop loving these anthologies, and while this one in particular isn't FULL of my faves like some of the others in this series, "For Love of Him" has haunted me since I was 10 years old. It's beautiful.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

4, maybe even 5 Stars, depending on the story. This is a great collection of ghost stories by fantastic 90's authors. I had no idea about this series, I can't wait to read more! Being kid's ghost stories they were creepy, but not too scary. And quite a few of them featured nice ghosts with happy endings.

We'll see what stories I remember and like over the but these are my favorites, having just finished the book:

The Pooka- about a ghost horse and King Arthur as a kid
Ghost Walk- about a mother and daughter visiting a grave hoping to meet Dad, really well done
For Love of Him- a boy becomes obsessed with a weeping ghost, pretty creepy
Ghost Stories- boys like hearing ghost stories, silly
Not From Detroit- death comes to an old couple, different and sweet
The Secret of City Cemetery- Boy likes to play morbid practical jokes, short and vivid

[Sundee Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories was mostly fun, though there were a few that got to me. The story of the bully who was buried alive and the one with the ghostly premonition were both super creepy. Still, for a kid's book, I found that this collection had the right amount of scary and fun.

[Carlos Ceballos Méndez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and touching stories about dead people/ghosts, to apreciate life.

[Kc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ghost stories. Wasnt frightened at all

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book that I've bought using my own money. Well, of course my parents gave me those money. I was still in grade school then. This is also the first book that I've finished reading (excluding short children's books). I enjoyed reading this book. The scare level is high. The narration makes this book superb. Since this is a children's book, the words used were simple yet engaging. You need to drown to experience the fright. And, yes, the narration and plot development will drown you. This is a must read this Halloween! It's not gory, violent or mystic! Just pure horror!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for a good ghost story. Coville is a master of children's books, and this one is no exception. This is a timeless anthology of spooky tales that any child would enjoy, and those who are children-at-heart can still enjoy. Don't hate the children's books just because you think you're all big-bad-n-grown-up.

[Jessica C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another I can see.

Fun ghost stories, but the best part is a Nine and Chris story by Coville himself.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book!

[XxXxXxJavanXxXxXx clan {BRLO}Activo Javan · Rating 3 out of 5]

the book was ok because it had to much fancy

[Tayo]

the book was really fun to read and interesting and how their were ghost had popped up in her face but the book was not bad at all i think girls and boys would read it

[Kye]

The story was very interesting and scary.I loved this book because i love scary books

[Alaina Sloo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stories for telling on Halloween, for kids grades 2 - 5.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the stories were better than others, but none were that great. I didn't remember until about half-way through the book that I had already read it, so it obviously was not very memorable.

[Mariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it.