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Bruce Coville's Book of Ghosts #1

Bruce Coville's Book of Ghost Tales to Haunt You

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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

180 pages, Paperback

First published April 10, 1995

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269 people want to read

About the author

Bruce Coville

293 books1,240 followers

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5 stars
110 (30%)
4 stars
102 (28%)
3 stars
105 (29%)
2 stars
33 (9%)
1 star
10 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Sarah.
690 reviews
October 18, 2025
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
Profile Image for Sundee Perkins.
262 reviews10 followers
October 11, 2020
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Kc.
457 reviews
December 31, 2024
Excellent ghost stories. Wasnt frightened at all
Profile Image for Bryan.
114 reviews82 followers
March 20, 2015
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!
Profile Image for Jennifer.
692 reviews37 followers
November 6, 2012
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.
Profile Image for Jessica C..
28 reviews12 followers
April 21, 2011
Another I can see.

Fun ghost stories, but the best part is a Nine and Chris story by Coville himself.
Profile Image for Tayo.
16 reviews
Read
November 30, 2012
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
Profile Image for Kye.
8 reviews1 follower
Read
November 30, 2012
The story was very interesting and scary.I loved this book because i love scary books
1,359 reviews
February 4, 2015
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.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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