Ghost Chamber

by Celia Rees

The Goodman children are spending their first proper holiday with their estranged archaeologist father since their parents divorced—looking forward to seeing what his new house in the country is like. They know it is a crumbling old pub, which he is renovating, but not long after they arrive, they realize their dad bought the pub for a reason—because of what is said to be buried beneath it. Objects move in the night, strange noises can be heard coming from the cellar, and a creepy looking guy is hanging around the village asking sinister questions about their dad, and the old pub. Thirteen-year-old Hugh Goodman is intrigued, and digs a little deeper into the mysteries of the house than he should. Before he knows it he and his siblings are caught up in a horrifying secret, and the discovery of an ancient chamber, where lies the restless ghost of a buried templar knight. Will the ghost avenge his own death using innocent children, or can they manage to beat evil forces?

Genres: Young Adult

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Celia Rees (born 1949) is an English author of children's, YA and Adult fiction.

She was born in 1949 in Solihull, West Midlands but now lives in Leamington Spa with her husband. Rees attended University of Warwick and earned a degree in History of Politics. After university, she taught English in Coventry secondary schools for seventeen years, during which time she began to write.

Since then, she has written over twenty YA titles. Her books have been translated into 28 languages. She has been short listed for the Guardian, Whitbread (now Costa) and W.H. Smith Children’s Book Awards. She is a regular tutor for the Arvon Foundation. She has been Chair of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group and on the Society of Authors’ Management Committee.

Her first book for adults, Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook, was published by HarperCollins in July, 2020.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ok read. Not sure if I would classify this as being for children with occult references.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an exciting and often frightening exploration of family, friendship, good, and evil. Sally, Hugh, and Bethan are introduced to an old inn and pub in England because their estranged father has purchased the property. Legend has it that the inn was used by the Templar knights in the twelfth century as housing and as the entry to their secret meeting room. Philip, their father, is a famous author and wants to write about the inn. He is planning an archeological excavation to find out what lies under the inn. The other part of the legend is that the Templars brought to the meeting place an extremely evil disembodied head. The children see and hear ghosts in the building, then encounter a couple of men who want to retrieve the evil head to gain its power. Of course, the children also befriend several townspeople, who protect and help them. They and their parents learn a lot about what’s important in life. The mystical themes and characterizations should be very entertaining for teens.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starting off was rather difficult. I just couldn't get into the story. I actually had to force myself to pick up the book and read, and after a few pages I'd be done with it again. The characters, while they did act like true siblings would--try to scare each other and such--they didn't impress me much, and the plot didn't seem to start to get exciting until about half-way through.

It would be good for 12+ who enjoy ghost mysteries, but just a note: there is occult activity and death.

[Shannan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book upon my first reading, though upon my second I discovered that my initial opinion was clouded by my zealous appreciation for the macabre promise of the storyline and tone. My realization opened my eyes to the shallow characters and unappealing ending.
I would still, however, recommend this book to a younger audience, provided they only read it once.

[Angie Cavenor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this, a good story and good atmosphere just the writing felt a little clunky at times.