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Haunted Island
Persuaded by Amos Corley to venture to Haunted Island and recover a lost fortune, Chris and Amy find themselves alone on the island -- after Amos suddenly disappears -- confronting the ghosts of Joshua and his vicious dog, Shadow, and fighting for their l
123 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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145 people want to read
About the author
Joan Lowery Nixon
190 books485 followersAuthor of more than one hundred books, Joan Lowery Nixon is the only writer to have won four Edgar Allan Poe Awards for Juvenile Mysteries (and been nominated several other times) from the Mystery Writers of America. Creating contemporary teenage characters who have both a personal problem and a mystery to solve, Nixon captured the attention of legions of teenage readers since the publication of her first YA novel more than twenty years ago. In addition to mystery/suspense novels, she wrote nonfiction and fiction for children and middle graders, as well as several short stories. Nixon was the first person to write novels for teens about the orphan trains of the nineteenth century. She followed those with historical novels about Ellis Island and, more recently for younger readers, Colonial Williamsburg. Joan Lowery Nixon died on June 28, 2003—a great loss for all of us.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 4, 2018
Back when I was a kid, everything scared me. I had a runaway imagination, and while I was perfectly capable of distinguishing reality from fantasy, and fiction from non-fiction (having a mother who worked at a library really helped with that), the more irrational side of my brain was still convinced that everything I read, everything I watched on TV, even if it wasn't true, somehow could be.
I had a lot of nightmares is what I'm getting at.
But I was also fascinated at the same time with scary, spooky things. So of course when I saw Haunted Island on the book order forms from Scholastic, I knew I had to have it. For some reason, mom had no problem with buying a book called "Haunted Island" for her perpetually-scared tweenage son, so I dug into it as soon as it arrived and, as you can probably predict, it scared the crap out of me. I know the cover thumbnail up there sucks, but there's a giant black dog and a tall, thin ghost with glowing, fiery red eyes staring at those two kids, and...well, that was all it took to frighten me at ten years old. I read it, it terrified me, and I swore that I would never, as long as I live, read that book again.
Many of the books I had as a kid were given away or sold as I grew up, but for some reason I never could part with Haunted Island. Strangely enough, it's like there was a part of me that knew, later on in life, I'd want to read it again and confront the story which creeped me out so badly as a kid. So here I am, on my day off, working on cleaning out in the garage, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but my old copy of Haunted Island. It's beaten up, raggedy, and has some chew marks where a rabbit once managed to get hold of it (books and bun-buns do not mix, FYI), but I was delighted. Thirty years later I'm going back to Haunted Island to see what all the fuss was about.
Haunted Island as you might have guessed from the title, is about, um, an island. Which is haunted. Original, I know, but it delivers what it promises on the cover, so I can't really fault it for that. The story follows siblings Chris and Amy, ages thirteen and twelve respectively, who have come with their mother down to Mississippi in the summer to help their Aunt Jennie renovate an old hotel. She's purchased not only the hotel on the edge of the river, but the small island just across the river in the hopes of using boating, fishing, swimming and other activities to lure potential guests.
Sadly, Aunt Jennie's project might be doomed before it gets off the ground: one of the workmen explains that while he's happy to repair the hotel's busted gutters, she'll never find anyone in town willing to work on the island. Everyone who's grown up in the area knows the story of old Joshua Hanover and his dog Shadow who once lived there until tragedy struck, and whose ghosts roam the island, terrorizing visitors and threatening "Vengeance!" against anyone who sets foot there for some long-forgotten reason. Aunt Jennie, of course, dismisses this as hogwash--everybody knows there's no such thing as ghosts, after all--but the townsfolk are adamant, and the island may as well be off-limits. Chris and Amy wish they knew why everyone was afraid of the place.
One evening, after a hard day's labor of painting old railings and putting up new wallpaper, the pair take their dinner out on the porch, where they're met by a kindly old gentleman named Amos Corley who's taking a rest in one of the wicker chairs. He knows their names without being introduced, and when the children ask what he's doing there, he replies that he heard the pair asking about how the island got its reputation, and figured since he was there to witness everything, he'd tell them the story if they wanted to know.
The story Amos tells is one of confusion, obsession, and misery. The island wasn't always an island, but it was rendered that way by a series of massive earthquakes that rocked the territory in the past. These earthquakes were so strong they rerouted the Mississippi River and cut that particular section of land where Jacob Hanover lived off from the rest of the town. Amos was able to get off the island when a rescue party arrived, but Jacob refused to leave, instead choosing to search for his missing wife who had run off with Jacob's small fortune in silver coins. When the rescue party returned a short time later to try and get Jacob off the island, they found Jacob dead, laying across the same grave where he'd buried his dog Shadow. Of Jacob's wife Amelia and his silver coins, no trace was ever found.
Amy and Chris decide the best course of action would be to explore the island for themselves. That way they could go back to the mainland, tell everyone they went, and that there were no ghosts. Amos agrees with this, telling them it's long since past the time for the restless ghosts on the island to be put to rest, and if the children want to go, he'll take them over there early in the morning. The pair agree, and meet up with Amos the next day only to barely make it to the island in Amos's leaky old boat. After watching Amos disappear into the fog shrouding the island before their eyes, the brother and sister realize three things: Amos was really a ghost, the boat which got them there will not get them back, and no one knows they were planning to visit the island.
It seems the only course of action is to look around as they had planned, but the ghosts of Jacob and Shadow must be laid to rest if they want to have any hope of leaving the island alive. There's also the question of what happened to Amelia Hanover and Joshua's beloved silver...
Haunted Island is great fun. Joan Lowery Nixon is a talented author (she's a four-time winner of the Edgar Allan Poe award in the Juvenile Mystery category, though this book was not one of her nominations), and while this story is meant for the 9-12 crowd, it's fine (if simplistic) reading for older readers too.
The prose is basic, of course, but the story plays out much like The Goonies on a smaller scale. Older readers, of course, are likely to see the few twists and turns coming a mile away, but young adult literature is for young adults, and I remember not expecting things to unfold the way they did when I first read it thirty years ago. Kids today being far wiser probably won't be fooled, but that's fine. A good story's a good story, and the way Chris and Amy banter with one another, help each other out, and the ways they deal with Shadow and Jacob are all realistic for a couple of children their ages.
The reasons behind Jacob's anger and Amelia's disappearance are more sad than terrifying, and by the end of the book the reader will likely see Jacob as a more sympathetic character than the menacing spirit he projects on the island. Also, the way Amy and Chris deal with getting off the island and the decision they come to with regards to telling their mom and aunt about the adventure rings absolutely true. I can remember plenty of times in my life when it was much easier to leave out large chunks of stories when I was talking to adults, because there were things they either didn't need to know or I didn't feel I could adequately explain. Nixon's got these kids' common sense nailed, and I love it.
So ultimately, Haunted Island turns out to be nowhere near as scary as I thought it was back when I first read it. It's still a book infused through and through with memories, and at just over 120 pages it's short enough to blow through in an hour or so now that I'm an adult. It's not going to set the literary world on fire, but it's not unfair to say that my desire to one day stare this book down and say, "I'm not afraid of you any more!" set me on a lifelong journey to read, watch, accept, and ultimately love, horror in all its forms.
Nixon died in 2003, but many of her books are still in print today, including Haunted Island which is available as an eBook. While many of her Teen titles have been re-released with darkly gothic redone cover artwork, I have to say I prefer the original cover to the 2012 digital re-issue by Open Road Media. One look and I think you'll understand why:
I rest my case.
I had a lot of nightmares is what I'm getting at.
But I was also fascinated at the same time with scary, spooky things. So of course when I saw Haunted Island on the book order forms from Scholastic, I knew I had to have it. For some reason, mom had no problem with buying a book called "Haunted Island" for her perpetually-scared tweenage son, so I dug into it as soon as it arrived and, as you can probably predict, it scared the crap out of me. I know the cover thumbnail up there sucks, but there's a giant black dog and a tall, thin ghost with glowing, fiery red eyes staring at those two kids, and...well, that was all it took to frighten me at ten years old. I read it, it terrified me, and I swore that I would never, as long as I live, read that book again.
Many of the books I had as a kid were given away or sold as I grew up, but for some reason I never could part with Haunted Island. Strangely enough, it's like there was a part of me that knew, later on in life, I'd want to read it again and confront the story which creeped me out so badly as a kid. So here I am, on my day off, working on cleaning out in the garage, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but my old copy of Haunted Island. It's beaten up, raggedy, and has some chew marks where a rabbit once managed to get hold of it (books and bun-buns do not mix, FYI), but I was delighted. Thirty years later I'm going back to Haunted Island to see what all the fuss was about.
Haunted Island as you might have guessed from the title, is about, um, an island. Which is haunted. Original, I know, but it delivers what it promises on the cover, so I can't really fault it for that. The story follows siblings Chris and Amy, ages thirteen and twelve respectively, who have come with their mother down to Mississippi in the summer to help their Aunt Jennie renovate an old hotel. She's purchased not only the hotel on the edge of the river, but the small island just across the river in the hopes of using boating, fishing, swimming and other activities to lure potential guests.
Sadly, Aunt Jennie's project might be doomed before it gets off the ground: one of the workmen explains that while he's happy to repair the hotel's busted gutters, she'll never find anyone in town willing to work on the island. Everyone who's grown up in the area knows the story of old Joshua Hanover and his dog Shadow who once lived there until tragedy struck, and whose ghosts roam the island, terrorizing visitors and threatening "Vengeance!" against anyone who sets foot there for some long-forgotten reason. Aunt Jennie, of course, dismisses this as hogwash--everybody knows there's no such thing as ghosts, after all--but the townsfolk are adamant, and the island may as well be off-limits. Chris and Amy wish they knew why everyone was afraid of the place.
One evening, after a hard day's labor of painting old railings and putting up new wallpaper, the pair take their dinner out on the porch, where they're met by a kindly old gentleman named Amos Corley who's taking a rest in one of the wicker chairs. He knows their names without being introduced, and when the children ask what he's doing there, he replies that he heard the pair asking about how the island got its reputation, and figured since he was there to witness everything, he'd tell them the story if they wanted to know.
The story Amos tells is one of confusion, obsession, and misery. The island wasn't always an island, but it was rendered that way by a series of massive earthquakes that rocked the territory in the past. These earthquakes were so strong they rerouted the Mississippi River and cut that particular section of land where Jacob Hanover lived off from the rest of the town. Amos was able to get off the island when a rescue party arrived, but Jacob refused to leave, instead choosing to search for his missing wife who had run off with Jacob's small fortune in silver coins. When the rescue party returned a short time later to try and get Jacob off the island, they found Jacob dead, laying across the same grave where he'd buried his dog Shadow. Of Jacob's wife Amelia and his silver coins, no trace was ever found.
Amy and Chris decide the best course of action would be to explore the island for themselves. That way they could go back to the mainland, tell everyone they went, and that there were no ghosts. Amos agrees with this, telling them it's long since past the time for the restless ghosts on the island to be put to rest, and if the children want to go, he'll take them over there early in the morning. The pair agree, and meet up with Amos the next day only to barely make it to the island in Amos's leaky old boat. After watching Amos disappear into the fog shrouding the island before their eyes, the brother and sister realize three things: Amos was really a ghost, the boat which got them there will not get them back, and no one knows they were planning to visit the island.
It seems the only course of action is to look around as they had planned, but the ghosts of Jacob and Shadow must be laid to rest if they want to have any hope of leaving the island alive. There's also the question of what happened to Amelia Hanover and Joshua's beloved silver...
Haunted Island is great fun. Joan Lowery Nixon is a talented author (she's a four-time winner of the Edgar Allan Poe award in the Juvenile Mystery category, though this book was not one of her nominations), and while this story is meant for the 9-12 crowd, it's fine (if simplistic) reading for older readers too.
The prose is basic, of course, but the story plays out much like The Goonies on a smaller scale. Older readers, of course, are likely to see the few twists and turns coming a mile away, but young adult literature is for young adults, and I remember not expecting things to unfold the way they did when I first read it thirty years ago. Kids today being far wiser probably won't be fooled, but that's fine. A good story's a good story, and the way Chris and Amy banter with one another, help each other out, and the ways they deal with Shadow and Jacob are all realistic for a couple of children their ages.
The reasons behind Jacob's anger and Amelia's disappearance are more sad than terrifying, and by the end of the book the reader will likely see Jacob as a more sympathetic character than the menacing spirit he projects on the island. Also, the way Amy and Chris deal with getting off the island and the decision they come to with regards to telling their mom and aunt about the adventure rings absolutely true. I can remember plenty of times in my life when it was much easier to leave out large chunks of stories when I was talking to adults, because there were things they either didn't need to know or I didn't feel I could adequately explain. Nixon's got these kids' common sense nailed, and I love it.
So ultimately, Haunted Island turns out to be nowhere near as scary as I thought it was back when I first read it. It's still a book infused through and through with memories, and at just over 120 pages it's short enough to blow through in an hour or so now that I'm an adult. It's not going to set the literary world on fire, but it's not unfair to say that my desire to one day stare this book down and say, "I'm not afraid of you any more!" set me on a lifelong journey to read, watch, accept, and ultimately love, horror in all its forms.
Nixon died in 2003, but many of her books are still in print today, including Haunted Island which is available as an eBook. While many of her Teen titles have been re-released with darkly gothic redone cover artwork, I have to say I prefer the original cover to the 2012 digital re-issue by Open Road Media. One look and I think you'll understand why:
I rest my case.
September 28, 2023
A Fun, Simple Ghost Story
I read this for the first time when I was 9, and I would still highly suggest it to young readers or anyone who enjoys kid-friendly ghost stories.
I read this for the first time when I was 9, and I would still highly suggest it to young readers or anyone who enjoys kid-friendly ghost stories.
September 1, 2022
This was a favorite book of mine as a child that I had thought about occasionally through the years. It really makes for a great, spooky “campfire story” filled with nostalgia. I am so glad I found it again (as I had previously forgotten the title and author). I recently purchased it and re-read it and it is still a great read. It will be fun to share it with my children.
July 16, 2021
My grade three or four teacher read this to our class years ago and I remember loving it. It is a cute little story with enough suspense to keep you interested but not enough to give a kid nightmares lol. It was fun to read it again 25ish years later.
February 23, 2022
A good ghost mystery.
August 15, 2022
A re-read of one of my childhood books where I now understand the storyline a bit better.
October 22, 2024
One of my favourite books as a kid. I remember running out of my room and into the kitchen where everyone else was, when i got scared reading certain parts of this book
February 22, 2025
Oh, I love books about kids who have to solve mysteries with ghosts and set them to rest!
April 1, 2025
An intriguing and sad story about the death of a grouchy man, his kind wife, and their dog, and how their ghosts haunt and island while two children try to survive and escape the island.
January 6, 2017
Action/Adventure with a Ghostly Thrill
This is a well told campfire sort of tale with two very appealing heroes and some nice period touches.
We follow siblings Amy and Chris as they get stuck on a small island that is supposedly haunted by a farm wife, her vengeance seeking husband, and their vicious dog. The book starts with a mysterious stranger telling the kids the story surrounding the ghosts and their lost treasure, and then we head off with the kids to the island. This is not an are-there-or-aren't-there ghost story. By the time we hit the island we know that it is haunted. The thrill is in seeing how the kids survive being stranded on the island and how they deal with the restless spirits.
There is a lot of running, hiding and lurking, but there is also a lot of thoughtful discussion between the kids about the why and wherefore of the hauntings. As part of that we learn even more of the ghosts' backstory and that gives the book an interesting period piece angle.
As a bonus, Chris and Amy are not written in that whinging, snarky sibling conflict style that is currently so common. While they can annoy each other, and occasionally tease each other, they mostly work well as mutually supportive partners in the adventure, with each having strong and weak moments, and each protecting and watching out for the other. That may be a bit old-fashioned, but I don't miss the angsty drama of sibling rivalry in stories like this, and I don't need the kids to start off like jerks just so they can "grow" and learn a lesson. These are solid kids having an interesting ghosty adventure.
So, the book is crisply and clearly written, is descriptive without being showy, and is fast paced and suspenseful. A nice find. (Please note that I found this book a while ago while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
This is a well told campfire sort of tale with two very appealing heroes and some nice period touches.
We follow siblings Amy and Chris as they get stuck on a small island that is supposedly haunted by a farm wife, her vengeance seeking husband, and their vicious dog. The book starts with a mysterious stranger telling the kids the story surrounding the ghosts and their lost treasure, and then we head off with the kids to the island. This is not an are-there-or-aren't-there ghost story. By the time we hit the island we know that it is haunted. The thrill is in seeing how the kids survive being stranded on the island and how they deal with the restless spirits.
There is a lot of running, hiding and lurking, but there is also a lot of thoughtful discussion between the kids about the why and wherefore of the hauntings. As part of that we learn even more of the ghosts' backstory and that gives the book an interesting period piece angle.
As a bonus, Chris and Amy are not written in that whinging, snarky sibling conflict style that is currently so common. While they can annoy each other, and occasionally tease each other, they mostly work well as mutually supportive partners in the adventure, with each having strong and weak moments, and each protecting and watching out for the other. That may be a bit old-fashioned, but I don't miss the angsty drama of sibling rivalry in stories like this, and I don't need the kids to start off like jerks just so they can "grow" and learn a lesson. These are solid kids having an interesting ghosty adventure.
So, the book is crisply and clearly written, is descriptive without being showy, and is fast paced and suspenseful. A nice find. (Please note that I found this book a while ago while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
January 18, 2015
Chris and Amy are visiting their aunt, who has just bought land to turn into a bed and breakfast, her land came with a little island, and island rumored to be haunted. When a local handy man tells the siblings the story of the ghost who haunts the island and his wicked ghost dog, they decide to go to the island to see for themselves. Soon they find themselves trapped on the island and the only way off is to put the ghosts to rest!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews