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Seven Strange & Ghostly Tales
Fans of the author of the award-winning Redwall series will loves these spooky tales!
Filled with humor, adventure, and imagination, these seven short stories go from the lighthearted to the bizarre. From a teenager who drives a museum curator to mummify him for signing Phantom Snake (an anagram of his name) all over his exhibits, to a boy who's dared to visit the tomb of a vampire at midnight only to discover that the vampire boy he meets has a mother who nags just like his own, the eerie and chilling settings and characters will captivate readers.
Filled with humor, adventure, and imagination, these seven short stories go from the lighthearted to the bizarre. From a teenager who drives a museum curator to mummify him for signing Phantom Snake (an anagram of his name) all over his exhibits, to a boy who's dared to visit the tomb of a vampire at midnight only to discover that the vampire boy he meets has a mother who nags just like his own, the eerie and chilling settings and characters will captivate readers.
137 pages, Paperback
First published September 18, 1991
12 people are currently reading
538 people want to read
About the author
Brian Jacques
260 books4,303 followers Brian Jacques (pronounced 'jakes') was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact.
Brian grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks, where he attended St. John's School, an inner city school featuring a playground on its roof. At the age of ten, his very first day at St. John's foreshadowed his future career as an author; given an assignment to write a story about animals, he wrote a short story about a bird who cleaned a crocodile's teeth. Brian's teacher could not, and would not believe that a ten year old could write so well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then that he realized he had a talent for it.
He wrote Redwall for the children at the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool, where as a truck driver, he delivered milk. Because of the nature of his first audience, he made his style of writing as descriptive as possible, painting pictures with words so that the schoolchildren could see them in their imaginations. He remained a patron of the school until his death.
Brian lived in Liverpool, where his two grown sons, Marc, a carpenter and bricklayer, and David, a professor of Art and a muralist, still reside. David Jacques' work can be seen in Children's hospitals, soccer stadiums, and trade union offices as far away as Germany, Mexico, and Chile (not to mention Brian's photo featured in most of his books).
Brian also ran a weekly radio show on BBC Radio Merseyside, until October 2006, where he shared his comedy and wit, and played his favourites from the world of opera - he was a veritable expert on The Three Tenors.
When he was wasn't writing, Brian enjoyed walking his dog 'Teddy', a white West Highland Terrier, and completing crossword puzzles. When he found time he read the works of Mario Puzo, Damon Runyon, Richard Condon, Larry McMurty, and P.G. Wodehouse. He was also known to cook an impressive version of his favourite dish, spaghetti and meatballs.
Sadly, Brian passed away on the 5th February 2011.
Brian grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks, where he attended St. John's School, an inner city school featuring a playground on its roof. At the age of ten, his very first day at St. John's foreshadowed his future career as an author; given an assignment to write a story about animals, he wrote a short story about a bird who cleaned a crocodile's teeth. Brian's teacher could not, and would not believe that a ten year old could write so well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then that he realized he had a talent for it.
He wrote Redwall for the children at the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool, where as a truck driver, he delivered milk. Because of the nature of his first audience, he made his style of writing as descriptive as possible, painting pictures with words so that the schoolchildren could see them in their imaginations. He remained a patron of the school until his death.
Brian lived in Liverpool, where his two grown sons, Marc, a carpenter and bricklayer, and David, a professor of Art and a muralist, still reside. David Jacques' work can be seen in Children's hospitals, soccer stadiums, and trade union offices as far away as Germany, Mexico, and Chile (not to mention Brian's photo featured in most of his books).
Brian also ran a weekly radio show on BBC Radio Merseyside, until October 2006, where he shared his comedy and wit, and played his favourites from the world of opera - he was a veritable expert on The Three Tenors.
When he was wasn't writing, Brian enjoyed walking his dog 'Teddy', a white West Highland Terrier, and completing crossword puzzles. When he found time he read the works of Mario Puzo, Damon Runyon, Richard Condon, Larry McMurty, and P.G. Wodehouse. He was also known to cook an impressive version of his favourite dish, spaghetti and meatballs.
Sadly, Brian passed away on the 5th February 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
October 4, 2021
My child-self, who read this book aged 11 (when obsessed with the Redwall series), absolutely loved its mixture of suspense and humour, and its plot twists. She gave it five stars.
My nostalgic adult self, who read it again recently, doesn't agree, but she's not the intended audience.
My nostalgic adult self, who read it again recently, doesn't agree, but she's not the intended audience.
September 4, 2024
Of the two collections of original scary stories that Brian Jacques penned during his writing career, Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales is the better offering. Brian Jacques was at the height of his game when this book released in 1991, having in the previous five years come out with the first three installments in the Redwall series (Redwall, Mossflower and Mattimeo), and the fact that he was "in the zone" as a writer throughout this time period is evident in everything he wrote. Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales is a good mix of stories strange, eerie and sometimes even very funny, and a few of them stand out particularly well as perhaps having had the potential to be expanded into excellent full-length novels.
Of the seven stories on display in this collection, I would mention two as being especially good, and close enough to each other in terms of quality that designating one of the two as better might be splitting hairs. The first is the tale that leads off the book, The Fate of Thomas P. Kanne. A thirteen-year-old graffiti artist of high intelligence enjoys doing the town every so often, spray-painting his signature everywhere he goes and thereby challenging the police and any other concerned authority figures to catch him if they can. One of his favorite places to haunt is the Middlechester Museum, but he meets someone capable of finally taking him on in an evenly matched battle of wits when the museum's caretaker attendant, Mr. Bausin, makes it his personal mission to end the reign of the "Phantom Snake". However, there's much more here than meets the eye...
The second of the two best tales, and perhaps the finest out of all seven if I were called upon to make a choice, is The Sad History of Gilly Bodkin. Set all the way back in the 1600s, a lad named Gilly meets a tragic accidental end one day as he begs for a piece of candy from one of the four daughters of the landowner for whom his father works. Sadly, Gilly's request for a sugar stick isn't granted by the daughter before he suffers his fatal accident, and thus begins a bit of unfinished business for Gilly that will sober us in its sheer scope and create some of the more memorable moments of the entire collection of ghostly tales.
Brian Jacques has done some solid work in the creation of these seven stories. It's never easy to come up with truly original ghost stories that aren't just twists on famous tales that have been told many times before, but Brian Jacques succeeds in doing exactly that, and doing it well. On the whole, I would at the very least consider giving two and a half stars to Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales.
Of the seven stories on display in this collection, I would mention two as being especially good, and close enough to each other in terms of quality that designating one of the two as better might be splitting hairs. The first is the tale that leads off the book, The Fate of Thomas P. Kanne. A thirteen-year-old graffiti artist of high intelligence enjoys doing the town every so often, spray-painting his signature everywhere he goes and thereby challenging the police and any other concerned authority figures to catch him if they can. One of his favorite places to haunt is the Middlechester Museum, but he meets someone capable of finally taking him on in an evenly matched battle of wits when the museum's caretaker attendant, Mr. Bausin, makes it his personal mission to end the reign of the "Phantom Snake". However, there's much more here than meets the eye...
The second of the two best tales, and perhaps the finest out of all seven if I were called upon to make a choice, is The Sad History of Gilly Bodkin. Set all the way back in the 1600s, a lad named Gilly meets a tragic accidental end one day as he begs for a piece of candy from one of the four daughters of the landowner for whom his father works. Sadly, Gilly's request for a sugar stick isn't granted by the daughter before he suffers his fatal accident, and thus begins a bit of unfinished business for Gilly that will sober us in its sheer scope and create some of the more memorable moments of the entire collection of ghostly tales.
Brian Jacques has done some solid work in the creation of these seven stories. It's never easy to come up with truly original ghost stories that aren't just twists on famous tales that have been told many times before, but Brian Jacques succeeds in doing exactly that, and doing it well. On the whole, I would at the very least consider giving two and a half stars to Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales.
August 14, 2018
I was hoping that despite the audience for the book being young people that I would still find some spooky or unsettling stories. Unfortunately I think the collection is too juvenile for me, with the exception of "Allie Alma" (which actually might be too mature for young readers? maybe). I still enjoyed the collection overall, particularly the opening story "The Fate of Thomas P. Kanne." It takes place in the Egyptian exhibition at a museum and has a great ending :)
The author was also the narrator for the audiobook and he did a great job!
The author was also the narrator for the audiobook and he did a great job!
October 20, 2020
Scary fun! These are all amazingly, scary, but end well. His characters are so interesting and different. The stories are just long enough to enjoy and not get tiring. Perfect, scary, short stories.
October 27, 2022
A lot of these are either funny or feature a rotten kid getting comeuppance. All are written to appeal to a middle readers' point of view.
July 16, 2014
I love short story compilations because each story requires so little investment. If the story is so so, skip it or just wait it out and in 15 minutes you will be to a new story. These were fun ghostly tales that were dark but not too scary. Just fun and spooky. Appropriate for 12 and up.
July 3, 2016
It was a good little set of stories. Had the element of spooky with life lessons and no lastingly scary bits. Great for kids I am sure.
September 19, 2023
Cute book. Glad I read this.
October 6, 2018
From the author of the Redwall books comes this strange book. Strange & TERRIFYING bwahahaha.
OK. this book should only be read by older middle school & up. Only if horror is their thing. The first story alone should be enough to give a sensitive child nightmares for years.
Some of the others, not so much. We have a vandal, thief, an abusive uncle, & 3 bullies get their just desserts. The rest are just kind of goofy.
OK. this book should only be read by older middle school & up. Only if horror is their thing. The first story alone should be enough to give a sensitive child nightmares for years.
Some of the others, not so much. We have a vandal, thief, an abusive uncle, & 3 bullies get their just desserts. The rest are just kind of goofy.
June 12, 2018
I listened to the audiobook that was read by Brian Jacques.
Each of these stories are middle school age scary stories-- meaning they're meant to entertain, not terrify, so the ghosts and monsters are used more comically than anything else.
That being said, it was an enjoyable thing to listen to. Jacques' voices and accents helped to bring everything to life.
Each of these stories are middle school age scary stories-- meaning they're meant to entertain, not terrify, so the ghosts and monsters are used more comically than anything else.
That being said, it was an enjoyable thing to listen to. Jacques' voices and accents helped to bring everything to life.
March 16, 2020
I loved that each story was unique and interesting, utilizing elements of the supernatural (ghosts, vampires, the devil etc.)
I liked that each story has comedic to happy twist as to not spook the reader entirely but some did make me shudder with fear.
I liked that each story has comedic to happy twist as to not spook the reader entirely but some did make me shudder with fear.
January 26, 2018
Amazing short stories with beautiful endings. Loved it
June 24, 2018
Takový malý návrat do dětských let ;) když jsem ji poprvé uviděla v knihovně, musela jsem si ji přečíst a pak znova a znova. Když jsem ji viděla před měsícem v Levných knihách, musela jsem ji mít 😀
October 24, 2018
Short, as short stories should be, with chills. Just what I needed for the Halloween season.
February 7, 2019
I love all of Brian Jacques’ work. I especially enjoyed his mastery of Storytelling via audiobook
November 5, 2019
A fun, surprisingly diverse book of stories from one of my favorite childhood authors.
December 3, 2021
Very cool, short spooky, sometimes funny read. I loved the 1st story. That kids mom 😂😂
March 24, 2023
A great book for younger teens.
I read it when I was younger and enjoyed reading this again.
I read it when I was younger and enjoyed reading this again.
November 7, 2024
I love Brian Jacques stories and this was so much fun. Not too scary and perfect for October.
December 24, 2025
All seven tales are very good.
January 26, 2009
Fun juvenile anthology reveals a lot about today's youth. I'll have a more complete review when I finish it.
Update Jan/2008 - This was REALLY clever. I was totally impressed with the writing and storytelling. He had some great stories that were incredibly creative and unpredictable. I've read so many creeping tales that I read them now to see if I can predict the ending, and there were several in here that I felt were new and unique even though the book is a couple of years old.
I know that Brian Jacques has written a bunch of other stuff and I'm thinking about reading some more.
Update Jan/2008 - This was REALLY clever. I was totally impressed with the writing and storytelling. He had some great stories that were incredibly creative and unpredictable. I've read so many creeping tales that I read them now to see if I can predict the ending, and there were several in here that I felt were new and unique even though the book is a couple of years old.
I know that Brian Jacques has written a bunch of other stuff and I'm thinking about reading some more.
October 18, 2015
This was very cute, I'm sure to a kid these stories would be a little spooky. This is exactly the kind of book I would have loved when I was younger. I was so into the Goosebumps series, and this would have been a perfect fit for me. I read it just now, because I also grew up reading Jacques' Redwall series and never knew he wrote anything other than Redwall. I was intrigued and definitely not disappointed-- it would've been even more enjoyable if I were 8 again.
October 19, 2015
So Brian Jacques wrote the Redwall series which are great and like The Wind in the Willows the characters are animals and talk and act like people. Anyway, I have read a few of those and like them a lot but it being close to Halloween I wanted to read spooky stuff and although these are for kids they are spooky too. I think I will read some more Redwall too. Recommend to kids 9 - 12 or big kids like me who never grew up and never intend to !!!
April 26, 2018
Each tale was cleverly crafted with just enough creepiness to keep it with me. I might reflect back on some of these from time to time, or forget them entirely as time goes on. These tales are meant for a younger audience to get the intended effect, and it was a nice surprise to see that some of these stories had semi-happy endings.
One of those books that is a "quick read" or a book that I read to "get it over with".
One of those books that is a "quick read" or a book that I read to "get it over with".
July 14, 2012
Fun set of ghostly stories, read by the author. I'm not sure if children will find any of them too scary (my children wandered in and out as I was listening, but didn't pay attention.) Ghosts help give various villains the come-uppance, and one boy who creeps up to the vampire's grave at midnight learns the delightful truth about mothers everywhere.
February 2, 2016
I have read this book at least six times, if not a dozen, cover to cover. When I was nine or ten I probably wouldn't have given it five stars, as the stories are good but not the most amazing ever, but now as an adult I still remember, still like, and still want to reread them for the umteempth time every summer.
March 20, 2008
Not to be read when all alone. Can be gripping.
November 1, 2008
This has some short stories that I like to read aloud to my students.
July 30, 2010
Creepy, Strange and Weird...but I liked it! ( ; -Olivia
October 4, 2010
it was a awesome book,the tales were really good but not to scary.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews