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QUEEN OF THE COLD-BLOODED TALES

Name: QUEEN OF THE COLD-BLOODED TALES
Author: Roberta Simpson Brown
ISBN: 0-87483-332-9

by Roberta Simpson Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 15, 1993

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Over 20 brief (average, about six pages) horror yarns that feature heavily motivated ghosts, plus a witch or two, doing nasty things, dripping body parts and various pieces of ick-with-teeth: in short, efficient gross-out tales that kids love and adults take care to read long after eating. These ghosts are mean and revoltingly corporeal. Steal an old lady's money and watch out! The hands burying the boys alive were ``nothing but bones!'' Then no knows ``Where Freddy Is,'' except—yuck!—his family will know where his feet are. In another piece, hands appear unattached and active, and two heads talk and hoot in the woods. Animals are featured in two tales: Old Dare the hound makes a rather compassionate return from the Great Kennel in the Sky, but Big Cat, kept in the cellar with its appreciative owner, crunches up...well, let's say the village is depopulating. Ghosts are really into revenge seemingly for eternity, like the group in ``The Wake-Up Call,'' wiped out in life because the clerk had forgotten the call; now when that clerk ``dropped out of sight,'' it seems to be only the beginning. Earrings whisper, scissors attack, a handle (of a casket) hops around, etc., etc. Old stuff, reminiscent of magazines like Weird Tales, but Brown spins a tight yarn and keeps her eye on the last (splat! eek!) image of each tale. Just the thing for the campfire when ``only a few coals glow in the dark, like eyes.''

Pub Date: Aug. 15, 1993

ISBN: 0-87483-332-9

Page Count: 176

Publisher: August House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1993

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL

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ROSEY IN THE PRESENT TENSE

by Louise Hawes ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1999

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A teenager finds his way out from overwhelming grief in this poignant story from Hawes. Franklin takes his funny, beloved classmate Rosey Mishimi’s death in a car crash so hard that six months later he’s still mired in depression, walled off from his mother, therapist, and friends, filling his journal with present-tense memories. Then Rosey reappears, almost her old bubbly self but insubstantial, invisible to everyone else—except, perhaps, her dying Japanese grandmother. Is she a ghost, or just a figment? While he doesn’t entirely rule out the latter, Franklin is eager to have Rosey back on any terms, despite the understandable dismay of those around him. In the end, it doesn’t matter; Rosey fades away, but slowly enough to give Franklin a chance to say goodbye, to understand that she will always be with him, and to accept the fact that he still has a life to live. Hawes keeps Rosey’s exact nature ambiguous without being coy; that, along with the distinct characters and a caring supporting cast, make this a thoughtful variation on the often-explored theme of coping with loss. (Fiction. 12-15)

Pub Date: March 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-8027-8685-5

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Walker

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT PARANORMAL & SUPERNATURAL | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

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by Louise Hawes

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by Louise Hawes & illustrated by Rebecca Guay

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NEVER TRUST A DEAD MAN

by Vivian Vande Velde ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1999

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Murder, magic, salacious secrets, and sparkling wit immediately pull the reader into this engrossing medieval whodunit from Vande Velde (Ghost of a Hanged Man, 1998, etc.). Selwyn, 17, is condemned to death after his rival, Farold, is murdered in his sleep. Overwhelming circumstantial evidence convinces villagers of Selwyn’s guilt, so he is thrown into the burial cave to rot with the corpse. Although his fate seems grim, Selwyn is soon rescued by a hard-bargaining witch, Elswyth. She resurrects Farold’s spirit, frees them both from the cave, disguises them, and allows them one week to find the real murderer in exchange for years and years of Selwyn’s servitude. Hilarious mishaps ensue, as the bickering amateurs search out answers, exposing the villagers’ true colors along the way. The sympathetic hero, original humor, sharp dialogue, and surprising plot twists make this read universally appealing and difficult to put down. (Fiction. 12-14)