Customer Reviews

Seven Strange & Ghostly Tales

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Brian Jacques is best known for his Redwall series, but surprisingly enough, Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales is an undescovered gem. This book is intended for kids 9-14, but unlike Goosebumps or other stories for the age range, this book has rich writing bursting with original ideas. Take, for example, a story where a boy fools the Devil himself. Read this book, you won't be dissapointed

If you're looking for something to keep you awake all night in fright, look elsewhere. This is not a shock and scream book. However, if you're looking for suspenseful stories that are well-written, thought provoking, and can double as cautionary tales, this is the collection for you. The poetry before each story and the word play within in are good enough to merit special note. This is a book people of any age can enjoy.

Brian Jacques is a great author, he can make
stories that have been told several times before seem new and original. This collection of stories is quite interesting, funny and descriptive, and hey, a little eerie. You can see how they are similar to Redwall books, also written by him, with sort of the same type of diolouge, and the poetry is QUITE similar. This is a good book for reading while on a vacation away from home.

This a totally cool book. perfect for campfires. all of these stories are eery, spooky, or hilarious. In my opinion, his other books also rock the house. I've read every one. if you don't buy this, you should check it out of the library and take the time to read it. I especially praise "Jamie and the Vampire". Hillariously funny! I also liked "Thomas P. Kanne". This scared the crap out of me! If you can't get hold of this book then buy it.Definetly your loss if you don't read it.

I will admit that I was looking for a book to keep me up all night, but instead I found a slightly eerie, yet funny book about ghosts and vampires.
The best story is "The Fate of Thomas P. Kanne".
Bottom line:
It was good, but I've read scarier.

Having enjoyed reading the Redwall series of books by the same author, I started this book with high expectations. While the seven stories all have interesting and unexpected twists and an odd sense of humor, I ultimately found the book unsatisfying. The Redwall books are stories about good triumphing over evil. In Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales, the best you could say about the stories is that bad things happen to bad people. The characters are either bad people, or good people who are victimized by the bad people. For this reason, I found it hard to relate to any of the characters. And unlike Jacques' other books, there are no heroic figures fighting on the side of good. If this book is meant to help instill positive values in younger readers, it would be by frightening them with supernatural consequences of being bad, rather than providing positive role models.