findthatbook | Entries tagged with genre: ghost stories

Hello,

I've been trying to find a book I read as a child, that had some snippets of poetry, some stories by different authors, and at least one non-fiction piece. I've tried googling some of the names of the stories, but no joy.

Here's what I know/can remember:

-It would have been published in the UK no later than about 1993 - however it's probably from the 80's.
-It was a paperback with a blue cover, possibly with a church window and a bat on.
-It featured a Shakespeare sonnet in it - "Now is the time of night"
-There was a story/poem by (I think) Joan Aitken called "The Nine O'clock Horses" about horses that spirit away children that stay out late at night.
-There was a story about a boy who did a brass rubbing of a skeletal knight
-One story was about a ghostly goalkeeper
-Possibly the same story had a boy explaining to his little sister about ghosts, she wasn't scared but he was told of by his mum for scaring her - all the sister had said was "poor man that you can see through". He'd explained that you could see through ghosts, a bit like you could see the bones of her fish.
-There was both a story and a non-fiction piece on Herne the Hunter
-The last story was about a very young stonemason who dies carving an angel on a church

meatina

This is a book I read at primary school in the UK, so would have been published before 1991 as that was the year I left the school.
It was a slim hardback book about ghosts, I think it was just called "Ghosts", and the cover was blue with a shrouded skeleton with glowing eyes on. I think it was published by Scholastic, but that might be my memory playing ticks on me.
Pages I remember include these pink creatures that lived in graveyards, that were fatal to look at, so someone put mirrors up to kill them, and an account of the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. (Clocks stopping at the time of his death as a ghostly train went through a station?)
It isn't the recently republished Usborne World of the Unknown "Ghosts" book, but it is very similar in style.

blades454

I'm looking for a book I only remember a few things about. I remember there were these creatures or ghost that passed through people, which either killed them or put them in a coma. I wanna say the main character is a boy and his friend or sister is attacked and he's immune or something

mrskoz

Hi there!

What a FANTASTIC community! I've read through a good number of posts here and at the previous domain. I actually recognized a long lost book there, too recently. I am hoping someone will recognize one of these two books I read once upon a time.

The first one I read as a teen in the 80s, so probably from 80s or maybe very late 70s. The story involved a teenage girl who was accepted and went away to a sort of super elite boarding school for artistic prodigy types: art/painting, music, also writing I believe? I think she had been selected over her friend who was perhaps even more gifted and that caused some kind of rift. I seem to remember a student at the school with a violin, possibly also someone who painted? The main girl discovered while she was there that she and her fellow students were being used by spirits who were channeling their own talents through so they could make their own creations live again, so to speak. I believe she saw a fellow student in a trance or unconscious and being "used" by the spirit/ghost to create. I think there was a main adult character in charge of the school - I can't remember, but possibly a headmistress. I've explored the usual titles/authors I could find, but even that search was incomplete...

And, unbelievably, in typing this I have suddenly remembered the strange dystopian second book's title that I've tried to remember for 25 years: House of Stairs.

Thank you for considering!

nothingwasthesame_26

I have been looking for this book for years! I vaguely remember the title for the book but every search I have made comes up with the wrong book.

The front of the book has a house with a tower room and I remember leaves and trees being apart of the scenery. Possibly fall but could have been spring. The window is a main focus of the tower and I'm not sure if a light was on.

The title from what I can remember is something a long the lines of the ghost in the tower or the secret tower room. Maybe even the girl in the tower? It is not a part of a series and is more of a young adult short read.

I read this book back in 2002-2003, but I'm pretty sure it's from the 80s or 90s. It had an older feel to it and the illustration on the front was not from a recent time.

The plot for the book is about a girl and her father who move into a new house with his girlfriend and her son I believe. The daughter and son do not get a long very well and I don't think the girl likes her fathers new love interest. They let her have a room with a door in it that leads to a tower. It has a special key that locks it. She loves painting or drawing and that is where they believe she can have her own little art studio to feel more at home in this new house. Later weird things start happening and she discovers theres an evil presence that lives in the tower and so she tries to keep the door locked. I believe she also tries to tell her dad & new stepmom, but no one will believe her. They blame her for all the weird stuff happening as they think she hates it there and her new family. In the end the ghost in the tower tries pushing her out of the window or maybe pushes the little boy out? Something crazy and bad happens and she finally figures out why the ghost was trapped up there and "releases" it. At the very end they have a nice picnic in the backyard and everything is back to normal again.

I really hope someone knows what this book is because it was such a good book I'm sad I can't remember it or even find it anywhere.

Current Mood: frustrated

ayeshakhtar

Hi! I read this book when I was quite young and I think I remember its name but I can't find it anywhere online.

From what I can remember it was called the Shattered Mirror. The story was of a rich guy who got handicapped in an accident. He hires a female caretaker who starts living in his house. They begin to fall in love all the while she notices some supernatural activity. Later on, she finds out the house is haunted by the guy's dead fiance who moves through mirrors and tries to kill the girl.

nasnan

So I read this book, or maybe short story when I was in elementary school I believe - so early 90's.

So what I remember is the main character talking to two ghosts about how they died. One is a man who was in a war (revolutionary I think?). He was a message carrier, so he walked with a white flag and wasn't shot at bc of this. He gets a pebble in his shoe and puts the flag down to take it out, and as he does this one of the soldiers from the other side attacks him and cuts his head off with a bayonette. There was also an illustration of his head sitting on the table the first time the character meets him.

The second ghost is a young girl who drowned. She is described by the main character as wearing a long necklace at first glance, but upon further inspection she is soaking wet and has waterlilles tangled around her neck. She was on a boat going down a river, imagining that a handsome man would come out on the deck and speak to her. She says the thought is so romantic that she leaned back against the railing to look up at the stars. When she's telling this part of the story she hesitates, and the headless ghost chuckles at her and says "go on, (female ghosts name I can't remember - Ellie? Bessie?") tell him." She then stamps her foot and tells how the railing had been taken down for repair earlier in the day and not put back up, so she fell into the river. Then and she says something like "I didn't know how to swim back then - no real lady did - so all those skirts soaked up the water and I drowned."

Other than this scene, I have no idea what the rest of the book was about. Why is this kid meeting ghosts? Why are the ghosts in the same place? It's driving me bonkers and any help would be appreciated!!

catspear

hello! I am so desperate to find this book. I read it as a kid in primary school. I rented it from a library and even a few years after I couldn't find it again and it's been driving me mad since (I am now 30!) so it was late 90s im guessing, and seemed an oldish book. The only thing I can remember was something about a ghost, and a necklace that ended up being exhibited at the Victoria and Albert museum - maybe the necklace was haunted? I know there was a ghost in it and maybe a brother and sister, but am sure the lead person was a young girl. Also there's something about pink and a wall - I'm not sure if book cover, title or what but I'm desperate to find out' if anyone has an idea please let me know!

msbond007

Hello!

I just came across this community - I love that there are so many forgotten books that have been found!

There is one that I read back in elementary school - probably no later than 2000. I remember it every time a certain soundtrack plays on Pandora (the one my teacher played when I was reading the book), and every time I hear the song I am bothered that I cannot remember the name of the book.

I do not remember all the details of the YA mystery novel. What I do remember is that the protagonist came across the ghosts of a family that had been murdered (shot, I believe). There were graphic details - one family member's head was not totally connected to his neck, one was missing the back of her head, and even the horse was shot (still can't believe my elementary school had this!). The reason the protagonist came across the family's home or what the outcome of his interactions with them was escapes me. That is literally all I remember, but it is never enough to find the book.

Does this ring a bell for anyone?

Current Mood: determined

soundofsunlight

I never got to read the whole book, so I don't know how it ends. What I do know:

There's a boy staying at an old house, possibly visiting relatives. He learns about the history of the house, including that the family who used to live there had a son who had died of a fever. Later, something happens, and our protagonist somehow switches places with the boy in the past. He wants to get back to his own time and his own body, and he tries to tell the family, but they assume he's just delirious from the fever. I think the ghost of the other boy may have purposely caused the switch, to get a chance to live. In any case, he does his best to pass as the protagonist and avoid going back to his sick body. I don't know what happens after that.

Is this familiar to anyone?

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Find That Book

Find That Book

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