maybe I'll fight Dracula or something

In the lead-up to Halloween last year, I listed my five most formative books about vampires and witches. This year, I'm sharing five ghost stories that made an impression on me as a young reader.

1. Ghosts I Have Been (1977) by Richard Peck

In a Midwestern town in the early 20th century, teenage Blossom Culp learns that she has psychic abilities that allow her to communicate with spirits and see through time… which leads to an astral journey to the Titanic on the night that it sinks.

Ghosts I Have Been is the second installment in a four-book series and the first one from Blossom’s point of view. She’s a fantastic narrator, and definitely appealed to me as a social misfit who desperately wished for supernatural powers. The supporting characters are also very memorable, and the sequence on the Titanic is a sad and eerie lynchpin for the story even though it only takes place over a chapter or two.

2. Behind the Attic Wall (1983) by Sylvia Cassedy

Sent to live with her strict great-aunts, troubled orphan Maggie discovers unlikely companions in a forgotten room in their sprawling old house.

I’ve referenced rachelmanija’s book reviews in more than one previous TT5 entry. After criticizing the more uncomfortable elements of Behind the Attic Wall, she asked if any readers liked the book better than she did. I admit to being one of those readers, which may say as much about me, and my own memories of having been "impossible to handle" as a child (despite having two loving parents), as it does about Cassedy's writing choices. Although I understand and even agree with some of Rachel's criticisms (I also got tired of the “Backwoods Girls” sequences very quickly), I was able to empathize with Maggie and to understand, at least to a degree, why the haunted dolls – with all their eccentricities – provided some comfort simply by allowing her to be herself.

3. The Dollhouse Murders (1983) by Betty Ren Wright

And speaking of haunted dolls…

Amy is delighted to discover a hidden dollhouse that is a perfect replica of the house where she’s staying, but increasingly frightened when the dolls appear to be re-enacting horrifying scenes from her family’s past.

I loved dollhouses when I was younger. I was lucky to have more than one (mostly thanks to hand-me-downs and yard sales), and some of my most elaborate imaginative games played out within their walls. A story about a supernatural dollhouse sat perfectly at the intersection of two of my interests. Although your mileage may vary on how well a book written in the 80s portrays Amy’s developmentally disabled sister, I also liked how the ghostly drama meshed with the past and present challenges affecting her family.

4. Wait Till Helen Comes (1986) by Mary Downing Hahn

Twelve-year-old Molly can’t help but resent her emotionally volatile younger stepsister, but when Heather befriends the ghost of a little girl who is buried in the graveyard near their new home, Molly suspects that Heather’s life might be in danger.

As with The Dollhouse Murders, the supernatural elements of Wait Till Helen Comes intertwine with and ultimately help to resolve conflicts within a family – including the relationship between sisters who have a hard time understanding each other – by bringing long-unspoken traumas to light. Helen, the ghost, is both frighteningly manipulative and undeniably tragic, and Molly is very sympathetic in her attempts to be understood and believed. This was the first of Hahn’s ghost stories that I read, and still my favorite.

5. The Ghost in the Third Row (1987) by Bruce Coville

During auditions for a community theater project, Nina sees the specter of an actress who has apparently haunted the theater for years. When a series of alarming incidents threaten the production, Nina and her new friend and castmate, Chris, work together to determine whether a human or ghostly presence can be blamed for the sabotage.

Of the five books on this list, The Ghost in the Third Row adheres the most to the beats of a detective story, leading the reader through clues, suspects, and perilous mishaps that all point to a relevalory confrontation. I love the loyal female friendship at the center of the story, the other characters involved in the theatrical production are also vividly drawn, and the final scene is sentimental but not cheap. Coville wrote two sequels to this book, but I think it stands perfectly well on its own.

What are some of your favorite literary hauntings, either from your childhood or more recently?

I shared several snippets of a crossover between Utena and The Vampire Diaries, written when the latter show had only one complete season. (One of the scenes in question contains non-graphic sex and implied sibling incest.)