Ghost Stories and Tales of the Supernatural

Ghost Stories and Tales of the Supernatural and the Afterlife
Reviews by Ms. Belben
Updated December 2006

In a book that may remind readers a bit of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Coraline slips through a brick wall between the apartment she shares with her preoccupied and often inattentive parents and into the alternate universe of the empty apartment next door.

In that not-so-empty apartment, Coraline discovers a bizarre world occupied by a woman who looks like her mother—except with button eyes, a talking cat, and a group of children trapped by the “other mother” because their souls have been stolen.

When she returns to her real apartment, Coraline discovers that her real parents are missing, and that she must return to the alternate world to find and release them from the evil clutches of her “other mother.”
Creepy and funny, Coraline will appeal to anyone looking for a good, scary, quick read. Perfect for Halloween!

Fans of Jodi Picoult’s suspenseful stories are in for a surprise with her latest novel. Although it is also suspenseful, the supernatural elements in Second Glance are a departure from the more realistic situations in her earlier novels.

Ross Wakeman is hired to help prove that plot of Vermont land purchased by a developer is not haunted by ghosts, but he discovers elements of the otherworldly, and research leads him to believe the ghost he meets—and falls in love with—is that of Lia Beaumont Pike, a young woman found hanged on the property nearly one hundred years ago. He eventually enlists the help of the town sheriff, Eli Rouchert, to help him investigate the decades-old mystery: did Lia Pike kill herself, or was she murdered? And if she was murdered, who killed her? Was it her husband, Spencer Pike, who is still alive, or was it a local Abenaki Indian, who has been linked to the site of Lia’s death?

Complicating his search for answers is Ross’s own attachment to the ghost of Lia Pike, who has appeared to him, and with whom he believes himself to be in love. His own wife perished in a car accident several years ago, and Ross has never believed he would love anyone else. But Lia’s ghostly presence has a magical influence on his life. As he, Eli, and others search for the truth, they uncover much more than they expected, including troubling information about the Vermont’s policy of “voluntary” sterilization that robbed thousands of poor and non-white citizens of their ability to have children.

Elements of romance, ghost stories, and police work combine with a true and terrible secret part of Vermont’s history to make for an intriguing, creepy read. The most compelling parts are those that dip into the past and the portions that examine the science behind the possible crime and use good police work to dig up answers.

Fans of Picoult’s earlier work will find a much different story here, but a compelling and highly readable story, nonetheless.

Hanging out at a cemetery might not be every kid’s idea of a good time, but for Murray Kiefer, it’s a refuge from school bullies, and home, where his mother is either drunk or entertaining strange men.

Murray Kiefer hears voices when he’s at the cemetery. There’s Beloved and Dearly, and now, this mysterious new voice. The one who is begging him to find her. Who is she? And where is she? And what is it she so desperately wants Murray to know?

Dead Connection is a fast-pasted, exciting mystery with lots of twists and turns. As Murray tries to figure out what the voices are trying to tell him, the local police are trying to figure out what has happened to a cheerleader who went missing after school one day. Are her disappearance and Murray’s voice related?

Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon is dead. She has been murdered by her neighbor, a strange man who lives next door and makes dollhouses for a living.

Susie, however, is the only one who knows her killer’s identity, and she watches, and narrates the story, from her afterlife in heaven, where she is also able to observe the lives of her friends and family members.

Susie watches as her father grows obsessed with his suspicions about Mr. Harvey. He is convinced—correctly—that Harvey is Susie’s killer, but he cannot make the police believe him, and despite their attempts to investigate the possibility, they find nothing to justify a formal accusation.

Susie is also able to watch as her parents’ marriage suffers in the aftermath of her death. Her mother, already somewhat withdrawn and dissatisfied, grows more so as she struggles to make sense of her loss.

Susie watches as her sister, Lindsey, one year younger, matures, falls in love, and pursues the identity of Susie’s killer. Also convinced that Mr. Harvey is guilty, Lindsey does some secret investigating of her own and puts herself in danger as she nears proof of his guilt.

As the years past, Susie sees her friends mature and change without her. She watches as her boyfriend, Ray, grows up and falls in love. She sees Ruth, a strange acquaintance, and knows that Ruth, of all people, is able to feel Susie’s presence the most deeply, and she tries to reach out to her from heaven.

The Lovely Bones is an amazing, thoughtful story that escapes being sentimental or maudlin and succeeds in being a unique and moving story about the aftermath of tragedy. It is also a suspenseful drama, and each chapter compels us to read on as we watch, along with Susie, as her family members and the police near the killer’s identity and fail time and again.

Few books can offer comfort about tragedy, but The Lovely Bones manages to show us how people can continue to live inside us and give us strength even after they are gone.

Frank Herbert has been dead for almost ten years, having died of leukemia as a senior in high school. But he hasn’t entirely passed on. In the mind of his brother, Herbie, Frank is still very much present, and increasingly so as Herbie reaches the age his older brother was when he died. As he practices for the football team and takes runs through the cemetery training for cross country, Herbie feels his brother’s presence—and for good reason.

Frank is still present, never having completely passed from the world of the living into the world of the dead, Frank is able to watch his family members’ and friends’ lives go on—and he’s able, in very subtle ways, to make his presence known. As he watches Herbie run and listens to his younger brother speak to him during visits to his grave, Frank harnesses the power of another undead sould named Eamon Connelly in an attempt to reach his brother, assure them that he is listening, and then pass on peacefully into the next world.

Rich Wallace combines sports and spookiness in this story of brotherhood, loss, and moving on. Fans of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold will see similarities in Frank Herbert, and appreciate the gently way he tries to reach out to his brother, help him overcome his grief, and allow them both to move on.