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Seven Strange & Ghostly Tales

brian jacques

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Fans of the author of the award-winning Redwall series will loves these spooky tales!

Filled with humor, adventure, and imagination, these seven short stories go from the lighthearted to the bizarre. From a teenager who drives a museum curator to mummify him for signing Phantom Snake (an anagram of his name) all over his exhibits, to a boy who's dared to visit the tomb of a vampire at midnight only to discover that the vampire boy he meets has a mother who nags just like his own, the eerie and chilling settings and characters will captivate readers.

137 pages, Paperback

First published September 18,1991

This edition

Format
137 pages, Paperback
Published
January 1, 1999 by PaperStar
ISBN
9780698118089
ASIN
0698118081
Language
English

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About the author

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brian jacques

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Brian Jacques (pronounced 'jakes') was born in Liverpool, England on June 15th, 1939. Along with forty percent of the population of Liverpool, his ancestral roots are in Ireland, County Cork to be exact.

Brian grew up in the area around the Liverpool docks, where he attended St. John's School, an inner city school featuring a playground on its roof. At the age of ten, his very first day at St. John's foreshadowed his future career as an author; given an assignment to write a story about animals, he wrote a short story about a bird who cleaned a crocodile's teeth. Brian's teacher could not, and would not believe that a ten year old could write so well. When young Brian refused to falsely say that he had copied the story, he was caned as "a liar". He had always loved to write, but it was only then that he realized he had a talent for it.
He wrote Redwall for the children at the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool, where as a truck driver, he delivered milk. Because of the nature of his first audience, he made his style of writing as descriptive as possible, painting pictures with words so that the schoolchildren could see them in their imaginations. He remained a patron of the school until his death.

Brian lived in Liverpool, where his two grown sons, Marc, a carpenter and bricklayer, and David, a professor of Art and a muralist, still reside. David Jacques' work can be seen in Children's hospitals, soccer stadiums, and trade union offices as far away as Germany, Mexico, and Chile (not to mention Brian's photo featured in most of his books).

Brian also ran a weekly radio show on BBC Radio Merseyside, until October 2006, where he shared his comedy and wit, and played his favourites from the world of opera - he was a veritable expert on The Three Tenors.

When he was wasn't writing, Brian enjoyed walking his dog 'Teddy', a white West Highland Terrier, and completing crossword puzzles. When he found time he read the works of Mario Puzo, Damon Runyon, Richard Condon, Larry McMurty, and P.G. Wodehouse. He was also known to cook an impressive version of his favourite dish, spaghetti and meatballs.

Sadly, Brian passed away on the 5th February 2011.

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 34 votes)
5 stars
13(38%)
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6(18%)
3 stars
15(44%)
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34 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
_themightye_
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I was hoping that despite the audience for the book being young people that I would still find some spooky or unsettling stories. Unfortunately I think the collection is too juvenile for me, with the exception of "Allie Alma" (which actually might be too mature for young readers? maybe). I still enjoyed the collection overall, particularly the opening story "The Fate of Thomas P. Kanne." It takes place in the Egyptian exhibition at a museum and has a great ending :)

The author was also the narrator for the audiobook and he did a great job!
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PMansion4119
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Short, as short stories should be, with chills. Just what I needed for the Halloween season.
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Ildorado
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I love short story compilations because each story requires so little investment. If the story is so so, skip it or just wait it out and in 15 minutes you will be to a new story. These were fun ghostly tales that were dark but not too scary. Just fun and spooky. Appropriate for 12 and up.
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blushjoy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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Fun set of ghostly stories, read by the author. I'm not sure if children will find any of them too scary (my children wandered in and out as I was listening, but didn't pay attention.) Ghosts help give various villains the come-uppance, and one boy who creeps up to the vampire's grave at midnight learns the delightful truth about mothers everywhere.
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Jellyrolls25
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
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I have read this book at least six times, if not a dozen, cover to cover. When I was nine or ten I probably wouldn't have given it five stars, as the stories are good but not the most amazing ever, but now as an adult I still remember, still like, and still want to reread them for the umteempth time every summer.
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