Dial a Ghost

Eva Ibbotsen (author)

Macmillan, UK: 1996, 2001: 150pp

ISBN: 0330414712

Genres: adventure, fantasy

Issues: family, friendship, isolation

Have you ever thought about what happens to all those ghosts out there who are without homes or occupation?

Don't you think it must get rather boring - not to mention depressing - when people either can't see you and walk right through you when you are in the middle of something important, or else scream and call an exorcist? The two kindly ladies at the ‘Dial a Ghost' agency have developed a solution. They act as real estate agents for ghosts, finding them appropriate homes with people who actually want to have their house, abbey or hotel haunted. After all, what ancient stately home is complete without a suitable ghost?

So when Fulton Snodd-Brittle requests a particularly bloody, mean-natured and horrible ghost to haunt Helton Hall, the ladies are delighted because they think they have finally found a home for the Shriekers, the most unpleasant ghost couple on their books. And when the generous nuns of Larchford Abbey move into new buildings and offer their old home as a place suitable for a few friendly ghosts, the ladies at Dial a Ghost are very pleased to have found a place for their favourite spooks, the Wilkinson family. Mayhem ensues, however, when the files are confused.

Young Oliver Smith, orphan, who finds himself the unwilling new owner of Helton Hall, is delighted to meet the Wilkisons when they arrive. He has been so lonely, away from his friends at the orphanage, that it is wonderful to have some friends. Little does he know, however, that Fulton Snodd-Brittle had much more sinister plans when he hired, as he thought, the Shriekers to haunt Helton Hall. Oliver is all that stands between him and the title, and Fulton is not the kind of man to stop at murder.

Once again Eva Ibbotsen has crafted delightfully eccentric characters that challenge fantasy stereotypes, and packed them into a whimsical adventure that will entertain both younger readers and the adults who may be sharing the novel with them.

 Great fun.