The Beasts of Clawstone Castle
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
The Beasts of Clawstone Castle is a fantastically spooky adventure from the author of Dial a Ghost, Eva Ibbotson.
'We need proper ghosts,' said Ned, 'really scary ones with heads that come off and daggers in their chests!'
When Madlyn and her younger brother Rollo arrive at crumbling Clawstone Castle, they can see that emergency action is needed before Clawstone falls down completely. With the help of a team of homeless, scary ghosts –including a one-eyed skeleton and Brenda the Bloodstained Bride – they hatch a spooky plan to get the money rolling in. But with a sinister scientist on the loose, money might not be enough to save the mysterious beasts of Clawstone Castle . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
There's more spooky hilarity in store for fans of Ibbotson's previous ghost stories (Dial-a-Ghost; The Great Ghost Rescue). However, animal lovers may have trouble digesting some of the darker moments of this book. While their parents are in America, British siblings 11-year-old Madlyn and nine-year-old Rollo stay at Clawson Castle, an estate owned by the children's mild-mannered Great-Aunt Emily and Great-Uncle George. Uncle George takes great pride in his snow-white cattle, but unless more money can be earned by attracting tourists to the castle, the precious herd (and the castle) may be lost. Madlyn suggests that they draw more visitors by filling the castle with ghosts. Business booms after they hire a crew of frightening phantoms a bloody bride, a skeleton taxi driver, a severed circus lady, a pirate and a rat that gnaws at his heart, and a Scottish pair of feet that dance to Highland reels (all cunningly depicted in Hawkes's illustrations). But when Uncle George's cows are kidnapped, it is up to the children to save them from the clutches of a greedy doctor, who mutilates critters for fun and profit. The book offers a plethora of tangled threads and comic characters and perhaps more gore than is customary for the author. However, things end on an up note: there are no serious injuries to the protagonists (human or otherwise) and the villains get their just deserts. Ages 10-up.
