Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley

This BRILLIANT (so brilliant it's all in capital letters) book is both a collection of and IS a scary story itself. The book is the story of a boy named Edgar, who ventures off to his Uncle Montague's large house. Uncle Montague claims to live alone with only with his servant, Franz. But after being in the water closet and hearing rattling doors, Edgar wonders if that's true.

While at Uncle Montague's house, Edgar hears many frightening tales of ghosts, murderers, creatures, and worse. More and more, Edgar wonders how his uncle knows all these stories, and why he has some of the main objects of the story,(for example, "the gilt frame"), and if these stories have anything in common.

The stories include: Offerings, Jinn, The Path, The Demon Bench End, The Gilt Frame, and the scariest of all, Uncle Montague. I suggest you read this book only if you:

A. are very mature.
B. are at LEAST 12 years old and loved to be scared.
C. you have had your parents read it and OK it first (because it's pretty scary and has some bad language.)

Uncle Montague finishes his stories with one about himself, and explains to Edgar how he used to be a headmaster (a cruel headmaster) who had stolen from the boys, and how the children in the stories had come to live with him -- dead or alive -- and how they had given him the main objects in the stories they told him.

I think that this book is one of the few scary books that I can read over and over again and still be a little scared. After reading this book, in the future I am going to find more Chris Priestley books.

Overall this is a VERY good book, and I want you to read it, and I want to get Chris Priestley more famous because I think he is a fabulous author! I give this book 4 and a half out of five flies.

~Flying away as usual,
Lily Lou

P.S. Chris Priestley has a scary website for Tales of Terror. Take a look and tell us how you like it!