The Haunted House Party

by Barry Louis Polisar

illustrated by David Clark

$14.95, 32 p. color illustrated.

ISBN# 0-938663-21-6

Join Barry Louis Polisar's host of ghosts, ghouls and goblins as the house shakes, the candlesticks fly, the TV pirouettes and a few ghosts take off their sheets....it's the liveliest Halloween party ever--until things get out of hand in this spell-binding but good-natured tale told in verse. On Halloween night, a child's party is visited by real ghosts and goblins. The problem is--everyone is in a mask and costume and no one knows who the real creatures are--until some of the real ghosts and goblins begin to show off for each other. The host and his friends learn, in a highly original way, how to deal with negative, destructive behavior and to take responsibility for their situation.

But is Barry's book really a Halloween story? Barry was married on Halloween, 1981 and claims he based this book on his wedding night party, disguising his family members as characters in this story. Wicked fun!

Sample Illustrations

	Then suddenly I heard a knock and a howling, wailing sound; The clattering beat of scattering feet running all around. I heard a rattle, then a clack-- was this some sort of joke? A dozen skeletons came in. They rattled as they spoke.
	A grisly witch then shouted out, "You wanna see some tricks? Watch this," she said and as she spoke, my mother's candlesticks Flew through the air, then up the stair, and back down through the door. "Show-off," the Ogre muttered, "I've seen that trick before."
	A pair of drunken skeletons passed through the closet door. I scolded them and told them all that I could take no more. "There's no excuse for what you've done; it's time to stop this stuff. You've wrecked my house and party-- and haunted me enough."