Ghosts and More Ghosts

Reading Robert Arthur’s collection of fantastic tales for young readers was among my most distinct memories from elementary school. As a kid I loved the stories in it, the details of many of which I carried with me for years afterward. When my young son started to get interested in horror stories, the book came to mind once again and I tracked down a copy, as much for my benefit as for his. Revisiting it again brought back all of those wonderful memories while simultaneously giving me new insights into the stories it contained. These are:

“Footsteps Invisible” – A blind news vendor is asked by a famed British archaeologist to use his keen hearing to help stay one step ahead of the relentless force hunting him. This one provides a show more nice, creepy start to the book, highlighting Arthur’s ability to evoke dread in his tales.

“Mr. Milton’s Gift” – A man searching for an anniversary gift for his wife gets more than he bargains for when he comes upon an unusual curio shop. It’s one of the more humorous tales in the collection, and reflects nicely the range of stories of which Arthur was capable.

“The Rose Crystal Bell” – Another story centered around an anniversary gift, it’s about a surgeon and his wife who purchase a unique bell with a forbidding reputation. It’s one of the darkest stories, and one to which Arthur adds an enjoyable element of uncertainty right through to the end as to whether there is even a supernatural force at play in it.

“The Marvelous Stamps from El Dorado” – Easily my favorite tale in the book, it’s about a young man who stumbles across a unique set of postage from a far-off land. The premise is wonderfully magical and the story is fun, with just a touch of melancholy at the end.

“The Wonderful Day” – A feverish child with a magical gift becomes a force of karma in the small town where he lives. This is another story that leans more towards the fantastic rather than the horrific, as it serves up a sizeable heaping of just desserts in a very literal fashion.

“Don’t Be a Goose” – In an attempt to achieve greatness, a nebbish physics professor uses a spell to transport himself into the past, but with surprising results. This is one of my least favorite stories in the collection, largely because it isn’t long into the story before the outcome becomes predictable. Nevertheless, it’s still a fun read.

“Do You Believe in Ghosts?” – A radio show host proves a little too successful at stoking the imagination of his listeners. This is one of the few stories where the premise is better than the execution, though largely because it’s such a fantastic idea.

“Obstinate Uncle Otis” – After being struck by lightning, a stubborn man gains the power to bend his world to fit his views. This is another one that features Arthur’s ability to take a potentially grim premise and turn it into a fun tale about the dangers of being unable to accept reality, which is probably why my memory of it held up as well as it did.

“Mr. Dexter’s Dragon” – An amateur antiquarian discovers more than he bargained for when he stumbles across a book of spells with a special illustration inside it. This was another one of my favorites, and reading it again made for a nice demonstration of how effectively Arthur could write a tale that invokes horror in a story that can still be appropriate for young readers.

“Hank Garvey’s Daytime Ghost” – Another take about the power of obstinacy, as a local character defines the life of his grandson even from beyond the grave. While an enjoyable enough story it’s one of the weakest in the book, as Arthur employs many of the elements in it to better effect in the ones that preceded it.

Though the ghosts themselves are surprisingly few in a book with the title given to this one, there’s plenty of the fantastic and the supernatural for young readers to enjoy. That the book is no longer in print means that the ability for them to do so depends upon stumbling across a yellowing copy on a library shelf or in a used bookstore, but those who do so are in for an enjoyable treat. show less

Ages: 8 and up
Genre: YA, horror (mild)

Robert Arthur Jr. did a lot of work with/for Alfred Hitchcock. In fact, he ghost-wrote as Hitchcock in some cases. He also originated the classic "Three Investigators" YA book series, writing books 1 to 9 and 11. Hitchcock's introductions and epilogues were all done by Arthur (or in the case of books which were written by other authors, by them).

As far as I know he also produced ALL of the books for children and young adults that were released under Hitchcock's imprimatur. There were a lot of great ones; "Ghosts and More Ghosts" is a perfect example.

Some of the "Hitchcock" books were anthologies of stories by various authors, selected and edited by Robert Arthur. But in this case, he wrote ALL of show more the stories. It's a collection of ghost stories appropriate for older children and young adults.

It's a deeply enjoyable book. Arthur really had a gift for stories that were •perfect• for the young.

I can't be sure since he's not credited, but I strongly suspect that the book was illustrated by Harry Kane–who also illustrated the earlier books in "The Three Investigators" series.

The first story is "Footsteps Invisible", which would have easily made a great episode of "The Twilight Zone". It's a classic ghost story, with the interesting twist that the protagonist is a blind newspaper vendor who's approached one rainy night at his little newsstand in Times Square.

The next story is "Mr Milton's Gift", which would •also• make a great Twilight Zone episode! Come to think of it, most of Robert Arthur's short stories would be great for television–which isn't surprising, since he wrote a lot for television and radio in his career. In any case the meek Mr Milton stumbles on Ye Olde Giftte Shoppe when looking for a present for his wife only to find that the "gifts" for sale aren't the usual sort. It's fun and lighthearted.

I won't detail the rest of the stories in the book. Just let me say that they're all imaginative, memorable, and VERY skillfully plotted and written.

Unfortunately "Ghosts and More Ghosts" is long out of print. You might still find copies in used book shops; the best editions are large hardcovers, but you can also find trade paperbacks (a bit larger than than standard paperbacks). It hasn't been released as an ebook, but you can find PDFs on the high seas.

And you can also borrow it for free from the Internet Archive, thank goodness!

https://archive.org/details/ghostsmoreghosts00arth

Happy reading! 🤓📖 show less

Wow, I can't believe I found this. I didn't remember anything but the cover, but looking over the stories in this collection, this is THE strange tales collection for my childhood. Every one of these stories has stayed with me.

The stories:
Footsteps Invisible
Mr. Milton's Gift
The Rose Crystal Bell
Don't Be a Goose
Obstinate Uncle Otis
Do You Believe in Ghosts?
The Stamps for El Dorado
The Wonderful Day
Mr. Dexter's Dragon
Hank Garvey's Daytime Ghost

I found it because I was looking for "The Rose Crystal Bell," but I recall "Footsteps Invisible," "The Stamps for El Dorado," and "Mr. Dexter's Dragon" also as being especially memorable. (Why this is a children's book, I will never know. These are easily nice additions to any adult's weird story show more collection.) show less

A compilation of short stories by the renowned author of the Alfred Hitchcock Three Investigators series, Robert Arthur. Thoroughly enjoyable. This book was was put into publication about one year before Robert Arthur wrote his the first T3I book

It's a collection of ten stories about ghosts and the supernatural with a little fantasy and science fiction (i.e., Time Travel) thrown in. Some of the stories are scary ("Footsteps Invisible", "The Rose-Crystal Bell") while others are funny ("Mr. Milton's Gift", "Don't Be a Goose") and yet others are best described as wistful ("The Wonderful Day", "The Marvelous Stamps from El Dorado").

I enjoyed these stories, even though there weren't very many ghosts (as the title claims).

First published in 1940