The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House

Definitely more than a creepy adventure - what makes it a book I'll remember, and kids will reread, is the unlikable main character and the subtle exposure of her perspective, her fears, and her dreams. Much of the language is quietly gorgeous, too. The B&W illustrations are an evocative perfect fit.

"Maureen Swanson was known among the other children in her neighborhood as a hard slapper, a shouter, a loud laugher, a liar, a trickster, and a stay-after-schooler." From this delightful opening sentence begins the story of Maureen Swanson, who often pretends to be Maureen Messerman as she gazes wistfully through the locked gates of the Old Messerman Mansion, long decrepit and abandoned, but still captivating and reputed to be haunted. One day Maureen makes her way inside, where she meets a "leppercon" who seems to know about her secret wish to be Maureen Messerman, and who warns her away from the place. A girl like Maureen cannot be warned away from anything, but this neighborhood brat soon discovers that the house is haunted, by show more sisters far brattier than she, who are capable of terrible magic (which they stole from the leprechaun's bag of tricks), and who are after something Maureen has taken from them. A short, fun, creepy read. show less

I prefer the original title The Wicked Pigeon Ladies in the Garden used when Mary Chase’s book was first released in 1968. That said, despite it’s being over 50 years old, this slender, middle-grade novel is not dated at all. Maureen Swanson is a holy terror; however, she soon meets her match when she breaks into the old, abandoned Messerman mansion. To tell any more would be to ruin the fun. I loved every single moment of this book that will thrill both kids and adults.

BTW, Mary Chase is best known as the author of the play Harvey.

“Maureen Swanson was known among the other children in her neighborhood as a hard slapper, a shouter, a loud laugher, a liar, a trickster, and a stay-after-schooler.” She is also fascinated with the old Messerman place, a rickety old abandoned house behind big wrought-iron gates where lights are sometimes seen to flicker after dark and strange tapping noises can be heard. Loved this; can’t wait to share it with my daughter as a read-aloud. Chase creates a deliciously sinister and creepy atmosphere, and even pulled some heartstrings at the end.

This starts off assuring us that Maureen is pretty much a bad girl, but don't lose hope...!

(If we were cynical adult readers instead of innocent 7-10 year olds, we might peg Maureen off the bat as the kind of unruly girl who would end up with a string of lousy boyfriends, lots of bad tattoos, a drinking problem, and not enough shoes for her bratty kids.)

She wants to get into the boarded-up old Messerman place, reputed to be haunted, naturally. Of course she does get in. It's pretty spooky, she runs into an odd little cobbler... And she finds some portraits in a hallway that sort of come to life...

Then we get the rather interesting back-story of the house, which involves kindly parents and their seven wicked daughters, an Irish maid, and show more a stow-away leprechaun.

Thus begin Maureen's strange and disconcerting adventures. She learns some important things along the way... show less

This book is a fun not-so-scary ghost story. The main character Maureen was an enjoyable partner to travel to a haunted house with and is the type of average outcast that allows for kids to mentally join in on her part of the adventure. If I could change anything from this book it would be to have more development of the witch sisters. This book would be great for elementary school kids who want to read about creepy, spooky things, but don't actually want anything too frightening.

It was a delightful read, filled with wonderful images. This is a story of a bratty, nasty little girl who rarely listens to anyone and is fascinated with a crumbled down mansion called "The Old Messerman Place."

Disobeying her parents, she finds her way into the mansion where she gets into trouble and finds that her nastiness nets her the same treatment in spades.

There is nothing in depth about this book. It is an easy, breezy, delightful read and I recommend it primarily the highly creative writing style.