Tales of Terror from the Black Ship

Ethan and Cathy are two children living in an old inn, perched precariously on a cliff top. When they fall suddenly ill during a heavy storm, their father admonishes them to let nobody in, and rushes off to find a doctor. Suddenly there is a knock on the door, and Ethan taking pity on the young man standing outside, lets him in. To pass the time until their father returns, the stranger tells them some strange and terrifying sea-faring tales.

This is a collection of self-contained short stories within the larger narration concerning the children and the mysterious stranger. The atmosphere of disquiet and occasionally genuine terror conjured up by Chris Priestley is wonderful, creating a very enjoyable feeling of unease and foreboding, and show more his joy of storytelling is obvious. As Cathy puts it in response to one of the mysterious visitor's tales, "But I do so love to be frightened!" I have to marvel at the author's dark mind, being able to produce such spine-chilling tales, an ability he also demonstrates with his novella The Dead of Winter. The stories are enhanced by David Roberts' bleak and sinister illustrations. I'm just annoyed that the editor or publisher didn't notice that one of the illustrations at the very beginning of the book in effect gives away the twist at the end; I could still enjoy the skill of the narration but the "heart-stopping revelation" came as no surprise. I also couldn't help noticing that the illustrator pre-empts the conclusion to another of the tales, so that what was supposed to be a moment of shock had already been anticipated. I suppose that not every reader will pick up on those small details, but this will slightly mar the enjoyment of an otherwise excellent book for the keen observer. Bloomsbury have put a warning to younger readers on the back cover that this is a seriously scary book and I wholeheartedly agree; some of the tales are really quite disturbing and would not be suitable for a young readership, and even I found a couple of the stories hard to stomach. Well worth re-reading again and again. show less

Ethan and Cathy live in an old Inn at the top of a cliff overlooking the sea. They live with their father, who in grief over the loss of his wife, often drinks too much and easily flies into rages at the children. One night, when the children are ill, their father leaves to fetch a doctor. As he leaves, he tells them not to leave the house or allow anyone to enter while he is gone. As children have a habit of doing, they don't obey.

While waiting for their father to return, the children amuse themselves by telling scary stories. A storm rages outside, giving great atmosphere to their macabre tales. Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. A sailor stands on the stoop, asking for shelter until the storm breaks. He regales them with several show more terrifying tales of the sea.

This is the second book in the 4-part Tales of Terror series by Chris Priestley. I love how Priestley weaves these creepy seafaring stories in and around the tale of two ill children left alone in an old inn during a bad storm. The stories are all related to the sea, but they are all completely different. Pirates, ghost ships, cursed artifacts, sea monsters, storms....just a lovely collection of scary stories. The book is written for middle grade children, so the stories are spooky but age appropriate. Even adults can enjoy this creepy voyage! I really enjoyed the book! The stories (and a creepy twist at the end) are well written and fun to read. :)

The book covers & stories are illustrated by wonderfully creepy black and white drawings by David Roberts.

This is a great follow-up to the first book in the series: Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror.

My rating: 9/10
Ages 10
Mild horror, age appropriate for Middle Grade childen show less

A fun, exciting read. Mysterious. Each chapter is a short story with a brief discussion among the characters at the end. Some chapters are fables, and some chapters provide clues to the mystery enshrouding the characters' circumstances.

Book review – Tales of Terror from the Black Ship
‘Tales of Terror from the Black Ship’ is a short novel written by Chris Priestley. He is a famous illustrator and author, writing the ‘Tales of Terror’ series. This book contains many different and unique scary tales that will entertain anyone and everyone.
The story starts off with a boy called Ethan and his younger sister, Cathy. They live in an inn near the shore with their father. During an extremely strong and severe storm, Ethan and Cathy fell ill and their father must leave to get the doctor. This leaves Ethan and Cathy alone in an inn in a gigantic storm, extremely bored, but not for long. Soon, a sailor comes begging for shelter from the storm. The children agree to let show more him rest until the storm calms down. During this time, the sailor starts to retell many of his grizzly tales to the children to cure them of their boredom. This then ties into the rest of the book which contains all of the tales from the sailor.
As stated before, this book has many tales that everyone would like. Ranging from gypsies to flesh-eating slugs, it has many unique short stories. I would recommend this to anyone who likes scary stories or just many different and unique stories because this great book has many.

By Kenfond Xuan show less

Great spooky stories. Loved this book.

Not as good as the previous ones.

Quite chilling.