In honor of Halloween week, and to help myself get back into writing in this space, I decided to showcase a different spooky tale every day this week.
To start things off, I have decided to write about an old favorite, Picture the Dead, by Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown.
This book is about a girl named Jennie who lived with her aunt and uncle during the Civil War. Jennie’s twin brother and cousins, Quinn and Will (a man who also happens to be her fiance), are away fighting. When Quinn comes home, injured and changed, he tells that Jennie’s brother and fiance have died in the fighting. He also tells her that her fiance, Will, wasn’t the man he seemed to be.
Jennie’s aunt decides that she wants to contact the sprit of her dead son, and she needs Jennie’s help to make that happen. But, when Jennie makes contact with Will, he seems upset. Jennie decides that he wanted her to figure out how he died, so she starts working to figure out what his spirit is trying to communicate.
Obviously, once ghosts and spirits enter the book, the whole book becomes more creepy. When I read this the first time, I genuinely got a little freaked out. I think I was reading during the night, and my imagination got the best of me.
This story is a great ghost story, and the illustrations and artifacts scattered throughout really make the book. Here’s an example of one of the creepy pictures.
Doesn’t that make you want to read the book even more? If you’re looking for a creepy historical tale to read during this Halloween week, make sure to check out this one!
The Local Bookery 