Ghosts: The Truth Behind History's Spookiest Spirits

Gr 3–6—Through four chapters of straightforward description, these volumes demystify the fearsome qualities of each well-known monster. A bit of preface is followed by information on ancient beliefs in assorted countries, medieval folklore from Europe, tactics supposedly used for hunting and killing the cursed creatures, and continuing appeal of these subjects in popular media. Grisly details, both on the part of the monsters and of the fearful citizens, are provided matter-of-factly, and widely selected illustrations include quaint and fairly tame images, as well as a few that are gory. Highlighted words that appear in the closing glossary are also defined right within the chapter. The vampire and werewolf volumes each include a crude worldwide map locating different beliefs, and all the books have a nice chart of related film, TV, novel, and game titles. The three books in each bibliography are small samples of the many available on these popular subjects.