Lost In Ghostville

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Chapter Five of Lost in Ghostville:

…Leaving the haunted hotdog, I peeked into a couple of doors. All I found was a broom closet and a bathroom — another girls’ room. “Don’t tell on me,” I said. “I’m going in.” I pushed open the door. It was too dark to see and after a couple of steps I banged into the sink. Something skittered up my arm and over my shoulder. “What was that?” I ran back out into the hall, shaking my arm and brushing wildly at my back. “Get it off!”

Vicki cringed. “Hold still.”

“Get it off!”

She hesitated, then finally let out a shriek and as her eyes closed she swiped at my shoulder. “Oh gross!” she said. A spider the size of my fist jumped off and raced past my feet. Ghosts might not be scary, but spiders are killers.

“Thanks,” I said, imagining being eaten alive by an eight-legged hairball.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t be going into the girls’ room anymore.”

Vicki smiled. “I didn’t really mind the bathroom thing. It was kind of funny.”

“I didn’t get in that much trouble,” I said. “And I got to see inside the girls’ room and live.”

“It’s just a toilet,” she said. “I don’t think they’re so cool.”

“That’s because you’re a girl.”

Vicki rolled her eyes again and glanced at an old clock without any hands. “Maybe we should go find the real Dino Barn. Mr. Brakenbush is probably wondering where we are. We could come back later and look for ghosts.”

I didn’t want to pass up another chance at a ghost. “Let’s look for five more minutes. Then we can leave.”

“Okay.” Vicki sighed. “What were we doing before? We must have done something to bring that ghost out.”

I tried to think. “Nothing, just standing around looking lost. I had my ticket . . .”

“May I help you?” a familiar voice said from behind me. Spinning around I saw that same pale guy in the dusty black suit, thin as a pencil with a beak nose. He was still waiting for our tickets. Although I knew he was just a kind of recording, I was still creeped out.

Vicki stared wide-eyed at him for a moment, then raised her hand. We weren’t even in school and she still raised her hand. “Are you Mr. Greensocks, the owner of the Bijou Theater?”

He arched his eyebrows and pursed his lips at her, like Mr. Brakenbush does after six hours of hand-raising.

She cringed and took a step back.

“Of course I am, child. The matinee is in an hour. No chewing gum in the theater.”

I snorted. Vicki finally got into trouble for something. Then he looked back at me. “Come this way. We’ve been waiting.” He turned and walked toward a dark stairway at the end of the hall.

“Who’s been waiting?” Vicki called after him. He didn’t answer.

Vicki grabbed my arm. “Now I remember. Mr. Greensocks was that theater owner. He always made me spit out my gum. He died last year.”

I glanced down at the floor. No prints.

THE WICKED READ

By John Bladek Published by Capstone Press ISBN-13: 9781496533616 Age Range: 9 – 12 Years

Someone has kidnapped all the ghosts in town, including his Grandma!

Suddenly, Trey’s goofy plan to get on TV and meet his hero — famous ghost-hunter Rex Rangler — turns into a race to save his beloved Grandma’s spirit. Written by debut middle-grade author John Bladek, Lost in Ghostville is a funny, fast-paced novel filled with humor, adventure and, of course, spirit!

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THE CREEPY CREATOR

John Bladek grew up in Washington and has been chasing ghosts for years. As a kid he hid under his pillow while listening to ghost stories on the radio, and in third-grade sneaked into the abandoned haunted house up the block with his best friend. He still swears there was something moving in that upstairs bedroom. Today he no longer hides under his pillow after reading scary stories, but he still loves a good haunted house. John earned a PhD in History, where all ghosts come from, loves to play trivia, and wonders why they don’t make hauntable houses anymore. He’s the author of two funny, creepy middle grade books, ROLL UP THE STREETS! and LOST IN GHOSTVILLE.