Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Bloomsbury USA Childrens (2010), Edition: 1, 257 pages
Description
One stormy night, in their family's otherwise deserted Cornwall inn, twelve-year-old Ethan and his sister Cathy shelter a mysterious guest who indulges their love of the macabre by telling horror stories of the sea.
User reviews
LibraryThing member passion4reading
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
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 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, even I found a couple of the stories hard to stomach. Well worth re-reading again and again.
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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 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, even I found a couple of the stories hard to stomach. Well worth re-reading again and again.
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LibraryThing member sbhsenglish
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
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 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
‘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
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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 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
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Awards
Gouden Griffel (Vlag en Wimpel — 2010)