Book Review: Tales From The Haunted Mansion

Summer is in full swing, which means lots of time at the pool. I usually pack a book to read, even though my kids typically keep me from reading it more than a few minutes at a time. Fortunately, my latest read fit perfectly into these time constraints. I’m referring to Tales From the Haunted Mansion by Amicus Arcane. It’s a compilation of short stories based on the Haunted Mansion attractions at Disney’s parks. Perhaps it’s an odd choice to read ghost stories while sunning pool side, but since I usually shy away from these types of books the contrast worked well for me. It reminded me of emerging from the dark Haunted Mansion back into Liberty Square on a remarkably bright day at Magic Kingdom.

Today’s post shares a brief review of Tales from the Haunted Mansion.

Overview

Let’s start with an overview.

Tales from the Haunted Mansion is technically a young-adult series. Although the cover claims it is written by Amicus Arcane, it’s actually the work of author and screen writer John Esposito. Arcane is his fictional character that serves as the librarian of the Haunted Mansion and the narrator of the book. Kelley Jones provides thoughtful pen and ink illustrations to complement Esposito’s tales.

Volume II: Midnight at Madame Leota’s

I started reading the series with Volume II. This bothered my linear-thinking mind more than I care to admit. Fortunately, the order in which you read Tales from the Haunted Mansion really doesn’t matter. The author does a great job of bringing new readers up to speed quickly without overworking the storyline for returning fans.

In the case of Volume II, the overarching story follows the footsteps of William Gaines. William is an aspiring writer who’s still mourning the loss of his late sister. Each year on her birthday, William takes a slice of her favorite cake to her gravesite. During one of these solemn visits, William encounters Amicus Arcane, the librarian referenced above. Arcane offers to take William to visit a medium to see if he can communicate with his lost sister. William agrees and follows Amicus to the Haunted Mansion to meet Madame Leota.

Before William actually meets Madame Leota, however, Amicus asks him to listen to four stories about spirits living within the mansion.

Here’s a brief summary of each, without giving away the plot:

Please Remain Seated – Friends Jane and Connie ride a spooky ride at the local carnival with live-altering results.

Blood Relatives – While exploring some family heirlooms in the attic, Ernie discovers his Romanian roots may include ties to vampires.

Uncle Rory’s Late Show – Uncle Rory passes away after the bank seizes his historic, but failing, movie theater. He bequeaths a storage unit full of black and white films to his nephew Mark, who watches them and finds it difficult to separate real life from the big screen.

The Roaches – After losing her parents, young Camille moves in with her mysterious aunt and encounters numerous unwanted guests in the night.

Intrigued yet?

My favorite of the four is Uncle Rory’s Late Show, but all of them held my interest. They’re scary at times but nothing like adult horror novels, which I avoid because I’m a wimp they’re not my thing. None of the stories are overly graphic either. At times they reminded me of The Twilight Zone.

Review

My experience with Volume II encouraged me to also read Volume III: Grim Grinning Ghosts shortly after. The third book includes three more Arcane tales about a mummy, a Salem witch and a music-stealing young pianist. The overarching story involves three delivery people dropping off cargo at the mansion after hours. I’m a fan of both volumes for their interesting storylines, fun writing style and numerous references to the Haunted Mansion attraction.

The stories are truly entertaining. I think I’d enjoy them even without the Haunted Mansion tie-in. They’re brief, which I mentioned before, but they’re also unpredictable and interesting, which is often difficult to achieve in few words. I also liked how the unrelated stories are smoothly tied together by the Amicus Arcane narrator.

Another aspect I enjoyed about the book was the overall writing style. The writing is crisp and efficient without a lot of unwanted flourish. It’s written for young adults, which makes it easy to read but not too dull for more mature readers. There’s humor throughout the book too, which offers a nice contrast to the darker stories. At times the narrator talks directly to the reader (Foolish Mortal!) or offers silly puns (these stories are to DIE for). The overall effect is a mix of spooky and ridiculous, similar to the Haunted Mansion attraction itself.

Speaking of which, the direct references to the Haunted Mansion are another mark in the plus column for me. The books are full of them. Some are obvious, like references to Madame Leota and the hitchhiking ghosts. Others are slightly more subtle, such as nods to specific rooms or direct quotes (Hurry Ba-ack!) from the attraction. The book cover, chapter titles and seemingly weathered pages also mimic the style of the famous mansion.

In terms of dislikes, I don’t have much to offer. I suppose very young readers could find the content too scary, but that’s about it. I would put this series on par with the Disney Villain’s series by Serena Valentino, in terms of age appropriateness, although Tales from the Haunted Mansion definitely offers more adult-oriented humor.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I’m a fan of the Tales From The Haunted Mansion series. The short and interesting stories, fun writing style and Haunted Mansion references are enough to keep me coming back for more. If you’re looking for a short summer read with the added benefit of Disney parks escapism, you may want to check them out too. As the ghost host says, they’re always looking for one more!

Plus, Volume IV is set to arrive this July. So I may not be the only one reading ghost stories in the summer.

Add a little (Haunted) magic to your world!