The Haunted House Party

January 1, 1996
K-Gr 3-This newly illustrated edition of a title published in 1987 describes a Halloween party in lyrical rhyme. Uninvited animal guests get out of hand a la The Cat in the Hat, entertaining and terrifying the young host and his friends. As the events get increasingly wild and destructive, the boy asserts himself and the creatures restore the house to normal before his parents' return. The poetry goes on a bit too long, but the cartoonstyle pictures are full of scary ghosts, drunken skeletons, goblins, witches, a flame-throwing devil, and creepy crawlies. The backgrounds are dark with the figures painted in brighter colors. Careful examination reveals humorous details-eyes peeping under a stair, an expressive doorknob, a lightbulb smoking a cigar. Children will love the grotesqueness, but they may tire of the verse.-Martha Gordon, formerly at South Salem Library, NY