I have read and loved many of Mary Downing Hahn's ghost stories for children (yes, even an adult can appreciate them), and though many of her stories can be quite formulaic, I have enjoyed reading them and recommending them to my students, especially those who love ghost stories. The stories are generally well-plotted and are high on atmosphere, without any offensive language or gore.
In "All the Lovely Bad Ones", a pair of siblings who love playing pranks find that the joke is on them when they visit their grandmother at her inn in Vermont during the summer. Both twelve-year-old Travis and his younger sister Corey love playing tricks on people, and when they hear that their grandmother's inn may harbor restless spirits, they playact as ghosts in a bid to get the inn some attention and hopefully more guests for their grandmother's business. Their tricks do attract attention - from both humans and supernatural entities!
To Travis and Corey's horror, they find that the inn was once a poorhouse which was run by a cruel and greedy man and his sister. Many poor people died horrible deaths at the farm, and were buried in nameless graves. Among the dead are young boys who are now restless spirits, having been awakened from their sleep by Travis and Corey's shenanigans. Both brother and sister now have to set things right and put the spirits to rest at last.
The story moves along, though at times it does appear to drag. The back story of how the poor farm was run and what happened to its hapless residents makes for interesting reading. Travis and Corey are typical fun-loving teens though they can be annoying at times. Overall, it is an atmospheric ghost story that might appeal to upper elementary readers.
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