Reviews

The Red Room Riddle: A Ghost Story by Geff Gerlach, Scott Corbett

jcschildbach's review

4.0

This is Corbett at his best--classic horror for kids--and still gave me some chills reading it again 30-some years later. There are elements in it that have stuck with me since my first read, including a description and illustration of a mural of the 'slaughter of the innocents.' As for the plot, you get a strange new kid and his dog showing up, and making a dare to a pair of best friends. From there, getting the kids to go into the haunted house opens up the door for anything to happen, and Corbett creates a number of great scenes where it becomes impossible to tell what's real and not--but it's all scary. In elementary school, I even had an idea that maybe someday I could borrow some home decorating tips from this book.

cclurejam's review

4.0

I first read this over thirty years ago. Recently, I got a copy and decided to try it again. Although it's not quite as thrilling as it was when I was ten, it still holds up. Good for kids with a bit of a dark streak to them.

corncobwebs's review

fast-paced ghostly suspense! scott corbett’s books remind me of john bellairs - they’re both vintage creepiness. even if the setting is old-timey, i don’t think that matters as long as the story is good. this one was a good ol’ haunted house story, which is totally my jam. since i’m a horror fan and have watched a lot of scary movies and read a lot of scary books, the “twist” didn’t surprise me (spoiler alert: Jamie Bly is really a ghost, and the house he takes bill and bruce to is a ghost version of the ramshackle mansion from the beginning), but i didn’t mind too much. I loved the red room setting and how bill brought up the fact that the decks of battle ships used to be painted red so that blood wouldn’t show after violent gun fights. Made you feel like something really sinister was going on in that red room. I also loved how the “slaughter of the innocents” tapestry seemed to come alive - it’s not often that the murdering of babies comes up in children’s literature, so that was a shocker more than anything else. in the end, bill continues to be a fact-seeking skeptic, convinced that Jamie hypnotized them into thinking they had all those paranormal experiences. bruce is more willing to believe the unbelievable, and in the end, it’s up to readers to decide which side they’re on.

I’d recommend this book, but i think it’s out of print and only a couple libraries in our system have it. it would be a great addition to a “spooky books for halloween” display.

warning's review

4.0

My 4th or 5th grade teacher read this to our class. I found a copy 40 years later and was surprised how much I remembered and how creepy this story is.

nnecatrix's review

5.0

I think I was 11 or 12 when I read this book. It gives me the shivers just thinking about it now, about three decades later. So many of the images remain clear in my memory, and the story's suspenseful revelation was masterfully done.