THE CALL AND OTHER STRANGE STORIES

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this collection of remarkable stories you'll find a blend of suspense, horror, the supernatural, and a touch of humour. The writing is of the highest quality, which readers have come to expect from this outstanding author.BLRobert Westall was the first author to ever win the Carnegie Medal twiceBLOther awards won include the Smarties Prize and the Guardian AwardBLThis book has remained in print for a number of years and we're very proud to be adding it to our Modern Classics listBLRobert Westall died in 1993

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Accomplished author Westall is in top form with this collection of six spine-tinglers. Readers will be hard put to decide which they enjoy most: the decidedly spooky goings-on or the glimpse into a workaday English life far from the glamour of London. It is, in fact, the mingling of the commonplace with the eerie that gives these stories their clout. In ``Uncle Otto at Denswick Park,'' the visit of an art historian with a passion for the past calls forth period-clad phantoms who do their best to restore the placid lawns of a luxury housing development to their former Georgian splendor. ``Warren, Sharon and Darren'' is the account of an out-of-work couple propelled by the arrival of a changeling son into the upper stratospheres of yuppiedom. An admonitory tale of greed and obsession, ``The Red House Clock'' manages to conjure up the coziness of 1920s village life while revealing its grimmer sides as well. Rich with detail and ingeniously constructed, these stories are as entertaining as they are evocative. Ages 12-up. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

Gr. 7-12. This collection, which contains several "Twilight Zone"-type stories, will appeal to skilled readers of all ages who enjoy the eerie. The selections are a delicate blend of suspense and a touch of horror. The frequent appearance of British phrases does not detract from the readability but adds to the element of the unfamiliar. The better tales are toward the end of the book, where Westall thoroughly grounds his readers in the rational only to insist that at critical moments they suspend logic in favor of the supernatural. "The Red House Clock" has such a touching human protagonist that it is easy to identify with him and make the leap to the extrahuman interpretation of events that he suggests. In this story, a young village boy becomes expert at repairing clocks and encounters a clock that seems to take on the cause of its deceased owner. "The Call" is the story of a couple staffing a telephone help line on Christmas Eve who receive a plea from a woman long dead. "The Badger" tells of the experience of a hunter driven insane by his prey. Any fan of Rod Serling will find pleasure in these side trips to the supernatural. --Susan DeRonne

Horn Book Review

There is no doubt that Robert Westall has a gift for portraying the uncanny, the supernatural, and the borderline criminal. In these two collections, the stories range from explorations of the unconscious human mind to the revenge of badgers. The combinatin of humor and horror will be greatly appreciated by young adults. From HORN BOOK 1993, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

By a fine, dependable British author whose fiction ranges from sf to WW II-set novels (The Kingdom by the Sea, 1991): six stories partaking of the supernatural. A truant is trapped in a house where the ghostly occupant tests his honesty while offering a deadly bargain; the outrage of an architectural historian provokes the mysterious resurgence of stately ``Denswick Park,'' now converted to new homes. ``Warren, Sharon and Darren'' features a virgin birth of an extraterrestrial, who intriguingly does and doesn't resemble Jesus (he's so embarrassingly precocious that his parents are forced to change his school). ``The Badger'' rises from the dead to persecute the cruel hunter who killed him. Most interesting: the title story, in which the ghost of a murdered woman seeks companionship by telephone; and the intricately plotted ``The Red House Clock,'' which wreaks vengeance on a truly despicable villain--but through the ironic intervention of the narrator's singularly dour father. Solidly spooky fare--well written and imaginative. (Short stories. 12+)