Mary Danby - Armada Ghost Book 13

[dem bones]

Mary Danby [ed.] - Armada Ghost Book 13 (1981)

Sydney J. Bounds - Ghost Hunter
Ken Burke - The Return of the Lorelei
Tony Richards - The Girl in the Cellar
Terry Tapp - The Day I Died
Alison Prince - The Baby-Sitter
Maxine Bailey - The Fisherman's Ghost
Rosemary Timperley - The Thing That Went Bump in the Night
Ken Burke - Dance of Death
Philippa Pearce - The Shadow-Cage
Mary Danby - Lorimer's Bride

Blurb:
Come face to face with the frightful, wailing banshee ... shrink in terror from Hacky Basham's evil glass eye ... learn the menacing secret of the old witch-bottle ... meet the long-dead bridegroom still searching for a bride ... find out what bumps horribly down the stairs at midnight ...

Then think twice before you turn out the light!

Interior illustrations: Peter Archer

Pretty much a The Green Ghost & Others sampler, no less than seven of the ten stories shortly to be reprinted therein.

Overlooked were Maxine Bailey's The Fisherman's Ghost, Philippa Pearce's The Shadow-Cage and Sydney J. Bounds' Ghost Hunter, perhaps his finest Armada ghost story. Who knows: maybe the publisher belatedly arrived at the conclusion it was a little too erotic for the children's market?

Includes:

Ken Burke - The Return of the Lorelei : Inspiration for the dramatic (Peter Archer?) cover painting. The spectral crew of phantom ship The Lorelei return to claim the soul of thieving swab who locked them in the stronghold and left them to drown. Evil Black Patch, having no wish to sail the seven seas for eternity, attempts to transfer the blame upon a humble fisherman. Can Davy save his father from the wrath of ghostly cut-throats?

Maxine Bailey - The Fisherman's Ghost: Cornwall. Michael Wallis, a Sheffield lad holidaying with relatives at Mallow vicarage, explores a cove used by Victorian smugglers to share ill-gotten treasures. Michael is treated to a scary guided tour by the ghost of Jeremiah Ferrywell, (1872-1938), who can't rest until his bones have been removed from the churchyard and committed to sea.

Philippa Pearce - The Shadow-Cage: When Ned Challis finds a stoppered green bottle in the ruins of 'the Burnt House' on Whistlers Hill, his first thought is to donate it to Castleford Museum. On reflection it's neither old or interesting enough - why not let daughter Lisa put it toward her school project? A string of less than riveting events ensue.

Rosemary Timperley - The Thing That Went Bump in the Night: Sounds like someone's bouncing a soggy spectral football downstairs. Hang on. What's this red stuff ....?

[ditto]

Don't think I've got that one. Looks good.