R.L. Stine's Mostly Ghostly Books

Who Let the Ghosts Out?
(Mostly Ghostly)

Tara and Nicky are brother and sister but they can't figure out why no one can see or hear them, and they can't remember where they've been. Then when they go back to their own house, they find that another family lives there! At this point Tara and Nicky figure out that they are ghosts.

Max, now lives in Tara and Nicky's house. He has his own problems to deal with including his dad, who wants to send Max off to boarding school in an effort to toughen him up so he'll turn out like his "perfect" older brother, Colin. Max is smitten with a girl at school, the popular Traci, but he has no hope of attracting her attention. Then there's the added problem - he hears ghostly noises in his family's new house and no one believes him. Max tries to forget about his problems by playing video games and working on his magic act. Tara and Nicky come up with a plan to help Max in exchange for his help so the two ghosts can find out how they died and what happened to their parents. But then the chills really start.

Max's mean brother Colin makes Max walk Buster, the family dog, even though Buster frightens Max terribly. On their first walk, Buster turns inside out and the shape of a man emerges and demands, "Where are they? Tell me where they are, and I might let you live!"

The scary ghost is called Phears, but who is he really and what could he want from Max? Then, to complicate things, Tara and Nicky start appearing to Max and his family thinks he's become unhinged when he tries to tell them that he sees ghosts. No one else can see or hear Nicky and Tara, so when Max talks to them, people start thinking that HE is disturbed. Max's life becomes a little more crazy with Tara and Nicky's help with sometimes backfires?

This is a fast-paced ghost story full of fun with a likeable lead character. You never want to put down the book because there's always something happening. It's a really page turner.

Have You Met My Ghoulfriend?
(Mostly Ghostly)

Max is still standing by his deal with his ghostly friends, Nicky and Tara, that he will try help the siblings find out how they died and what happened to their missing parents. And In return, Tara and Nick will help Max avoid the boarding school his father is bent on sending him to. But then the weird stuff starts happening...

There a cat in Max's bedroom. Or is there? His parents and his bullying big brother Colin can hear the ghostly cat and Max is nervous that the cat may be in the ghost tunnel in his bedroom and after his encounters with the ghostly Phears, he dreads going back into the tunnel ever again. Then, the evil ghost Phears shows up as a wasp that flies into Max's ear and threatens Max that he is going to send a berserker ghost that will drive Max crazy unless Max delivers Nicky and Tara to Phears.

But ghosts on the home front aren't Max's only worries as his English teacher is making him keep a daily journal. He obviously can't tell the truth about his supernatural experiences in his diary.

Then his brother Colin starts speaking gibberish and then Max begins talking only in gibberish! Max loses control of his body, and starts screaming and doing cartwheels. Max's experiences a particularly loud gibberish spells after his favorite teacher, asks for silence from Max's classmates due to a terrible headache. So it's back to the principal's office for Max yet again. Max continues acting very oddly and licks the face of Traci, the girl he has had a crush on. Is Max being possessed by the berserker ghoul Phears threatened him with? Can he resist turning over Tara and Nicky to the evil Phears? And what's up with that ghost cat?

Stine's HAVE YOU MET MY GHOULFRIEND? combines an interesting mystery with great humor into another hard-to-put-down tale. The character of Max Doyle is very funny and then you find out that Phears is something of a softy himself.

One Night in Doom House
(Mostly Ghostly)

The third Mostly Ghostly book starts with ghosts Nicky and Tara hoping to track down their missing parents at the aptly named Scruffy's Diner. Their parents' took them to Scruffy's every Saturday afternoon, but the pair wait, but their parents are a no-show..

When they return to their old house, now owned by Max's family, Lulu, their old housekeeper appears and cryptically whispers, "That's what you will need, children. Colder than the grave." Then she vanishes. Tara and Nicky are puzzled but what Lulu could have meant.

In the meantime, Max's buddy Aaron talks Max into visiting the local haunted house called "Doom House". Aaron wants to try to catch ghosts on video and become famous. He also is trying to persuade their teacher to let them do their school project on ghosts, which would help Aaron get the A grade he needs to pass fifth grade.

When the pair of ghost busters get inside of Doom House, they start to hear creaking noises and laughter, and step in some icky green goo and see some creepy, scary sights. The boys get lost in the scary house and when they finally find the front door, they find themselves locked in! They do manage to escape, and as they are running away from the haunted house they meet up with a man named Morgo, who tells them that all the spooky occurances they've just witnessed have been the result of "special effects for the tourist attraction" he's planning for Doom House. But Max notices that the snow oddly melts immediately where Morgo is standing. Later when he plays back Aaron's videotape he notices that Morgo is invisible.

In order to impress Traci, the girl Max has had a crush on since the first Mostly Ghostly book, Max gives her six silver bullet-like objects he stumbled upon and took from the haunted house. His generosity puts Traci in some scary danger and the heat-generating ghost, Morgo, wants those silver objects and he melts everything and everything that stands in his way. The question becomes, will Morgo try to melt Max and his friends?

Little Camp of Horrors
(Mostly Ghostly)

All through the first 4 Mostly Ghostly books, Max has been trying to help ghosts Nicky and Tara Roland find their missing parents. Then, surprise, surprise, the Rolands show up at Max's door looking for their children! But there's one little glitch. Mr. and Mrs. Roland need a special pendant in order to capture any ghosts who come after them. But Max's rotten older brother, Colin, stole the pendant and took it with him to Camp Snake Lake.

When the Rolands hear that the pendant is missing, they morph into giant growling beetles. They're not really Nicky and Tara's parents, but monsters allied with the evil Phears'. They kidnap Nicky and Tara and then set off for Camp Snake Lake.

Max needs to try to save his friends, so he also heads for for Camp Snake Lake because the horrible creatures will be looking for his brother Colin and the pendant. After Max gets to the camp, Colin treats him as badly as ever. What should Max do? If he tells Colin that his life may be in danger, Colin will likely just brush him off and make fun of him. Max decides he must retrieve the pendant by himself --- before the beetle creatures find it. Or hurt Max's brother.

Max is in a quandary. he must continue searching for the missing pendant while also doing the camp challenges. Meanwhile he tries to protect innocent little Jakey, another camper from the camp bullies. And he has to avoid the evil giant insects that seem to be lurking in an abandoned cabin.

Ghouls Gone Wild
(Mostly Ghostly)

In the fifth book of the Mostly Ghostly series, Max finds that his problems are multiplying. Max's dad announces that the family is pulling up stakes and moving to Texas where Mr. Doyle has lined up a new job. Initially, Max is excited about leaving behind all of this ghostly business until he realizes he wants to help his ghost friends Nicky and Tara, who become furious at the thought of Max leaving. Max gets embarrassed when it appears that Max accidentially dunks the Mayor in the swimming pool at an awards ceremony (actually it was Nicky and Tara). Then his ghostly pals tell Max that a ghoul or two is occupying the house. The two ghost tell Max about an old spell book they've found and promise to take care of the ghoul problem. Sure, they're his friends and can sometimes they can mess up a guy's life, but Max realizes that they are good friends, so he decides to try to sabotage his parents' plans on moving to the Lone Star State.

In the meantime, there are visions that Max is haunted by of a boy dressed in black who says, "I'm watching you." The face of the boy in black changes into an old face and other times his face morphs into that of a wolf. What is that all about?

When some people come to Max's house and are considering buying it, they get drenched in sour milk. Max thinks that it had to be Nicky and Tara, but they claim they had nothing to do with the sour milk explosion. And that causes Max more worries. If it wasn't his ghostly friends trying to scare off potential buyers, then who?

Will Max have to move to Texas or will he be able to convince his parents to stay in their haunted home? Who is the boy in black and what is his connection? And what about those pesky ghouls that Nicky and Tara say are in the house? There's a cliffhanger ending, too, with answers and even more questions to be answered in MOSTLY GHOSTLY #6: LET'S GET THIS PARTY HAUNTED!

Let's Get This Party Haunted!
(Mostly Ghostly)

The sixth book of the Mostly Ghostly series opens with Max eargerly anticipating his twelfth birthday. He has been practicing his juggling, but he is hampered by his ghost friends, Nicky and Tara. Max again spots the mysterious boy in black who has been following him for ages. He's not a normal boy, as his face sometimes changes, transforming into a wolf face or becoming old. But when Nicky and Tara approach him to talk, the boy vanishes.

Max is getting ready for his birthday when he plans to perform magic tricks with his new friend Quentin. He tries to invite Traci (the most popular girl at school and Max's secret love), but fails when Nicky and Tara carry him into an incredible bike maneuver. Unfortunately, Max falls on Traci and with incredibly poor timing, Max invites her to his party. Not surprisingly, she declines.

Quentin and Max are trying out various magic routines when Max's brother Colin appears and starts to viciously tickles Max. Quentin freezes, and then explains that he's so painfully ticklish that he panics even when he sees someone else being tickled. Nicky and Tara think that Quentin may be somehow involved with the boy in black. What is going on?

Freaks and Shrieks
(Mostly Ghostly)

Nicky and Tara, keep trying to help Max, but unfortunately, as so often happens, their "help" infuriates Max. This time, they've messed around with the stuffed fish Max brought for Pet Day, making it look like it was flying and then dropping it so it broke, and cockroaches scurried about the classroom. Yuck! Max's ghostly friends have their hearts are in the right place though, as they also play a trick on the bullying Wilbur brothers to stop them from picking on a little kid. They're happy with the results of their bully-busting, until they notice someone has been following them.

Max, on the other hand, is thrilled that the famous magician Ballantine is coming to town and holding auditions for students. Nicky and Tara want to help Max, but he tells his ghostly pals that he wants to do the audition on his own. Then Nicky and Tara's mysterious shadow shows up, and they find out that he's Dr. Samuel Smollet, who used to work with their parents. He says he can help them and insists that Max, Nicky and Tara follow him to his laboratory.

Once there, the trio find that there was a witness to whatever Phears did to Nicky and Tara's family. But there's one major problem: the witness is a chimpanzee! In order for his friends to find out what the witness knows, Dr. Smollett will switch his brain with Max's. Max immediately refuses and says "Forget about it!" but his friends plead with him to do it so they can finally find out the truth about the missing Mr. and Mrs. Roland.

Max says that he will think about the brain switch, but in the meantime, he wants to make sure that he impresses Ballantine with his card tricks. However, Nicky and Tara insist on giving him pointers during his audition and his act turns into a complete disaster, but then the unexpected happens: Max's crush, Traci, amazes him by inviting him to a party! Maybe Max's luck has finally begun to change.

As usual, Max remains his likeable self and keeps his good nature despite encountering a horrible creature, continually being bullied by his brother, he survives a bizarre scientific experiment, and continues trying to navigate social encounters with Traci.

Don't Close Your Eyes!
(Mostly Ghostly)

Max hasn't been able to sleep for two days. He's tutoring Traci Wayne do her homework, meaning he does it for her, while she goofs off and Max barely is able keep his eyes open. In a flashback, we learn why Max is in this exhausting predictament. To no ones surprise, his ghost pals, Nicky and Tara, are at the root of the problem? They're the ones who bring him an ancient book about a ghost named Inkweed and in the book, they notice that the words are actually moving around.

The words swirl and then merge into a black ink puddle that starts to lift itself out of the book, and turns into the shape of a man. The inky man-shape wraps itself around Max, and then begins to seep into him, into his very brain. Max is aware of what is happening, but this evil ghost, Inkweed, begins controlling his actions. Max becomes terrified, of course. Then things go from bad to worse as when Max tries to use his computer to Google the term "Inkweed", the evil ghost inside Max writes threatening notes to Max, Tara and Nicky, warning them that when Max falls asleep, Inkweed will come alive to do his worst to them.

This is why poor Max can't go to sleep, no matter what.

Tara and Nicky take Max to the library where Tara borrowed the book from. When Max tells Ms. Park, the librarian, that he wants information on Inkweed, she is appalled. She tells him that her dad told her scary stories about the evil spirit when she was growing up. When she shares the tales, Max is more afraid than ever. He meets Mr. Park, who informs him of one way to get rid of Inkweed: take him to "the darkest place on the darkest night." But is that enough of a clue to actually help Max (who can barely think, he's so tired) defeat the evil ghost? Or will Inkweed triumph? In the meantime, Max keeps dozing off, and knows eventually he must sleep.