I actually started this book last week around Halloween, but the week got away from me.
I’m delving into the mysteries those enterprising baby-sitters get themselves entangled in. This one has a Halloween twist!
Stacey and the Haunted Masquerade by Ann M. Martin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The students at Stoneybrook Middle School are excited when the school plans to hold a Mischief Night Masquarade, the first in twenty-eight years. The reason it has been so long is that a “tragedy.” That in itself is a mystery, but when mysterious goings begin happening around the school (vandalism, destroy decorations and posters), the students begin to wonder who would attempt to sabotage the event. It’s a mystery that the Baby-Sitters Club really wants to investigate.
Meanwhile, the baby-sitting charges are obssessed with watching Ghostbusters, and begin to have ghostbusting adventures of their own!
I never read the Mystery/Super Mystery novels during my original read of the series (I preferred the numbered books, and read a few Super Specials), but I did read “Christmas Chiller” last year and enjoyed it. The stories are your typical BSC fare, but the mystery element is actually quite fun. I can’t say any problems ever happened prior to or at any of my school dances. I could never have imagined them happening. Stories like these are usually predictable, but this one actually kept me guessing until the moment you realize who is behind the goings on (don’t worry, no spoilers!).
The flip-side plot is really cute. I think we all had that one movie we were obsessed with as kids and tried to recreate to the best of our efforts. It surprised me that in 1995, this would have been Ghostbusters, since myself, my brother, and alot of other kids were into that in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In all, pretty standard Baby-Sitters Club fare, but if you like the books, this one is fun. I really want to check out a few more of these Mysteries, I’m just not sure why I didn’t read these back then!
Allison's Written Words