Between Books - Tales from the Haunted Mansion: Volume I The Fearsome Foursome

Tales from the Haunted Mansion: Volume I The Fearsome Foursome by Amicus Arcane sets Goosebumps style stories near Disney's Haunted Mansion.  The volume contains four scary (or five) stories based around the Fearsome Foursome, a group of four fictional tweens who love horror stories.  The tales range from the tale of a cursed baseball glove, a dare gone wrong, a sea monster in the background and the return of pets past.  All of these stories are told by Amicus Arcane to the youngsters using his volumes in the library of the Haunted Mansion after they stumbled into the happy haunt.  He promises he can beat the four at their own game in telling scary tales.

I picked up this volume and expected that the stories would be tales of familiar residents in the Haunted Mansion.  Alas, the stories are all actually about the foursome and not the hatbox ghost, Leota or even the mummies.  And for me this is likely what I found a bit lacking, along with not being a tween reader or someone who enjoyed Goosebumps as a kid.  In the end, author John Esposito provides Arcane his stories and illustrator Kelley Jones embellishes these tales with the occasional image that provides closing thoughts on chapters bringing the story out of solely the imagination.  And I assume for a tween who like Disney and scary tales this book is likely going to provide them wall to wall creeps.

Tales from the Haunted Mansion: Volume I The Fearsome Foursome by Amicus Arcane is not what I expected.  It hints at the Haunted Mansion and occasionally provides the needed reference.  While it may not be a volume that adult readers will enjoy, tween horror readers will likely find it fun as they follow tweens that have the same issues as themselves and their friends.