The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall By Mary Downing Hahn

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☠Kayla☠

Honestly I wasn't all that into this book. I love Mary Downing Hahn! But this book just wasn't it for me. I'll admit it was a bit creepy and I did enjoy it but it wasn't the best book I've read from her. It definitely had a Victorian feel to it that I absolutely loved but I felt there could have been more to the story. Also the synopsis gives to much away. Going into this story knowing vaguely what it's about is the best way to approach it.

Zyra

not as dark & scary as i wanted, but definitely a quick read.

ZOË

I ate this shit up when I was 10

✦BookishlyRichie✦

4 STARS!!!

This was pretty creepy! I read it along with the audio book and the narrator was perfect, I think that's why I enjoyed it so much. I'd never read anything by Mary Downing Hahn before but have been getting recommended her for years. I'm glad this was first of hers because it was so atmospheric and spooky and took place in the Victorian era, which is one of my favorite eras. My one issue with this book is that I think it could've been a lot darker and a twist would've been perfect, but that's just my opinion. I think I will be reading more of her books very soon, especially if they are THIS creepy. :)

- Richard

Diana | Book of Secrets

3.5 Stars → Spooky Victorian ghost story aimed at middle grade readers. I enjoyed it, though I think the ending could have been better. There were lessons that could have been learned by the adults and kids regarding how the vengeful spirit was treated while living.

L.E. Fidler

i love mary downing hahn for creating my most favorite childhood book
wait till helen comes and was hoping to begin gathering some of her other efforts for fiona's library, but this one is just disappointing.

imagine, if you will,
The Secret Garden,
Turn of the Screw,
Jane Eyre, and the last scene from the movie
Carrie and you'll pretty much have this one all taken care of.

there is nothing new under the sun, but there is at least some effort, usually, in masking it. here, we have the story of florence, an orphan, saved from her tedious fate at mrs. medleycoate's school for unfortunate children by a long-lost uncle. she, predictably, comes from wealth, goes to live in a huge estate in the country, with her aunt, her uncle, her pale and sickly cousin who spends all of his time lying in bed, not to be visited by the more actively living, and the ghost of her other cousin sophia.

right.

this novel is not nearly as creepy as it needs to be, nor is it as engaging. flo-rida is about as charming as a pair of white socks. she's precocious, mrs. medleycoate's orphanage seemingly stocked to the brim with most of the time's most potent classics (including
Pride and Prejudice and
Great Expectations which Flo has read several times each).

i'll say it again...

right.

for someone who reads as much as she claims to, flo lacks imagination and drive, finding herself a willing participant in sophia's evil post-death schemes to kill her brother and live again.

the end just sort of...ends...i can't explain it. the evil aunt moves off to live in another place, away from the painful memories of the sophia who never really existed but on whom she endlessly doted and away from the living child she can't bear to look at in sophia's stead. blech. sophia lingers on, not really showing herself for the last 20 pages, leaving the reader with the vague impression (particularly in the last scene) that she's biding her time, regrouping for her next all out assault on the duo of flo and jamie.

whatever.

i didn't care.

and that's the biggest bummer of them all.

Jazmin Arroyo

Have you ever wanted to explore a haunted house? Of course I think you know what kind of genre this book is already, mystery and fantasy. Overall i think this is an interisting story.

This book is taken place in an old creepy mansion that is also known as Crutchfield Hall. This book all started of as orphan named Florence transitioning from an orphanage to a mansion. Finding out that her cousin was sick and she couldnt even interact with him was a big dissapoitment for her, she had no idea why he was in that condition now trying to figure out why he was ill she had no idea what she was getting into. It all started off as her hearing little things and the feeling that someones watching her overall thinking its her mind playing tricks on her. She finds out that its not her consience even though their was some obsticales to face like her crabby old aunt and the mysteries that were hidden very deep in the house. After many events that happened including meeting her cousin aka Sophias brother. *SPOILER ALERT* Sophia is The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall. This conflict is "person vs. person' because in this book its character against another character, I think this because Florence is against Sophia. The theme of this book is Florence trying to help liberate the house from Sophia.

A major event that changed Florence was when Sophia told her at the that she hated her brother because she always felt that her brother took all the love and attention, this changed Florence in an emotional way. The setting adds to the story helping it have a more uneasy feeling or scary feeling to the story. Florences motivation to conquer the obsticals she needed to take on was helping her cousin live safely and worry free. These are some imporatnt parts of the story, that you would need to know.

I was facsinated with most of this story because it was very mysterious and creepy just how I wanted it too be thats my opinion because most of this book is about a ghost haunting her house not being able to leave the real world. I wasnt too satisfied even though it was a good book i always thought of the authors stories being great not just okay how this one was. I thought the ending fit the book really well because it made sense how all the problems and it tied up the story realy well. These are some of my opinions on this book.

I rated this book four stars because I was amazed with her story but I think she could've added a little bit more to the plot to make it more detailed and a little bit more interisting. I would recommend this book too any person that likes mystery or scary books or a creepy kind of book. Now that ive explained all this too you will you dare to step a foot in a haunted house?

Amber J

I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler-free way. Unfortunately, there is still always a risk of slight spoilers despite my best efforts. If you feel something in my review is a spoiler please let me know. Thank you.

It was a quick, fun read. I didn't find it particularly scary though. But I can see how younger children would. I introduced Hahn's books to my 12-year-old niece and she loves them. If I run across more of her books I'll read them, but I won't actively search for them. I think these would have been books I would have loved in my tween days, but I've certainly outgrown them now.

Moony

کتابی که توی دوساعت می‌شه تمومش کرد!
وقتی شروعش کردم که به شدت خوابم میومد و گفتم یک فصل می‌خونم و بعد می‌خوابم و یک فصل تبدیل شد به دو فصل و در نهایت کل کتاب تموم شد.
ژانر وحشت ملایمی داشت که برای کسایی مثل من که به شدت از کتابای ترسناک می‌ترسن خوب بود😂
کلیت داستان به شدت من رو یاد باغ اسرار آمیز می‌انداخت، اما به قدری قلم روان و روند داستان سرگرم کننده بود که من رو برای خوندن مشتاق نگه داشت و خسته‌ام نکرد!
فلورانس پس از اینکه هفت سال در یتیم خانه زندگی کرده متوجه می‌شود عموی پدرش آقای کراچفیلد او را به سرپرستی گرفته، فلورانس خوشحال از زندگی شادی که پیش رویش است وارد عمارت کراچفیلد می‌شود اما عمارت رازهای زیادی رو درون خود جا داده!
اونجا با دختری هم سن و سال خود که از لحاظ ظاهری شباهت زیادی با او دارد آشنا می‌شود او دخترعمویش سوفیا است، اما یک چیز او عجیب است، سوفیا مرده!
توی این کتاب با فراز و نشیب‌های زندگی فلورانس در عمارت کراچفیلد با دخترعموی مرده، پسرعموی بیمار، عمه‌ای به شدت بدخلق و تندخو و عمویی به ارواح اعتقادی ندارد، رو‌به‌رو می‌شویم.

Era ➴

I read this in grade school because my friend was doing it for a project. I got bored after I finished mine (the good old days when I could actually do my work) and stole her book while she hot-glued some things to her project board.

Suzanne

Another stop on my tour of middle grade horror...

I wasn't a fan of this one. To be blunt, the plot was flat, the storytelling was lazy, and the characters were annoying. I particularly hated the ghost. I realize she was supposed to be a brat, but it was done in such a way that if she haunted me, I'd be irritated instead of scared when she showed up in my room at night.

The author clearly intended for this to be a grand homage to all the classic Gothics and ghost stories and to hammer this point home, she went out of her way to mention specific literature of the time that her protagonist was reading. I'm supposed to be believe that a twelve-year-old girl is reading
Vanity Fair, for example. Riiiiight. It was all a bit much.

Still, I'll give it two stars because if I'd read this as a ten-year-old, I might have liked it. I might have found the ghost very scary and even made lists of all the books Hahn mentioned so that I could seek them out later. It's hard to say.

Denali

This is a classic ghost story about a young orphan Florence who struggles to transition from an orphanage in the city, to a large house in the country. The house is owned by her great aunt and uncle. Her uncle is overjoyed to have a new member of the family and treats her with kindness. Her aunt still cries about Sophia's death and is always comparing Florence to Sofia. The last member of the house is a young boy by the name of James. He is Florance's cousin and is very sick. He has never left his room since the "accident". Oops, I made a mistake. James is not the last resident of the house. There is one more. One that wouldn't go to rest. The one and only.... SOPHIA! Is Sophia there to help Florence feel happy or is she there to live again the only way she can.... For someone to take her place! This book is a very entertaining book that will pull you in from start to end. This book does lack vivid descriptions and a shocking ending like most ghost stories. If you ever have time you should read this book.

Ivonne Rovira

Even though The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall was written for children aged 9 and up, it was so chilling and suspenseful that this middle-aged woman was glad that I "read" it in the Audible.com version in a van full of six people in broad daylight! The terrifying ending made me jump!

Don't be put off by the knowledge that this is kid lit. Adults will thoroughly enjoy
Mary Downing Hahn]'s well-crafted 19th century ghost tale. If anything, I think this short novel is just too scary for most elementary-school children or even easily spooked teenagers. (I know it would have been too much for me even at 13 or 14.)

Alethea A

Creepy, but ultimately unspectacular. I don't know if this counts as historical fiction, as there is little in the way of history other than author name-dropping (Dickens, Bunyan, etc.) But I am almost entirely sure that if I were 8 years old and reading this book, I would be sleeping with the lights on.

Donna

This truly is a much more traditional Victorian ghost story and I loved it! While it very much carried a Secret Garden element do it with the sickly brother never coming out of his room, that's pretty much where the similarities end.

Florence is stuck in a conundrum, having left her friends at the orphanage to be alone in an old house with a rather doting uncle and an aunt that hates her, not to mention a cousin she never sees and a dead cousin that won't leave her alone. She has no one to complain to and she can't tell her orphanage friends for fear of them thinking she's ungrateful. So what's she to do? Sophia, her tragically dead cousin, won't leave her alone and no one will speak of the horrible cold corners and whispers and laughter. They say it's all in her imagination although they seem very frightened of it.

While the story didn't have me jumping, it certainly had a creep factor to it and for a moment (or maybe even longer), I didn't know how it was going to end. I hate it when I can see the ending coming and with this book, I certainly couldn't. Not really. Hahn leaves puncture wounds in the plot that round out the whole of the story, but there may be a string or two left behind that someone may have forgotten.

Under Sophia's power no one has the ability to control themselves. She controls anyone she wants; it's a power she's always wanted and almost nearly had in life. Sophia's a nasty piece of work and even with the revelation at the end, it's difficult to sympathize with her, which I think is the point. She is a selfish, horrible little girl that was more than willing to sacrifice others for her own means. Aunt is the same way. How she treats Florence is abhorrent and it's hard to NOT sympathize with the poor girl. Years after living in an orphanage and the first place she can call home has someone belittling her every chance they get. How warm!

Even the secondary characters were full of life for how little they showed on the pages. The groundskeeper with his superstitions and the housemaids with their passive yet adamant defense of Florence; it's an awesome cast of characters. Really Aunt and Sophia balance it all out in their wickedness, creating an atmosphere of not only fear but destitution and loneliness. Plus I brewed up some truly horrible images when it was described how the dead Sophia looked. I couldn't help but think of the drawing on one of the Scary Stories books. You know which one I'm talking about. Truly frightening!

If you're looking for a good spook, definitely pick up The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall. It's an old-fashioned ghost story with a modern edge that'll add more fuel to the 'what happens after we die?' fire, for sure.

Juli

12-year old Florence has lived 7 long years at Miss Medleycoate's Home for Orphan Girls, following the accidental death of her parents. When her great uncle contacts the orphanage saying he wants Florence to come live with him at Crutchfield Hall, she is excited to be starting a new life. She even has a cousin James that she longs to meet. When she arrives at Crutchfield Hall, she learns that her Aunt doesn't want her there, James is ill and never leaves his room, and the Hall is haunted by a vengeful ghost.

For me, this book was very reminiscent of The Secret Garden (or even Jane Eyre to an extent). Poor girl is whisked away to live in a large, gloomy house. She is forbidden to see her invalid relative, but does so anyway. Spooky plot line with a ghost or other secret that she and the invalid relative solve together. I did enjoy this book....but the plot seemed very cliche. However, the book was written for middle grade children. The plot might not be so cliche for a young reader.

I found the Aunt character to be a bit too much of a stereotype. The melodramatic, harsh cruelty she showed the little girl was a bit over the top. Sort of like an evil stepmother sort of character. Very one dimensional. Although in such a short book, I wasn't really expecting much in the way of detailed character development. But a little more dimension in the characterizations would have made the story seem a bit more fleshed out.

Just as the story got to the exciting part, it ended. No fanfare or excitement....it just was done. There was never a climactic moment when the aunt was confronted with her inappropriate behavior. In the end she just sort of went away out of annoyance. The mystery plot line came to a lackluster end as well. Just when you thought there might be a last battle between good and evil, it pretty much fizzled and just ended.

This one was just ok for me. The idea wasn't original, and the presentation was a bit lacking.

My rating: 6/10
Spooky situations, but age appropriate for middle grade children.
Ages 10+

Krista the Krazy Kataloguer

I actually wanted to give this one 3 1/2 stars. I enjoyed the setting of the story and the characters more than the plot itself. Florence Crutchfield arrives at her uncle's house from the orphanage where she has lived for the past 7 years to find an aunt who doesn't want her there, a sickly, bed-ridden cousin, and the mean, vengeful ghost of her cousin Sophia, who is out to harm her sickly brother James. I have a few problems with the story. First, once Florence arrives she seems to go for days wearing the same old dress from the orphanage. Now, seeing that she only brought one small bag with her, and being a kindly man, surely the uncle would have arranged for her to have some new clothes soon after her arrival. But I do realize that the incident with Sophia's blue silk dress needed Florence to be wearing her old dress, or to have no nice clothes of her own. Second, if Spratt's little charm above James' door kept Sophia's ghost out of his room, why did it not occur to Florence to ask Spratt to make her one? Or why did it not occur to Spratt to give her one? I also didn't understand why Sophie appeared to Florence as though half mouldering, when by all accounts I've read most ghosts look like and wear clothing that they wore in life. I also didn't care for the ending, which of course implies there may be a sequel, but which didn't quite make sense.

The one character that appealed to me the most was the little servant girl, Nellie. How I wanted to give her time to play, or the have Florence suggest to her uncle that Nellie could join her and James for lessons with the governess. Alas, in Victorian times it would not have been so.

I recommend this book for the wonderful Victorian setting and the engaging characters, though the plot is flawed.

Lydia Presley

This was a very short (132 pages) ghost story that had quite a few tried-and-true methods of scaring the living bejeebus out of a person like me. Recently I've been diving into the more tame horror novels and all I can say is I'm glad I read this one in the light of day.

The story begins with a setting very similar to The Secret Garden. Girl (Florence) arrives at a creepy large house, taken in by her older Aunt and Uncle and has a sick boy cousin hidden away in his room. The similarities really end there as the boy's dead sister begins to torment poor Florence.

There were a few things that kept me from giving this story a higher rating. Nellie, the maid living in Crutchfield Hall seemed like a carbon copy of the little maid in Shirley Temple's "A Little Princess" movie. I was even putting her voice to the words because her style of speaking was so similar. Also there was quite a bit of name-dropping of classics and it just felt a bit awkward, like the author was trying to make the book a more period novel and the only way she could remind us of the time period was to give us examples of books being read.

Overall though, it's a solid ghost story for a teenager looking for something in the genre to read. It's short and to the point, which doesn't hurt at all either.

Richard K. Wilson

As I have said so many times before.....'Can anyone write a ghost story as good as Downing Hahn?'
"The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall" reminds me of the book that all of us kids who grew up reading 'the Secret Garden' in the 60's had WISHED this was the way that story would have been!.

12 year old Florence Crutchfield loses her parents at a young age and is sent to live in the orphanage...as so many children were in the 1800's. When she finds out that she has family; a great Aunt and Uncle who live in a sprawling mansion named after the family, she is sent to live there with them. What she does not know is that her dead cousin Sophia is said to haunt this family estate! Yikes! When Florence arrives at the mansion, she finds out that her younger cousin; James, Sophia's brother is sick and bedridden and allowed no visitors. Well one day Florence meets and discovers that Sophia really is a ghost, and she tells her that she despised her brother while she was alive and blames him for her death. Can ghosts really 'come back with a vengeance' as we have all heard? Would YOU step into and explore a haunted family mansion; and or ANY mansion if you thought it was haunted? I don't know if I would or not.....THAT is why I LOVE this author and all of her works! Now, you must remember that I am a grown man in my 60's and never discovered Downing Hahn till just 3 years ago.....and have now read over 8 of her YA horror thrillers.....and will atttempt to read them ALL!!!

Loved, LOVED this 👻👻👻👻👻 story and I think you will too!
Richard

_.eameli

((هیچکس بی عیب و نقص نیست))
فلورانس دختر یتیمی که بعد از مدت های زندگی کردن در یتیمخانه عموش اون رو پیدا میکنه و به سر پرستی میگیره و اون رو میاره در عمارت کراچفیلد در کنار پسر عمویش جیمز باهم زندگی کنند ولی قضیه به همین سادگی تموم نمیشه جیمز خواهری داشته به اسم سوفیا اون در یه سانحه ای جون خودش از دست میده و فوت میکنه،همه میگن که روح اون تو این عمارت سر گردونه.....
اول از همه من واقعا دلم میخواست این عمه این دختره بکشم واقعا خیلی شخصیت رو اعصابی داشت همچنین غیر قابل تحمل بودش:}
داستان اگه یخورده طولانی تر بود قشنگ تر بهتر میشدش اما همین قدر خوب بودش صفحه های پایانی اگه گسترده ترش می‌کردند بهتر میشد در آخر محشر بود به همتون پیشنهاد میکنم بخونید این کتاب رو

Fateme ghavasnezhad

کتاب جریان خوبی داره و هی میخوای بخونی
داستان ساده ای هست ، یعنی اگه انتظار دارین چیزی بهتون اضافه کنه ، خیر نمیکنه! !!
اما سرگرمتون میکنه و‌چی از این بهتر
اخرش هم خوب و دلهره اور تموم شد .

Alexis Flores

In this horrifying/scary story, you will find that this book is kind of different than other scary stories that you've maybe read. Even though this book gave me goosebumps at some point, I still liked this book.
This story takes place in the nineteenth century, at Florence's (the main character) great uncle's manor. The setting is important because it helps set the mood of the story.
A twelve year old orphan, Florence boards a horse drawn coach in London, she's looking to start new with her great aunt & uncle at their manor. When she unboards the coach, she approaches "Crutchfield Hall". When the door opens, her aunt wasn't really welcoming to her, but her uncle took her in their big manor. When Florence is finally settled in, she gets to know a lot more about her stubborn aunt. She gets to know about her cousin James but she can't meet him because he's sick. Her aunt loved Sophia who was once cousins with Florence, Sophia was accidentally killed by her brother James when they were playing on the roof because they made a promise to see if they could jump from one chimney to the other. James survived, Sophia slipped and fell. She didn't survive after that. So Sophia comes and haunts their manor, until she gets what she wants. She wanted James to die and her to live. She didn't get what she wanted, so she went back in her grave peacefully. The ending of the book was the happy part because Florence's stubborn aunt who was always rude to her, left to go live with her cousin who is mean as her. Florence, James, and their uncle lived happily together. And Sophia never returned again. This story is person vs. person because Florence has to protect James from Sophia.
The main character's problem was Sophia because Sophia kept haunting Florence. I can relate to Sophia because she hates her brother James and sometimes I do like my brother sometimes I don't.
I thought the ending of the book was sad but scary at the same time because Florence and James went to Sophia's grave, half a year later after they saw her. When they were sitting by her grave, they saw the grass next to the tombstone move. I understood why Sophia was haunting Florence because Sophia needed to get to James. She couldn't because Florence was protecting him all this time
In conclusion, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars because this book was a good scary story but it wasn't my favorite. I recommend this book to whoever likes scary ghost stories. Mary Downing Hahn incorporated writers such as Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens while creating a story of her own.

Monique

This seemed to me to be a ghost story version of "
The Secret Garden," which I re-read recently. “The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall” and “The Secret Garden” are both set in England over 100 years ago. Both have a main character that is an early adolescent girl whose parents died and was sent to live in her wealthy uncle’s enormous, old, family manor, which contains an upper floor with numerous vacant rooms that people once lived in, years ago. In both of these books, the manor is the main setting, which sits on miles of property owned by the uncle, with gardens near the house where the young girl spends time and talks to a gardener/groundskeeper... Most of the characters in “The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall” also remind me in many ways of the characters in “The Secret Garden.” I can't share any more similarities here without spoiling things for people who have not yet read these books. I will say, however, that although I enjoyed reading "
The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall," I feel that it lacks uniqueness with how closely it resembles “The Secret Garden”—one of my childhood favorite books.

Natalie

Review #2 - October 2020

After that last review, I was not thrilled to discover that this book was on the Battle of the Books list.

Apparently, not reading Hahn's books all in a row makes them more palatable. I didn't mind it this time around. It was pretty typical, but I liked the MC and her cousin trying to overcome the ghost of his dead sister. The end was pretty exciting too.

Not one that I want to be reading over and over again but it was kind of nice reading something so short and simple. Most of my books are infinitely more complex and dramatic.

Review #1 - July 2017

I've read a couple Hahn books in a row and this one was just too far. I couldn't take the EXACT same plot all over again. The adults are all oblivious idiots, a "smarter" kid knows what's really up, some sneaky slightly-evil child ghost is around trying to make other children do naughty things. Honestly, I felt like this plot was exactly the same as
Deep and Dark and Dangerous, just a different setting. I made it halfway through and couldn't take it anymore. I still have yet to reread Hahn's most famous book.
Wait Till Helen Comes and I'm hopeful it will prove to be way better than this one.

John

In Victorian times, Florence is rescued from the orphanage by her rich Great-Uncle Tom, and goes to live in his country manor, Crutchfield Hall. There she discovers that her cousin James is an invalid, bedbound and confined to his room.

So far it's The Secret Garden, but wait!

Great-Uncle Tom's sister, the Bible-thumping Great-Aunt Eugenie, loathes and abominates the newcomer because how could Florence ever match Eugenie's darling, James's big sister Sophia, who fell off the roof to her death a year ago? According to everyone else, however -- though they're at first reluctant to tell Florence this -- Sophia was a malicious little toad who made James's life a misery and was just about as vile to others . . . except Great-Aunt Eugenie, to whom she sucked up for toys, dresses and candies.

Hey, we're in Rebecca! No, no: again, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Florence soon becomes aware, as are the servants and of course James, that Sophia's ghost still haunts the place. In fact, Sophia wants James dead, because she believes his death will bring her back to life. She also wants to torment Florence, and doesn't much care if Florence dies too.

Even if a bit derivative, this is all well enough told; but then it just sort of peters out. The book's a fun way to pass an hour or so -- it's for kids, and about novella-length -- but I'm sure that by this time next week I'll have forgotten all about it. Joan Aiken lite, really.

Title	:	The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall
Author	:	Mary Downing Hahn
Rating	:
ISBN	:	0547385609
ISBN-10	:	9780547385600
Language	:	English
Format Type	:	Hardcover
Number of Pages	:	160
Publication	:	First published September 6, 2010
Awards	:	South Carolina Book Award Children's Book (2013), Iowa Children's Choice Award (2013)

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn

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