Curse at Zala Manor (Monster Moon)

It's almost Halloween, and twelve-year-old AJ Zantony's world is threatened by an ancient curse that releases wicked pirates who had been trapped for centuries in his Aunt Zsofia's creepy mansion, Zala Manor.The pirates--a vampire count, a pegleg skeleton, and a zombie--have three goals: to find a lost treasure, unleash the restless dead from their graves, and to settle a very old score by destroying the Zantony bloodline.AJ has to stop them before midnight during Aunt Zsofia's annual Halloween party. Except he has a big problem--monster phobia! He's scared to death of monsters. But if he doesn't act fast, the streets of Craggy Cove will be crawling with zombies.Will AJ overcome his fear and stop the monsters or bail out? Will Craggy Cove become Zombie Central? Who will be alive when midnight tolls?

From School Library Journal

Grade 3–6—A silly mystery that has some fast-paced suspense and okay characters. AJ Zantony, 12, is staying with his Aunt Zsofia while she is preparing her home, Zala Manor, for her annual Halloween Masquerade Ball. Reluctantly AJ agrees to let his science partner, Emily, come over so they can work on a project. Things turn strange as the classmates meet a talking rat named Vlad. They also uncover the journal of AJ's long-dead Great Uncle Bela, which reveals his fear of three pirates who are after his treasure. These same pirates turn up to terrorize AJ and Emily in the form of two zombies and one vampire. As the two sleuths evade the villains, they discover several poems that predict something terrible will occur at midnight in the graveyard on Halloween night. With the help of Vlad's cryptic hints and a sea of rats, the sleuths barely escape the not-so-scary attack of the evil pirates. Chapters are short and language is simple enough for reluctant readers. James Howe's "Bunnicula" (S & S) is a better choice; this one's a little on the corny side.—Julie Shatterly, South County Regional Library, Charlotte, NC Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

BBH McChiller is the pseudonym for three authors living in Southern California. This book began one Halloween as a discussion about their greatest fears and ended up being one of their most rewarding experiences. Kathryn Sant loves adventure; she has encountered bats in caves, alligators in swamps, wolves and bears in Alaska, and sidewinders in the desert, but never any monsters. Her previous book was Desert Chase (Scholastic), a middle-grade mystery. Most of the time, she lives peacefully with her three dogs, reading...sometimes about monsters.Maria Toth lives with her husband and two spoiled dogs, Jack and Sally. Her favorite holiday is Halloween. She was the editor of the Kids Page for the San Bernardino Sun and has had articles published in the Los Angeles Times. She enjoys haunting bookstores in search of ghostly tales to share with her Reading Buddies at local schools. On any given day, you may find her reading epitaphs at historic graveyards. And she is not afraid of monsters, so long as they stay within the realms of imagination. But just in case, she always keeps a bottle of monster spray nearby. Lynn Kelley's "The Jobo Tree" won her Highlights for Children's Author of the Month award. She authored a picture book, Merry as a Cricket (Whippersnapper Books) and is currently working on a young adult novel. She tries to keep her overactive imagination in check and is a big scaredy cat who's afraid to watch horror movies.

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