| Steer Clear of Haunted Hill | |
 | |
| Author | Eric Weiner |
| Illustrator | Eric Velasquez |
| Publication date | 1993 |
| Published by | Bantam Books |
| ISBN | 978-0553480870 |
| Publication Order | |
| Preceded by Off the Top of Your Head |
Followed by The Team: On and Off the Set |
Steer Clear of Haunted Hill is a title in the Ghostwriter book series featuring Alex, Gaby, Jamal, Lenni, Tina and Rob. It is first narrated from Alex's point of view in his diary, then Gaby's point of view in hers. The story then continues after the diaries end.
Synopsis[]
The Ghostwriter team catches the schemers behind mysterious happenings at a campsite called Hunt's Hill.
Summary[]
The team is going to camp at Hunt's Hill with Lenni's father, Max and Jamal's grandmother. After missing a turnoff, they make it to the campsite, which had rather down on business lately. The person who runs the camp, nicknamed Mom, starts to tell them some of the legend of the campsite, when a teen staff member, Kyle, comes in, and states that the legend is fake. While there, Ghostwriter sends Gaby a letter that he had read of someone named George Garth seemingly worried about the camp being sold.
Max then rents two cabins for the group. While around a campfire after supper, Rob tells the group the rest of the legend that he had learned from Mom, including that in 1929, Hunt, a man that owned the area that had been previously a millionaire, and his dog, Buck, had been killed by poachers. They were claimed to now haunt the campsite.
After dark, Jamal and Alex find some mysterious large paw prints. A while later, Gaby and Tina see some wildlife including raccoons and a skunk. The next morning, Max leaves a note for them and goes out early on a hike. The team is worried that when he does not come back, and go to look for them. Rob decides to look on his own, and Gaby, Tina and Grandma CeCe fall behind Alex, Jamal and Lenni.
Alex and his group find a cabin with a strange message on a wall: "Stay out of my woods! Ed A. Hunt." Ghostwriter helps them realize that the name on the note is an anagram for the word haunted. They later meet what seems to be a friendly ranger, who tells them to follow a trail of stone markers.
Meanwhile, Grandma CeCe soon twists her ankle and tells Gaby and Tina to go on without her. A voice comes out of Gaby's walkie-talkie stating that there are two poachers in the area. Gaby and Tina then discover a canoe. They ride in it until they realize that they are heading for a waterfall, and jump out and manage to make it to shore.
Lenni later finds the canoe, Tina's camera and the walkie-talkies, as well as Gaby's Ghostwriter pen. While she, Alex and Jamal are wondering what happened to them, they translate a Morse Code smoke message with Ghostwriter's help to discover the message "SOS! SOS! Buck is after me!" They hike up part of the mountain and finds a cave infested with bats and spiders. They find their way out, only to hear a angry dog howling in the distance.
Gaby and Tina have hiked up to the top of Hunt's Hill. After a while, they climb a tree for refuge from a large, wild dog. While there, Ghostwriter sends them a letter that Hunt had written, which the ghost states confirms much of the legend of the campsite. The animal below thankfully eventually loses interest in them. They climb down only to see what looks like Hunt's ghost, and climb another tree. Gaby then calls a rally.
Ghostwriter send messages between Alex and Gaby's groups, including the siblings' diaries. They come to the conclusion that Kyle is George Garth's son, and the two are probably responsible for the mysterious happenings.
The two groups happily meet each other. They then discover from the diaries that a cave on the hill actually has three chambers, instead of two. They push a large rock from a tunnel, rescuing Max. Mom and two actual park rangers also emerge from the cave.
The team discovers that two of the maps they have are missing a tree house. Once inside, they find Rob, tied and gagged. Alex releases him, and Rob tells of him being captured after not believing that the people were ghosts. Kyle and his father George soon come into the tree house, and one of the park rangers states that they are under arrest.
Gaby later writes in her diary that the Garths confessed to their crimes. Mr. Garth is to pay Mom for all of the business lost due to the schemes.
Notes[]
- Alex's diary starts from the front cover. The back cover has Gaby, but is upside down. Gaby's diary starts from the back cover, then the story continues after it, both still upside down.
- Inside the book, the title page has a picture of a road going through the words of the book title. Also, the page numbers are in an oval with an arrow pointing to the right.
- Gaby's age is stated as being ten in this book, while in the story arc "Am I Blue?", which was released later and is while she is still in the same grade, she is nine.
- This book is one of four books adapted for the Ghostwriter radio show. The other three books are A Match of Wills, Digging For Clues, and Clinton Street Crime Wave.
- This book is mentioned in the 2006 teacher's guide of the Ghostwriter radio show.
Gallery[]
The back cover
Alex writes in his diary
Gaby and Tina see a skunk
Lenni finds a warning message
Reunited with Max
Alex unties Rob in the tree house