All the Lonely Bad Ones: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn

I enjoyed another ghost story by this author, Wait Til Helen Comes, and I gave this book a rating of four out of five. Travis and Corey are forced to spend the summer at their grandmother's inn located in Vermont; last year's summer camp asked the mischievous brother and sister to never return. Ghosts are rumored to be roaming the inn, so the kids decide to liven things up a bit by pretending to haunt the inn. Plus, it will attract more customers. Sure enough, curious visitors and ghost hunters arrive, but the kids seem to have awakened some restless spirits too. The hauntings start to get out of hand, and the tragic history of the inn is revealed. Travis and Corey are the only ones who can set things right.

The author was able to keep the plot moving, and she was able to slowly increase the suspense. The hauntings started off as a nuisance, but then they became more threatening. Travis and Corey were the main characters, but the author was able to give the Bad Ones, the ghosts of mischievous boys, distinct personalities. I normally find it hard to have sympathy for ghosts who are terrorizing the living, but the bad boys had a terrible story to tell. The climax wasn't as dramatic as it might have been, but I enjoyed the way things turned out.