The Most Haunted House in America is illustrated ghostly mayhem

A surprise in your illustrated books is OK. You comic book fans know what I’m talking about. The cover doesn’t exactly match the content inside or has text that infers something that might be direr. The Most Haunted House in America is an illustrated book that follows that comic book playbook to the letter. This is a beautifully illustrated book with art that drags you in with the skeleton hands that you’ll quickly see once you open it.

A skeleton drumming crew has just received an invitation to perform at the White House on Halloween night. One of them lets the readers know that the White House is also home to numerous ghosts and real-life, spooky things. As the boney drummers arrive they see a myriad of kids in the types of costumes that inhabit the coolest Halloween party that you’ve ever been to. There’s a robot-transforming truck kid, a deep sea diver dude, a skunk, lots of superheroes, fruit, and more.

The First Couple is there to greet the kids, pass out candy, and then give the skeletons a private tour of the house. Each room that they go through has visions that dance, spectral people that pop out of the wall, and ghostly animals that haven’t accepted that they’re dead yet. When they enter the main ballroom they’re reunited with the other kid’s guests, as well as, a couple of spirits who supposedly make that regal room their afterlife home.

This becomes too much for the skeleton troupe who flees the White House grounds with all of the guests in tow. A couple of the ghost-dancing guests follow them, a spectral Abraham Lincoln bids adieu to his statue on the Mall, and the skeletons go back underground from whence they came.

The ghosts that all of the kids see in the climax of the book supposedly really exist. That lady is First Lady Abigail Adams, the wife of the second President and Abraham Lincoln’s ghost supposedly sits at the area that used to be his office and library. Ronald Reagan’s dog refused to enter the Lincoln Bedroom, constantly barking at some unseen thing in that room. There have been repeated instances of guests hearing 1920s-era music coming from one of the 28 fireplaces.

“The Thing” is a ghost sighting that happened many times during the Taft administration. It happened so many times that he forbade anyone from talking about ‘the thing’, because he was scared of it too. In The Most Haunted House in America, ‘the thing’, is shown as a giant walking eyeball, but in reality, it was the vision of a 15-year-old boy.

The Most Haunted House in America is a fun children’s illustrated book. It rhymes and turns the page with glee, smiles, and a very smart vocabulary. It’s not a serious or detailed look at a haunted house. Think about it, would that topic be one that elementary school kids want to read or be able to tolerate? No, instead, just enjoy this book because that’ll be an easy task. The happy monsters, gloomy landscape, vibrant colors, and movement will have kids turning the pages and then going back to find their favorite illustration.

For those readers that want a deeper dive into the specters that are alluded to in this book, there are resources at the back. From there they can read more in Nat Geo Kids, online at Mental Floss, the Washinton Post or the White House website to find out more age-appropriate details on the Thing, Lincoln’s Ghost, and others that’ll expand your imagination.

The Most Haunted House in America is by Jarrett Dapier with illustrations by Lee Gatlin and is available on Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Abrams Books.

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