Thirteen Chairs by Dave Shelton

From Goodreads,

"When a boy finds himself drawn into an empty house one cold night, he enters a room in which twelve unusual-looking people sit around a table. And the thirteenth chair is pulled out for him.

One by one, each of those assembled tells their own
ghost story: tales of doom and death; of ghostly creatures and malevolent spirits; of revenge and reward. It is only at the end of the night that the boy starts to understand what story he must tell . . ."

Goodreads - Thirteen Chairs

This story starts with Jack entering a room with 12 other people seated around a table.  There are candles lit in front of each person and they all stare at him as he enters.  Each person takes a turn telling a ghost story.  After they tell their story, they blow out their candle.  Jack becomes more and more unsettled as the night goes on.

I decided to read this story because it was close to Halloween and I figured my students would enjoy getting to hear a review of a spooky book.  I did not expect this to be a collection of ghost stories, and was quite taken aback when I realized the format in which this book was written.  I really enjoyed how the ghost stories seemed to get scarier and creepier as the book progressed.  Some were set in present day with technology, while some were more of the old school ghost stories.  I enjoyed that balance because it is hard to find ghost stories that are set in the technology era, which people can relate to.

I didn't care for the ending.  I expected there to be a big finale of an ending.  It didn't really happen.  The book ended in a way that allowed the reader to interpret it in whatever way they felt fit.  I personally took the ending as Jack was consumed by darkness and died on that night, but there is also a part of me that feels that he lived to tell the story to others.  I really dislike having to interpret the ending and making my own decision on what happened.  I really wanted the people at the table to tell Jack that he was dead and that that was why he was there.  I wanted him to have to come to terms with being dead and dealing with moving on to the other side.  I think it would have been a good plot twist and surprise ending.

This would be a good spooky read to read around Halloween.  There were a few mentions of alcohol in the beginning, and there are some graphic moments such as talking about slitting throats and blood.  I probably won't put it in my classroom library, simply because of the mature content that is in the book.  I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.  I would have given it 4 stars, but I wasn't fond of having to interpret the ending.  I think middle school students would find this book perfectly creepy.