Tales of Terror from the Black Ship ~Chris Priestley
–2008
–238 pages, Bloomsbury Children’s Books
–4.5/5 stars
Snail revenge, killer mud, a child with a wicked laugh, dangerous love, death ships, tattooed hands and many other grisly tales await the reader bold enough to brave the tempest.
Hot on the heels of the haunting experience I had with Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror, I sat myself down at the bar of an old inn and listened to terrifying tales of the sea with the book’s two youngsters, Ethan and Cathy. To be perfectly honest, I was so enthralled with the fun I was having with Priestley’s stories that I read half of this book on the same day that I finished Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror!
In his second book on a similar theme, Chris Priestley manages to bring the same spine-tingling fun to the reader with a shift of setting, a change of milieu, thus keeping the reader engaged and not feeling that he/she is simply getting more of the same.
As indicated, the setting for Tales of Terror from the Black Ship take place in an inn set precariously upon an outcropping of rock above a raging sea. David Roberts returns with his excellent illustrations and the one that begins this book, giving the reader a visual representation of the inn, filled my mind with all manner of imaginings as I read. It is a fantastic image.
Ethan and Cathy are both sick and their father leaves them in the midst of a terrible storm to fetch the local doctor. While he is gone a storm-drenched sailor arrives seeking shelter, a warm drink, and a willing audience to hear his tales of woe. Ethan and Cathy, along with the reader, are a suspicious yet willing audience as this sailor, Mr. Thackeray, spins his frightening yarns.
The theme of this book is terrifying tales of adventures that happened at sea or to sea-faring men. Unlike the first book, this set of stories include things that happened to adults as well as children. The stories are compelling and page-turning. Like Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror, this book also has an overarching story that held a few surprises, even in the midst of things that I had guessed while reading.
I was initially a bit disappointed that the second volume was not more stories being told to Edgar by Uncle Montague, but Chris Priestley knows what he is doing and was able to tell a slightly different set of scary stories while very cleverly tying it in to the first book. Having recently watched the entire set of Horatio Hornblower movies starring Ioan Gruffudd, I have been hearing the siren call of the sea and these stories were a welcome, albeit different, return to the smell of sea-water and the sound of the waves lapping against the boat.
The astute among you will notice a slightly lower rating on this volume than on the first one. That owes partially to the fact that I enjoyed the setting and the tales of the first book slightly better than this one and partially due to the fact that I was a bit frustrated with some of the language in this book, at least when wearing my Parent hat.
I am no prude and certainly don’t mind a bit of swearing in my fiction. Lord knows I freely exercise a bit of swearing in my real life! But for a book that is published for children, I was a little taken aback by the amount of swearing and by a few sexual remarks, none of which were present in Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror. It is easy to dismiss this as being authentic for the type of stories being told. After all, who hasn’t heard the description, ‘cussing like a sailor’? I certainly understand if Priestley was going for a more realistic depiction of the language of the sea, but it still makes it hard for me to recommend this one to those of you with younger children as a read aloud book the way I did with Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror. It didn’t detract from my personal enjoyment of the books, at least not as a reader, but as a reviewer and parent it was something I was very conscious of throughout the book.
That warning given, this collection remains a nice, eerie set of tales, woven together with a framing story that makes for a memorable read on a dark and stormy night. If your children like scary stories and you can edit what you read to them when you read aloud, I do highly recommend this as a follow up to Uncle Montague. Like that first volume, I read a few of these aloud to Mary and she was sufficiently creeped out.
I am so impressed with what Chris Priestley has done. I believe this series of books marks a return to the glory days of gothic short story telling for young adults. These books have the potential of scaring new young readers, and young-at-heart readers, for years to come. A third volume, Tales of Terror from the Tunnel’s Mouth due out in early October. I for one cannot wait!
BOO! Did I scare you?
The illustrations look marvelous and this sounds like another great story book for the upcoming season. Thanks for your review!
Susan: You shouldn’t do that so early in the morning! 😉
I really want to read both of these now.They sound fabulous. I can ignore the swearing, but you are right, it is not really suitable for children. I love the cover.
I loved Uncle Montagues Tales of Terror, as did my son. He read this one but he didn’t like it as much. I didn’t get chance before it had to go back to the library. He’ll be pleased there’s a new one comong out though!
I will definitely keep this and Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror in mind for next RIP.Chris Priestley sounds amazing!
Nymeth: He writes some very fun stories and I think you would enjoy them.
Jo: I can certainly understand why he didn’t care for this one as much. I ended up liking it more than I thought I would primarily because I like the ending and how it tied into the first book. I definitely think Uncle Montague was more creepy and had better continuity throughout the book.
Vivienne: The covers for these are great, as are the interior illustrations. The swearing is easy to ignore as an adult and it does fit within the context of the story and the kind of people he is writing about…it just shocked me because of the comparison with the first book.
Another fabulous cover!
I think when I do get a chance to read one of these books I’ll go with Uncle Montague’s book first just because I am not very big on ships/sea stories. Now the title of his next book sounds very intriguing doesn’t it?!
This looks like fun… maybe I should start with the first one?
You know…if you were looking ahead… you should have saved this one to read on worldwide talk like a pirate day! 🙂
Damn these sound good!! And the next one sounds great too just from the title. I took your advice and got the first one from the library!! I should be digging into it soon 😀
I forgot about some of the language, but then I was so enthralled I forgot that it was meant for youngsters in the first place….
That cover looks great! Really creepy, haha.
I’ve never heard of either of the books mentioned in this review, but I may have to give them a try, especially with the upcoming holiday. 🙂
Anna: If you do please come back and let me know what you think.
Bride: No biggie, I was just surprised, that’s all.
Chris: I certainly will be interested in what you think of Uncle Montague and his tales of woe! 🙂
Jeff: Doh! That would have been PERFECT!
Daphne: You definitely want to start with the first one as the ending scene of this one will be more significant if you’ve read the first one.
Iliana: As I mentioned to Daphne, I would certainly suggest reading them in order. I have no idea what to expect from the title of the next book, but I cannot wait to see what kind of tales the storyteller will be sharing.
Mariel: Yes! 🙂
Oooh, another good book to recommend to our children’s librarian. The illustrations are very Edward Gorey-ish, aren’t they? I loved ghost stories as a kid (still do) and am glad to see more of them coming out. Thanks for the heads up!
Lesley: Yes indeed, very Edward Gorey-ish, which is what attracted me to them in the first place. Make sure you have them order the first one as well, it is a wonderful book.
It is awesome that you are back to posting regularly Carl! You have been kind of quiet overall this year. 🙂
This author looks good. I will have to look and see if the library has anything by him. 🙂
many (like chris) are trying to cut back on book buying (just because there’s no room to walk in their homes anymore) and you go and show them more books to buy! BAd Carl! Bad Bad! *snicker*
I hope you read 13th tale soon! I can’t believe you didn’t recognise one of the characters! it IS time for you to reread it!
Stupid, stupid library! Yikes…I should be strung up for saying such a thing. I didn’t mean it. Honest.
I’m just sad because they don’t have these. 🙁 And neither does PaperbackSwap. *sigh* Of course, it’s really not like we have a shortage of things to read around here. 😉 I guess I’ll live if they have to wait to next year.
Thanks for the great reviews!
Debi: Does your library not belong to anything like World Cat where they can order books for you from other libraries? You might want to check into that. If Paperback Swap only does paperbacks…something I don’t know about, just assuming…it makes sense they wouldn’t have these as I believe they are only available in the hardback format right now.
Deslily: Yes, it is past time for a re-read! And yes, I am bad. I’m also cutting way back on book buying…have been for several months actually, and so I guess it is my lot in life to tempt others now!!! I do strongly encourage library usage though!!!
Kailana: Be careful what you wish for! Ha! It has been a quiet year with all that has went on at work, with Mary’s surgery, etc. and it is nice to be back to regular posting. I had a feeling the R.I.P. Challenge was just what I needed for my own personal therapy as it is so easy to post during this time of year. Are you ready to start reading Glass Books tomorrow? 🙂
The cover alone has me wanting this book. It looks so good.
I’ll be adding this one to my list too (although probably just skip over the not-to-nice language while reading aloud). Thanks for the warning.
Stephanie: No problem. Just practice saying ‘darn’ and you’ll be fine…or, since this is a sea-faring book, you could use Spongebob swearing: “Tarter Sauce!”, “Barnacles!”. Flavia uses some creative euphemisms in Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
Mari: That’s what got me to read Bride’s review, the great cover.
Oh, I emailed you, but I will say here too that reading our book together is a go. 🙂 I started it earlier tonight!
Hmmm.. odd… I had commented on this post, but now I don’t see it. My computer’s been weird lately. Anyways–this book reminded me of a children’s series I loved as a child, John Bellairs’ books, which were illustrated by Gorey. Have you read them? I had such vivid flashbacks of it after reading this review, that I went and got it at the library and am now re-reading it for the challenge:)
Oh my…please disregard my earlier comment… I left that comment on your other Chris Priestley post, LOL. I’m such a dork:) Sorry!
If you are a dork then you are in good company Jessica. 🙂
The book has a very nice cover and it looks very promising, too. If I can’t find it in the local bookstores soon enough, going to pester my friends to give me one on Christmas. Nice review, Carl! ^_^
Thanks, I appreciate it. I hope you got the book and that you enjoyed it.
This is a genre I haven’t explored too much, but the cover art has be hooked!
Marta
http://martasmeanderings.blogspot.com/2009/09/review-and-tour-for-if-god-is-good-by.html
These books do have really fun covers on them.
i just finished reading Tales of Terror from the black ship-i’m thirteen and refused to read this book without an escape route! 🙂 i picked this book up from a friend in school and started reading as soon as i saw ‘the lucky men drowned there and then’-i thought it was a fantastic book-i loved the twist(s) at the end.
That’s great, I’m glad you enjoyed it. You must read the other two, they have great stories in them and fun twists as well.