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The Raven Mysteries #4
Vampires and Volts
Join the wonderfully weird Otherhand family and their faithful guardian, Edgar the raven, and discover the dark secrets of Castle Otherhand. It's Halloween and the Otherhands are enjoying the Annual Pumpkin Hunt. And there are preparations to be made for the Great Halloween Ball. Minty is all a-fluster. Solstice is busy spraying fake cobwebs everywhere. Valevine is in charge of disorganising everyone's carefully laid plans, and Cudweed seems hungrier than ever and oddly preoccupied with 'fresh brains'. In fact when Silas, Valevine's long lost brother, turns up with Samantha, the Otherhands would be well-advised to check out their guests. It's not long before wily Edgar works out that there's a preponderance of vampires and not all of them have false teeth. Just when he's about to solve the latest mystery at Otherhand Castle, the lights go out...Dedicated website on Raven www.ravenmysteries.co.uk
256 pages, Paperback
First published July 10, 2010
1 person is currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Marcus Sedgwick
107 books1,583 followersMarcus Sedgwickwas a British writer and illustrator. He authored several young adult and children's books and picture books, a work of nonfiction and several novels for adults, and illustrated a collection of myths and a book of folk tales for adults.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 19, 2015
Everybody's favourite raven, Edgar, Guardian of Otherhand Castle is back! It's Halloween but it turns out that there's more to worry about than being hit by a squishy pumpkin launched by Solstice, Cudweed and the Twins, the Otherhand children; the title might give you a clue what they are...
The first of this series is still the best, but it was great to spend time with Edgar again after quite a long break - he's such a fun character and there's still a couple more to read.
The first of this series is still the best, but it was great to spend time with Edgar again after quite a long break - he's such a fun character and there's still a couple more to read.
July 25, 2019
"It was a long flight back to the castle, and I know it's never a good idea to leave that lot of lunatics alone for very long."
4 stars.
There was so much more going on in this, the forth book in the"The Raven Mysteries" series. From the lights continuing to go out, the naughty way the Valevine got to host the Hallowe'en Ball, to one of the family members falling victim to a vampire! Or could I miss out the part where Edgar the Raven had to fly away to find the travelling musician and what exactly happened while having this little adventure. That, my friends, was rather amusing and not something you often hear about happening with Ravens. But this is Edgar, so it wasn't too surprising.
This was fun to read. Like the other books in this series, it's full of funny remarks.
"When Solstice grows up she wants to be a poet. Or a writer. She says she likes the idea of being paid to make things up. Valevine suggested that in that case she should add lawyer to the list."
I enjoy all the characters but I can't wait to find out what next invention Valevine Otherhand tries to create. He's the father of the family and quite a character.
I also learned a new word, "Gothification" Apparently it is a word but also apparently we are not ment to look it up in the dictionary.
Definitely one I'm adding to my list to read again.
4 stars.
There was so much more going on in this, the forth book in the"The Raven Mysteries" series. From the lights continuing to go out, the naughty way the Valevine got to host the Hallowe'en Ball, to one of the family members falling victim to a vampire! Or could I miss out the part where Edgar the Raven had to fly away to find the travelling musician and what exactly happened while having this little adventure. That, my friends, was rather amusing and not something you often hear about happening with Ravens. But this is Edgar, so it wasn't too surprising.
This was fun to read. Like the other books in this series, it's full of funny remarks.
"When Solstice grows up she wants to be a poet. Or a writer. She says she likes the idea of being paid to make things up. Valevine suggested that in that case she should add lawyer to the list."
I enjoy all the characters but I can't wait to find out what next invention Valevine Otherhand tries to create. He's the father of the family and quite a character.
I also learned a new word, "Gothification" Apparently it is a word but also apparently we are not ment to look it up in the dictionary.
Definitely one I'm adding to my list to read again.
June 19, 2021
Amazing book. Read in one sitting
October 14, 2011
trying too hard
June 17, 2017
The same levels of nonsensical and nightmarish humour as the first three, but - and I feel bad saying this about the Otherhands and Edgar, of whom I have grown rather fond - the plot has a creaky ending to it. The final reckoning, when it comes, is one of those revelations which cannot possibly have been foretold, and which, on close inspection, comes across a bit, well, whiffy. Because . So I felt a bit cheated at the end, but this is still good stuff.
April 28, 2024
These are so much fun to read, amazing different characters you meet have have adventures, each family member has their own personality, and you have a soppy monkey and a curious raven..
Each book you learn more about each character, nearly the end of the series
Each book you learn more about each character, nearly the end of the series
June 7, 2017
Its a really interesting and mysterious book because each section you read it becomes more thrilling and it's a book you would want to keep on reading non stop.
August 10, 2017
Hm, lite väl mycket fart och fläkt och folk som dör i denna barnbok. Gillar man övernaturliga moderna sagor kan det nog vara kul. Nioåringen tyckte inte den var läskig.
March 26, 2021
"Gasp!"
September 23, 2023
A bit of silly fun.
November 8, 2025
read it when i was a kid and i was obsessed!
December 12, 2015
Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Sedgwick's The Foreshadowing (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), I figured I'd give this a try. I like reading children's books partly because it gives me ideas of things to suggest to my child, partly because some kid's books are just as enjoyable for adults.
This isn't one of them. It was a fine story, and probably if I were the right age demographic, I would enjoy it, but I won't read it again. It just didn't do it for me.
The one thing that I did dislike, though, was the typography. More and more often now I'm finding children's books typeset in 1.5 or double space, and I don't like it. I'm sure this trend is developing because people think it makes the book easier to read, but that certainly isn't the case for me: Too much white space means I struggled.
This isn't one of them. It was a fine story, and probably if I were the right age demographic, I would enjoy it, but I won't read it again. It just didn't do it for me.
The one thing that I did dislike, though, was the typography. More and more often now I'm finding children's books typeset in 1.5 or double space, and I don't like it. I'm sure this trend is developing because people think it makes the book easier to read, but that certainly isn't the case for me: Too much white space means I struggled.
October 2, 2014
Another fun story from the Raven Mysteries series - this time the Otherhands are throwing a Halloween party.
Here is how Edgar (the raven) describes those that attend:
"The hall was suddenly full of ghosts, goblins, ghoulies, and whatnot. I say whatnot, but what I actually mean to say here is vampires. Lots of vampires. It was as if the fancy dress shop had run out of every other costume."
/////
"The lights going out all the time was bad enough, but the fact thatthe castle was a few volts short of a power station was rhe leasty of our troubles! Now there were vampires on the loose too!
Vampires and Volts!
Ark!
What's a poor old raven to do?
Panic. That's what. Panic."
Here is how Edgar (the raven) describes those that attend:
"The hall was suddenly full of ghosts, goblins, ghoulies, and whatnot. I say whatnot, but what I actually mean to say here is vampires. Lots of vampires. It was as if the fancy dress shop had run out of every other costume."
/////
"The lights going out all the time was bad enough, but the fact thatthe castle was a few volts short of a power station was rhe leasty of our troubles! Now there were vampires on the loose too!
Vampires and Volts!
Ark!
What's a poor old raven to do?
Panic. That's what. Panic."
December 15, 2012
Read this book in Swedish. The title is: VOLT och VAMPYRER.
This is the best book yet in this series! It was a funny read and the illustrations helped us with the imaginations. Edgar saved the day once again and his witty assessment of the danger that the family had to face were a highlight. The death of the maidens didn't bothered me that much this time, since it was a natural blend in the story and didn't take over the story like it did in the former books. Overall it was a cute and fun read!
PS. Always like the interactions between Solaria and Edgar :)
This is the best book yet in this series! It was a funny read and the illustrations helped us with the imaginations. Edgar saved the day once again and his witty assessment of the danger that the family had to face were a highlight. The death of the maidens didn't bothered me that much this time, since it was a natural blend in the story and didn't take over the story like it did in the former books. Overall it was a cute and fun read!
PS. Always like the interactions between Solaria and Edgar :)
July 17, 2011
This book has lots of adjective, the pictures are illustrated with detail and it was actually a lot better than Magic and mayhem.
July 16, 2015
A really enjoyable quick halloween read. I will purchase the other books in this series.
January 15, 2015
I thought this tale of a weird family had excellent illustrations but I found the story confusing / un-engaging.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews