The Klack Bros. Museum

by Kenneth Oppel, Todd Haberkorn (Reading)

A train gets waylaid in the middle of nowhere, and Luke and his dad find themselves with four hours to kill before it’s fixed. Just enough time for a trip to the mysterious, decrepit old museum on the edge of town. A short story from Guys Read: Other Worlds, edited by Jon Scieszka.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Paranormal, Fantasy, Short Stories

Audio

First published August 27, 2013

About the author

I was born in 1967 in Port Alberni, a mill town on Vancouver Island, British Columbia but spent the bulk of my childhood in Victoria, B.C. and on the opposite coast, in Halifax, Nova Scotia...At around twelve I decided I wanted to be a writer (this came after deciding I wanted to be a scientist, and then an architect). I started out writing sci-fi epics (my Star Wars phase) then went on to swords and sorcery tales (my Dungeons and Dragons phase) and then, during the summer holiday when I was fourteen, started on a humorous story about a boy addicted to video games (written, of course, during my video game phase). It turned out to be quite a long story, really a short novel, and I rewrote it the next summer. We had a family friend who knew Roald Dahl - one of my favourite authors - and this friend offered to show Dahl my story. I was paralysed with excitement. I never heard back from Roald Dahl directly, but he read my story, and liked it enough to pass on to his own literary agent. I got a letter from them, saying they wanted to take me on, and try to sell my story. And they did.

Reviews

[Sheldon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay short story. The dad is a dick.

[Mortisha Cassavetes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this short story. I honestly wish it would of been a longer book. The story young Luke and his dad as they are waiting for the train they were traveling on to get fixed which led them to venture out and they find themselves at an old museum. I don't want to go into the story more as to not spoil it but I highly recommend it to everyone like me who loves ghosts.

[Lu Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author kept you on the edge of the seat the whole time thru i couldn't put down this book I was always wondering what's about to happen next!

[Philmore Olazo · Rating 2 out of 5]

So a ghost story in a ghost town.

I do like these kinds of scenarios, but to be honest, I did not like this one bit.

[Clarissa Boucher · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started kinda interesting as it was funny, but as soon as the ghost came into it I lost interest.

[Barb G · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story about ghosts and the Chinese who came to America to build the tunnels for trains to the west.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread. Scary believable detail. Luke meets a ghost Chinese boy, who helped build the RR and pleads for freedom.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really thought there was going to be more of a "punch" at the end. It just kind of dropped off in what should've been a more exciting end. Otherwise, this was an enjoyable and creepy story. Classic Oppel!!

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slightly paranormal story, a ghost was used as a sideshow attraction and when a museum was put up by the family of the sideshow, he saw his opportunity for escape. The story follows Luke and his father, suffering from writer's block. Luke's father hopes to write the story of the ghost after both he and Mr. Klack know the ghost will talk with Luke; Mr. Klack hopes to buy Luke so that he can talk with the ghost. After Luke's father stole the jar of ashes which the ghost is tethered to, Luke tosses it out the window of a train.

[Nickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A boy and his father have time to kill on a trip and end up in a old Museum. One of the displays is a bit more interesting than the others.