Holly’s Comments (group member since Oct 13, 2013)

Holly’s comments from the What's the Name of That Book??? group.

Maybe Vampire by Richie Tankersley Cusick.

The description on Google Books says: Darcy never expected to spend a summer vacation living with her long-lost uncle Jake. Although he’s only six years older than her, they have never met. By the end of the summer, she’ll know him better than she ever wanted. Jake and his friends share a dark sense of humor. He lives in the Dungeon, a wax museum filled with gory scenes of famous monsters. His favorite is the statue of Dracula, which stares out with lifelike eyes and crimson lips. His friends seem to be obsessed with vampires, and one of them is even playing Dracula in a play. It’s all harmless fun until the bodies of murdered young girls start appearing in the back alleys of their small town—throats cut and necks bitten. One of Jake’s friends is playing vampire for real, and he has his eyes on Darcy’s neck.

http://books.google.com/books/about/V...

I'll start out with a few obvious suggestions:
Mythology by Edith Hamilton
Bulfinch's Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch

Those two are probably the most famous Greek myth collections out there and they definitely would have been published in the 1960s (or previous, as they are both older than that)

Yay! I'm glad you could find it. I read it a long time ago, but I'm not sure I remember it so well, haha.

Could it be Belle Prater's Boy?

Was this a picture book or chapter book? And do you remember if it was a fantasy or a more realistic story?

Also, if you can remember *any* other details, that'd really help others find it (like any of the characters' names, what happened to the mother, what country/time period it's set in, etc.)

I don't actually know what this story is about, but it's called The Snow Globes.

Maybe Merryll Of The Stones?

Maybe it'll be on this listopia?

Maybe The Summer after the Funeral?

Here's the Worldcat synopsis: Following her father's death, a sixteen-year-old English girl spends an unsettling summer convinced that she has lived before as Emily Bronte.

Or maybe The Prize Essay?

by the way, are you 100% sure the book is from the 1980s?

You know, a movie adaptation is coming out this year :]

Sounds like The Giver.

Yay! I'm glad you found it Gilli and that I could help. I actually read that book just a few days ago. I should have recognized it, haha.

Gilli, I actually made a Listopia with middle grade ghost stories the other day, so maybe it'll be on there. And if it's not, it can be added once it's found :]

Maybe I Miss You, I Miss You!?

Ooh, that sounds really interesting! I'm really into kids' ghost stories, so if someone can figure this out, I'm going to go read it, haha.

Do you remember anything else about the plot or setting? Like, was it set nowadays or did it seem old-fashioned or like historical fiction? And were the ghosts children or adults? And were they nice ghosts or were they scary? And overall was the story sad, scary, or not really either? (if you can't answer all the questions, it's ok, haha)

Poolboy, I'm not sure you were looking at a good synopsis of Downriver. All the teen characters are definitely attending a nature camp for "problem" kids. Here's a synopsis from School Library Journal:

Eight problem kids (four boys, four girls, high school age) have been sent to a camp called Discovery Unlimited where they are to meet problems, make responsible decisions, and develop as adults. "Hoods in the Woods" the kids call themselves. Action occurs in the outback of southwestern Colorado and northern Arizona as Al, their adult leader, programs the group first to climb Storm King Peak (which nearly results in fatalities) and then to raft the white water of the San Juan River. The Hoods decide rafting the Colorado River will be wilder; so they steal Al's van and equipment, drive to the put-in at Lee's Ferry, sneak past the park rangers, inflate their rafts, and seven embark--one deserts. Rafting the wild Colorado is heady but difficult and dangerous. Misadventures develop the kids, but also breed disasters. So when the rangers capture the group near Havasu Creek, not all resent the rescue.

It's possibly still not your book, but I thought you might like a better synopsis :]

Off the top of my head it reminds a little of Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt but I'm not sure it quite fits. Good luck finding your book though :]

That sounds like an interesting project :] I love 19th century gothic fiction.

I have to say that I haven't read this yet, but Frederick Marryat's The Phantom Ship is a gothic novel that takes place at sea.

By the way, do you mean American football or football/soccer? I found a few American football horror books, but if that isn't what you mean, then they're definitely not it, haha. As it is, it doesn't seem like they match your description, but I figure they're worth a shot.

Creature
The Phantom