SOLVED. YA Horror 1960-1990s. Two siblings wake up very cold to find their mother missing and ghosts in the house. Spoilers. [s]

[Jessica3h]

Ok I read this book over 20 years ago and remembered it being old even then, it had a cover style like the old hardy boys or nancy drew, very pale/white cover but with a frame around a picture of three figures in the snow, one with red hair, I feel like it might have been part of a set of horror stories, like goosebumps but before that came out. The book itself was short, about the width of the original hobbit book. From what I remember, two children wake up in their room, their room is dusty and they feel really cold and they can't find their mother. After walking around they come across two ghost children and a ghost adult who is the ghost's childrens aunty. The aunty has red hair and treats the ghost children poorly. When the main children try to leave the property they can't. The story is set in winter with snow and cold and a frozen lake mentioned. Either old America or England SPOILER ALERT
At the end you find out its the other way around, the original children are actually dead and the "ghosts" are the people now in the house, they end up helping the other children get away from their aunt by tricking her into drowning in the frozen pond, the same frozen pond they drowned in, at the end they go back to their room to "sleep" and the story ends with them waking up to their mother. The ends hints that the mother has now died and they are all off to the afterlife.

The aunts hair is spoken about quite a bit as a interaction she has with one of the children, she grabs at them and they find her touch burning hot, as in causes pain, her hair is described as fiery red and it adds to the 'evilness' of her character, the cold is mentioned alot as well, kind of foreshadowing the twist at the end.

[Becca]

All on a Winter's Day by Lisa Taylor?

[bookel]

I second that. The Hauntings cover is from 1989. Only two on the front though. Covers and summary https://www.librarything.com/work/535...

[Jessica3h]

Yes! that's it thank you so much I have been searching for this for months, the link bookel shared has the exact cover as well, I guess time warped my memory a bit but I am so glad to finally have a answer, Thank you again to you both!

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Jessica3h.

All on a Winter's Day (book 7) of the Hippo Hauntings series by Lisa Taylor - Becca and bookel's find.

[bookel]

It's a memorable book. Many people have asked for it and it is a good read. It is free to borrow on openlibrary.org.