Decimus Croome is a dastardly, despicable and downright deplorable fellow. But worse than that, old man Croome hates Halloween. As a result, he ruins Halloween for his entire family and the rest of the town.

Content to live in his gloomy old house and avoid all human contact whenever possible, Decimus Croome even shuns his own daughter and grandson. But he has a rude and horrifying awakening one memorable Halloween when he is visited by four spirits who are determined to show Croome the misery he has inflicted upon his friends, neighbors and family members.

Based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, The Legend of Decimus Croome is bound to become a Halloween classic for readers of all ages for generations to come. Follow old man Croome as he is visited first by the lovely but disturbing spirit of his dearly departed wife. She warns him of three spirits yet to follow. And oh what spirits they are. Each one is more disturbing than the last, and each one has an important message for Croome.

The first spirit is a truly horrifying yet disturbingly funny pumpkin-headed ghost who delivers Croome to his distant and not-so-distant past. Along the journey, Croome is warmed with nostalgia and terrified by the some of the most tragic events in his life.

The second spirit is a shape-shifting witch who breaks every stereotype about witches while nearly driving Croome insane with her wild antics and slapstick delivery.

And the third phantasm delivers the final glimpse of Croome's diabolically humdrum life and the future that is in store for him if he doesn't change his wicked ways.

Throughout this delightful Halloween novel, we meet a cast of characters from a devoted employee to a charming young leukemia patient. We are also entertained by a precocious black feline named Black Magic who witnesses each spiritual visit and the changes in her boringly predictable guardian.

Join Tommy Bobbich, Decimus Croome and a whole cast of ghosts, witches, ghouls and scarecrows in this modern day holiday story that is sure to provide you with chills, laughs and maybe even a tearful moment or two as you read The Legend of Decimus Croome: a Halloween Carol. You will never look at Halloween the same again.

I am going to start this by saying this isn't a DNF given out of intense dislike and hatred. This is given out of having different expectations from the book than it gave me.

Let me explain. Cinderella Ninja Warrior, one of the best titles ever by the way, is a Twisted Tale. A sort of Choose Your Own Adventure book. Or at least that it how I interpreted it. There are points in the story where you get to chose where it goes next, which to me is Choose Your Own Adventure. But there is only one ending. No matter what you decide, the book ends the same. Once I realized that my sails were deflated. I made it one more chapter before just giving up.

The book wasn't bad. A little too teenage angst perfect protagonist for my taste, but it was a different retelling of Cinderella.It was still the same general story but with magic and ninjas. If I were a preteen (the age group suggested for this book), I would have ate this up.

But alas I am not. I read it for the Choose Your Own Adventure aspects of it. I wanted to relive my Goosebumps days where I ended up a zombie or falling out of a window and there were bad endings and good endings. This isn't that. The destination is the same no matter what you do; it's just the journey that changes.

I ended up giving my copies of this and Sleeping Beauty Vampire Hunter to a coworker who has a preteen. I think she will love them. 

On the topic of Choose Your Own Adventure books, do they make Chose Your Own Adventure books for adults? I would love that. Love it to pieces. I know my sister mentioned to me that there is a romance novel video game in Japan where she is teaching that is choose your own adventure, sort of. There are six guys and the choices you make determine who you end up with. It's super popular. Maybe I should just go find some Goosebumps...