NNtG: Deadtime Stories #04: Ghost Knight

It's time to trek into Deadtime Stories once again. This time around we have more evil knight ghosts. A trend I didn't think was as prevalent as it was in this era, but maybe that's my own ignorance on it. Be it Ghosts of Fear Street, Give Yourself Goosebumps, or even Deadtime Stories, there's definitely an audience for ghost knights. So how does Deadtime take on this medieval evil? Let's find out with a look through Ghost Knight.

So, interestingly enough, I didn't immediately think this was a Tim Jacobus cover, but it is. I mean I should have, the trees and the foliage really scream "Jacobus". But I guess it just doesn't feel like it has all of his usual trappings. No warped perspectives, checkerboards or freaky stuff. Not even a single Converse. But what we do get is a cool cover. I love the knight's design. Looking not entirely like what you'd think a medieval knight would look like, but more of an alien vibe to him. Add in the glowing eyes and eerie glow around him and it works in the creepy factor. Another solid Tim work. 

Cody Adams starts the story hanging on for dear life in his grandfather Tom's (or G.T. for short because this is a book with a lot of old people, so Grandpa would be redundant) golf cart, avoiding the golf cart of an old man named Jeevers. They almost collide head-on, with Jeevers panicking over a murderous man in armor riding a horse that's chasing him. Of course, being the first couple pages, Cody and G.T. shrug it off as senile old Mr. Jeevers. Cody is visiting his grandparents at their retirement community called Shady Acres. Which, me being a fan of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, of course I thought of that immediately. G.T. takes Cody to go golfing, but Cody decides he'd rather spend time with his friend Ben. So G.T. tells Cody to call him at 555-GOAT later on the cell phone that G.T. gave him earlier. Which is neat, given it's mid-90s and all, but I just imagine them looking like the Jitterbug.

So with nothing to do, Ben suggests they check out the castle in Shady Acres that's supposedly haunted. The castle was brought over from England and rebuilt brick by brick which sounds like a bitch to do both ways. The man who lived in the castle was soon beheaded not long after by something haunting the castle. The man who lived there afterwards also died in a gruesome manner. Of course, this comes from Jeevers and he's TOTALLY crazy. In fact, the reason Jeevers is perceived as crazy has to do with the castle itself. While it looks ramshackle and about to break, as well as it being totally empty, somehow furniture is constantly being thrown out of the windows like it's Antonio Brown. And there's my "well that's dated" reference for the blog.

And it's not just yeeting furniture out windows. According to Ben, his dad, the groundskeeper for Shady Acres, constantly has tried to rebuild the castle into a clubhouse, but things vanish, people vanish. Well, for like two days. The previous groundskeeper went into the castle, vanished for a spell, then was found bloody and beaten with no memory of what the hell happened. No his blood, someone else's. Dude, you already mentioned a decapitation, why are we going kid gloves suddenly? Granted, Ben's never seen any of this, but he claims it's all true. But before they can go inside, they get caught by Ben's dad, who forbids them from going into the castle and instead hands them the key to the supply shed and tasks them with cleaning the pool for five bucks. But this may be a bad idea because the supply shed is behind the castle, and they could just find their way inside that way.

The boys enter the supply shed, only for it to be dark and the pair unable to escape. Cody walks face first into a flypaper strip which yeah, that's a solid bit of gross out. The two trip around the place until they find a secret panel which opens up the door to the castle. They stumble upon a tapestry which Cody knows something about due to watching a show about tapestries and how they can tell a story. In this case it's about the castle when it was still in England. About how there was a king, a queen and a princess. A war broke, and the king and queen were murdered by a deadly looking knight who is holding the princess prisoner. Ben notes the knight looks like a wrestler called the D.C. Destroyer, but all I think of are the knights from the 1993 Survivor Series. Look, I had to get one wrestling reference in and the book gave me an open door. But most confusing is that the tapestry also shows the castle at Shady Acres as if somehow it's been updated. It also has the groundskeeper incident. But more concerning is that the tapestry looks unfinished, meaning that it's still about to get updated.

As G.T. is about to call them, the boys get attacked by bats. Cody eventually talks with his grandfather and says that everything's fine and they're definitely not in a spooky castle right now. Cody tries to call him back, but hears a girl's screaming for help at the other end of the line. Suddenly, the castle fills with a powerful wind that throws the boys outside, which hey, that's a speedy way to exit at least. They head to the rec center where G.T. is competing in a shuffleboard contest. G.T.'s team the Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers vs Jeevers' Speckle-Headed Cuckoos. I mean it's better than just calling your team the Tigers. G.T. is missing his sixth player, so Cody gets subbed in, despite him never playing shuffleboard. But there's opera tickets they need to win for their grandmother, so there's at least some incentive to not half-ass it. But thankfully Cody has the advantage of a ghostly figure who helps him win the game. That being a beautiful ghostly princess who says that now Cody owes her. Jeevers saw the princess as well and isn't too happy, but he says that a metal headed madman won't be too happy either.

So now Cody has to worry about a potential knight of the ghost variety. But he realizes that only he, Ben and Jeevers saw the ghost princess. Everyone else just thought Jeevers was going insane as usual. Cody calls Ben later, but the phone gets interference again by the princess who introduces herself as the Princess Gianna. She tells Cody that he and Ben have to return to the castle at midnight to return her favor, or else she won't help them from what will be their undoing. They enter the castle and find that the tapestry has updated. Now with images of Cody and Ben along with Jeevers and a man in old medieval robes, who then emerges. This is Lord Umberland, who was tasked with protecting Princess Gianna. He mentions that there is an unearthly presence that rules the castle, which befuddles the boys. 

After Umberland makes stairs appear in front of the boys (they have to believe to make it real) the boys make it up the stairway and almost get blown outside by another powerful gust. They survive it as Princess Gianna shows up. She wears a pink dress and a headdress, but more notably has a large scar on her face. She tells the boys that she needs their help to defeat the black knight. The same knight who killed her parents. See, the black knight defeated the king and claimed Exaltimer, a powerful magic sword. So long as the knight wields Exaltimer, he can keep Gianna and Umberland prisoners forever. So clearly, the only way to stop a ghost knight and his magic sword is to send two children at him. You'd be amazed how often that works. 

Suddenly, a black tornado arises and from it emerges the black knight on his horse, accompanied by other ghost knights, headed towards the castle. The boys are helped out by a pair of men outside of the castle who bring them a rope. These two men being Lord Umberland's sons Giles and Percy. They also notice a lot of ghosts in the castle, lords and ladies of the castle who were also the prisoners of the black knight. Giles and Percy help Cody and Ben escape, but before the boys can celebrate, they get caught by Ben's dad. They try to tell him about the secret panel and the ghosts and the Black Knight but he doesn't believe them because Deadtime Stories Parents. Also I guess technically because he already warned them not to go into the castle, so he wouldn't buy any excuse. He has them clean the pool as punishment. As Cody and Ben are about to do that, the phone rings again. The black knight challenges them to a joust, which the boys really have no option but to accept, because otherwise he'll kill them in their beds. I mean you could have done this sooner, but I guess no book if that were the case.

Cody and Ben are pretty much just ready to bolt. Maybe running off like cowards will spare them. They get a call from Princess Gianna who tells them that no, that'll work for maybe a little bit but the black knight will still find them and kill them. She says that they can defeat the knight if they are pure of heart and have the heart of the cards and if you get the kids at home to scream "We Care!" So the next day arrives and the boys have their jousting gear which is a pool skimmer and a golf cart. So, very last minute, but it's something. Princess Gianna gives them a pair of royal scarves and tells them that to win they must knock off the black knight's helmet and expose his face. And that should be what wins them back Exaltimer. The skimmer gets broken immediately so they try a pole from a volleyball net. However, that also fails as Cody gets slashed in the shoulder with Exaltimer. Not like fatally deep, but there's some blood. Hey, kids in actual peril and taking damage. I love when that happens. God I really AM sick in the head...

The boys try to ram the golf cart into the black knight, but that doesn't work because, you know, GHOST KNIGHT. The boys end up getting knocked out of the crashing cart as the knight is about to drive his sword into Cody. He's about to hit the knight with a pool hose, but someone hits the knight from behind with a golf club, which knocks the knight off his horse. That being Jeevers. Cody pulls the helmet off the night to reveal nothing inside. It's literally just a haunted suit of armor. They give Exaltimer back to Princess Giana who knights the three of them. Her parents then emerge and everyone finally leaves into the afterlife with the castle finally crumbling to the ground.

As the boys celebrate, Jeevers tells them that a green man is in need of their phone. There are purple people with multiple heads and arms so the green man needs to call the green people for help. Before Ben and Cody can react, a flying saucer shows up. Wait, is this supposed to be like an "ET Phone Home" thing because huh?

I like some of this book. I think it has some great ideas. Most notably the idea of the haunted castle and the black knight. How it's a haunted castle that got moved out of England and onto this old retirement community. It's more unique than just having our protagonists in England in a haunted castle. I'd have definitely felt that things were going a bit too Terror Tower. Although that also becomes the problem as well. There really isn't any reason for this to be at Shady Acres in the first place. Unless the community just attracts the paranormal, AKA the shady. It would give some explanation to the twist other than it feeling like it exists because the book needs a twist. I also like some of the horror in the book's concept and that the finale does feel like these boys are about to die. Adding the urgency of these kids facing with something they seemingly can't overcome makes this one of the better finales, even if it's rushed like so many of these usually are.

So why don't I like this one like I should? I think it's a book that is a case of way too much build and not enough action. I just don't think we get enough of the ghost knight in this book titled Ghost Knight for me to feel as satisfied. But thankfully the book always keeps things focused around the castle and features the Princess Gianna in a prominent enough role. But it always feels more like build and less execution. But I will posit I like the use of the phones as a method for the ghosts to communicate, even if that also feels gimmicky. Like they can present themselves in front of Cody, Ben and Jeevers. They don't really need to communicate through the phones other than it feeling like a gimmick for the book to do. But, again, I like it because it feels more fresh. I'm also mixed on the "believe in your heart" stuff, especially when it really feels like it doesn't matter because it's technically Jeevers who defeats the knight, not Cody or Ben. At least they put up an effort I guess. That's heart enough.

Cody and Ben are decent protagonists. Not much really to them other than them being kids caught in a situation that they have to find their way out of. They work fine for what they're given. I like Jeevers more though. His arc of everyone thinking he's crazy, only for him to kind of be the good guy in the end who has been dealing with the black knight, and Umberland for a lot longer than the kids that ultimately him being the one to defeat the knight feels more cathartic. Princess Gianna is a decent character, but I wish the book did more with her other than to be the one to give exposition. G.T. definitely feels like the book's Superfluous Clay. I really kind of wish that we had Cody's grandfather being the one in the Jeevers role more, to at least tie a better reasoning for this to all be happening at a retirement community, but alas. I like the black knight, very cool villain, just wish the book did more with him and not so late in the book.

So I leave this book feeling a bit underwhelmed. Which is such a shame. I do think there are things in the book that work and concepts that I do like. But the setting feels random, the build takes way too long, there's not enough big horror action moments and the finale and villain feel rushed by the end. Part of me initially thought we'd get a twist where the black knight wasn't the villain and it was Princess Gianna. That maybe the royal family were evil and the knight was trying to stop them but was cursed. Granted, not as incredible a differing idea, but one I do think could have worked to make the book a bit more exciting and at least have a twist that's more than "also here's aliens." But I'd give this one a recommend regardless. Not the worst, but I think it could have been worked on for a few more knights. Ghost Knight gets a C+.