Mostly Ghostly Books In Order

Publication Order of Mostly Ghostly Books

Mostly Ghostly is a series of novels written by bestselling children’s horror author R.L. Stine. The series is majorly targeted at middle school aged audience aged eleven and fourteen and revolves around an eleven-year-old boy named Max who ends up getting the abilities to see ghosts. Max then meets two kids who are turned into ghosts named Tara and Nicky who are trying to find their parents. They make Max a deal; if he helps them to discover how they died, they will help him get a better life. Unfortunately, they usually end up making things much worse, and despite this, Max tries to help them solve to figure out how the died and it’s during this mission that the three encounter some villains and some silly adventures.

Mostly Ghostly series has led to several film adaptations. First, the series was adapted into a 2008 horror comedy fantasy movie titled, Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out? The film was directed by Rich Correll and is based on the first book in the series, Who Let the Ghosts Out? and was released on 30th September 2008 on DVD and broadcasted on Disney Channel on 31st October 2008. Subsequently, a sequel to the 2008 movie Mostly Ghostly premiered in 2014. The horror comedy fantasy movie titled Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend? was directed by Peter Hewitt and is based on the second novel in the Mostly Ghostly series. The third novel in Mostly Ghostly series was also adapted into a 2016 family, fantasy, horror film by the same name, directed by Ron Oliver, the film stars Sophie Reynolds, Jamie Kennedy, and Corey Fogelmanis.

Who Let the Ghosts Out?

Tara and Nicky, brother and sister, can’t figure out why no one else hears or sees them or why they can’t remember where they have been. When they go back to their house, they find out that another family lives there and they finally discover that they are ghosts.

Max also known as Brainimon resides in Tara and Nicky’s. He’s got problems of his own; his father wants to send him to a boarding school in order to toughen him so that he can be buff like his perfect elder brother, Colin. He has a crush on Traci but has zero hopes of ever getting her attention and not to mention, no one believes him. Max tries to make up for his problems by practicing his magic act and losing himself in video games. Nicky and Tara, decide to help out Max in exchange that he helps them to discover how they died and also what happened to their beloved parents.

Collin torments Max into walking a dog even though Max is scared of the family dog. On the first walk, Buster turns up inside out, and a ghost emerges and asks “Where are they? If you tell me where they are, I might let you live!’ The scary ghost name is Phears but who is he? What in the world does he want from Max?
Max troubles peak when Nicky and Tara start appearing to him, and his parents think that he is crazy when he tries to inform them. No one in the family can see or hear the ghosts, and so when Max talks to them it gets him into big trouble or people believe that he is troubled. Max’s life becomes complicated with Nicky and Tara in it and mostly, the ghost’s efforts to help backfire resulting in more troubles to Max.

Who Let the Ghosts Out is a fast-paced narrative with quite likable characters, well-woven characters and plenty of cliffhangers that make it difficult to put it down. Max Doyle is the protagonist in the series. He is part psychic since he is the only person in his village with the abilities to see ghosts. Aside from being good friends with the ghosts, he is also what most people would call “normal kid.” in this first novel and other few books in the series, he is 11 years old but later turns 12 years. He is brave, but quite horrible at sports and also unpopular at school.

Then there is Nicky Roland, a young boy who lost his parents when Phears escaped ghost captivity and transformed his parents into ghosts. At first, he doesn’t seem to trust Ma but appears to like him in the later books in the series. He is 11 � years old. Tara is Nicky’s sister, and just like her brother, she is a friendly ghost. She instantly warms up to Max, and she tries to help Max, but in most cases, her efforts to help always ends up making everything worse. Tara is nine years old.
Other characters include Collin Doyle, Max’s elder brother, who frequently abuses Max and embarrass him. He is very popular in athletics and unlike Max; he is very popular with girls at his school.

Have You Met My Ghoulfriend?

In the second book in Mostly Ghostly series, Tara and Nicky live in Max’s bedroom, and while they have finally found evidence, they still do not know what actually happened to their parents. In the meantime, Phears is also eager to get his hands on Tara and Nicky and pressuring Max to hand them over.

The setting of Have You Met Ghoulfriend takes place in Max’s room because where all the ghostly activities take place and also where the tunnel that Max’s wall leads to the ghosts haunting him except Tara and Nicky. Max discovers that there is a hole in his house wall that leads to something quite terrifying. The author adds more tension when Phears threatens Max that he would bring someone much stronger than him- so the readers keep on anticipating to finally “see” that ghost which is much stronger than Phears. The characters are beautifully crafted, the storyline flow well and the major theme in this book is to never give up regardless of the obstacles that one encounters in their journey. R.L. Stine adds new characters in this book to add more drama and make the book more interesting.