When Bonnie's parents depart on a long sea voyage, she and her cousin Sylvia are left to the tender mercies of Miss Slighcarp, their extremely nasty governess. She soon fires the servants, sells all the furniture and packs the two helpless girls off to a truly horrible school for orphans. Bonnie and Sylvia manage to escape their life of drudgery, but will they be able to foil the wicked Miss Slighcarp and save Willoughby Chase? A witty twist on classic Victorian melodramas like A Little Princess, this is the first in a series of mock gothic adventure novels. Read on with Black Hearts in Battersea, Nightbirds on Nantucket and more.

"When Eddie Dickens was eleven years old, both his parents caught some awful disease that made them turn yellow, go a bit crinkly around the edges, and smell of old hot-water bottles." Because the disease is very catching, Eddie is sent to live with Mad Uncle Jack and Even Madder Aunt Maud. They are not wicked, but certainly peculiar and far from harmless! Our beleaguered hero is in for a lot of trouble in this Monty Pythonesque Victorian romp. Eddie's exasperating adventures continue in Dreadful Acts and Terrible Times.

Louis Barnavelt is (surprise!) an orphan, who comes to live with an uncle he has never met. But despite being a witch, Louis' Uncle Jonathan is not wicked. Curious about the magical arts, Louis decides to experiment on his own - with disastrous results. Unwittingly, he unleashes a powerful evil that has lain dormant in the old house, and it will take all the skill of Uncle Jonathan and his friend and fellow spell-caster, Mrs. Zimmerman, to set things right. The mystery and magic continue with the Figure in the Shadows, The Letter, the Witch and the Ring, and many more.

This is it! Wallow in the original Victorian melodrama that has inspired so many other stories. Young Sarah is a beloved princess to her father, Major Crewe, but when he must return to India, Sarah is left behind with the awful Miss Minchin, the nastiest schoolmistress in history. When word comes that Sarah is an orphan and suddenly penniless, she is instantly transformed from princess to scullery maid. A sentimental and satisfying Cinderella story by the author of The Secret Garden.

"The book tells people how to identify faeries and how to protect themselves... We just want people to know about this. The stuff that has happened to us could happen to anyone." When Mallory, Jared and Simon Grace move to a crumbling old house, they discover things they never knew existed, including a few they'd rather not know about. It's all in the Field Guide, a most unusual book, detailing the appearance and habits of a million magical creatures, from hobgoblins to trolls. Finding the book was what started all the trouble...

They call him Prince Brat - but not to his face. He has earned the name. Prince Brat deserves to be punished regularly, but it is not permitted to smack, cuff, kick or otherwise harm his royal personage, so the palace has a substitute. Poor Jemmy is the whipping boy who takes all Prince Brat's punishments in his stead. But one day, the Prince and his hapless servant are kidnapped, and Jemmy is mistaken for royalty. Suddenly, the tables turn, with hilarious results! For another tale of comic adventure and evil-doers confounded, readers should try The Midnight Horse.

The Strega Borgias are in serious trouble. Their father has been kidnapped, their baby sister Damp has been inadvertently shrunk and e-mailed to some unknown destination, and their mother is too preoccupied with her witchcraft lessons to be of much help. It is up to Titus and Pandora to sort out the mess - with a little help from the new nanny, who is more than she seems. The mad adventure continues with Pure Dead Wicked and Pure Dead Brilliant.

They found the rabbit in the theatre at a showing of Dracula. The Monroes decided to call him Bunnicula. Little did they suspect how well-chosen the name might be - this rabbit seems to have fangs! The rest of the Monroe menagerie keeps a close eye on the suspect rabbit. He is up only at night and has cape-like markings on his back. When discarded vegetables begin to appear, white, drained of all fluid and marked with fangs, the other pets' imaginations kick into high gear. Could Bunnicula really be a vampire? Can Chester the cat warn the family? Will the rabbit remain a vegetarian? Harold, the family dog, narrates this silly spine-tingler. Catch up with the gang again in The Celery Stalks at Midnight, Howliday Inn, Return to Howliday Inn, Nighty Nightmare, and Bunnicula Strikes Again!

What if you have a house without a haunt or a haunt without a house? Dial-a-Ghost is the answer! This most unusual agency organizes many match-ups between needy spectres, ghouls or apparitions and families willing to give them a home. Unfortunately, the agency comes to the attention of Oliver Snodde-Brittle's scheming relatives, who want to frighten him out of his inheritance. Fortunately, Ted the office boy makes a tiny mistake and sends some seriously un-spooky ghosts to haunt Oliver. They may be just the ones to help him outwit his rotten relations! By the author of Which Witch? and The Secret of Platform 13. Readers may also enjoy The Great Ghost Rescue and Journey to the River Sea.

The quirky characters from the Blue Moose are back! Sir Charles Pacamac, World's Champion Samovar Crasher, famous geographer and certified windbag, recounts a little of the curious story of Deadly Eric, the Vampire Moose (and how the Blue Moose locked horns with him). Unfortunately, he doesn't know how it all turned out. It is left to Daniel Pinkwater, intrepid author and noted mooseologist, to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Sisters Lucy and Charlotte are the only ones standing between the scheming Count Karlstein and the family fortune. It is not a good place to stand. Loyal friends Hildi and Peter Kelmar must help the unfortunate girls to evade the clutches of their wicked uncle and protect them from Zamiel, the demon huntsman who stalks the forest by night. Both exciting and ridiculous, this is a gem of a story.

Escaping from the dreaded Alderman Cawn-Plaster Memorial Orphanage, Rose, Lily and little Ned run afoul of Mack the Knife, "the most evil villain in London". Little Ned is kidnapped, but fortunately, rescue is at hand. Spring-heeled Jack, the world's first superhero, leaps into the dark alley and vows to find Ned and help the three to make a new life in America. Part novel, part comic strip, this is a great page-turner by the author of The Golden Compass.

Readers of Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events may be curious about many things. Here is a book that may, or may not, answer the following questions:

• Why was Mr. Snicket's death published in the newspaper?
• Why has Mr. Snicket dedicated his life to the Baudelaire case?
• Why does Count Olaf have a tattoo of an eye on his ankle?
• Where are the Quagmire Triplets now?
• Why is there a secret passageway between the Baudelaire mansion and 667 Dark Avenue?
• Why isn't Mr. Poe as helpful as he ought to be?
• Why is Lemony Snicket on the Run?
• How many associates does Count Olaf have?
• Are the Baudelaire parents really dead?
• Is there anything a concerned citizen can do if he or she wants to help the Baudelaires?
• Who is Lemony Snicket?

Curious? Read on. And if you don't like the answers, never mind, they are probably just a pack of lies and dissimulation - a word which here means "misdirection". Enjoy!