Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  About Your Adventure

  Chapter 1: A Difficult Choice

  Chapter 2: Leap Castle in Ireland

  Chapter 3: Castle Frankenstein in Odenwald, Germany

  Chapter 4: The Forbidden City in Beijing, China

  Chapter 5: Are Castle Hauntings Real?

  More Ghostly Encounters

  Other Paths to Explore

  Glossary

  Bibliography

  Read More

  Internet Sites

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Back Cover

  Cover

  Title Page

  Table of Contents

  Start of Content

  Main Body

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  back cover

  For the best You Choose experience,

  view in portrait (vertical) orientation.

  About Your Adventure

  YOU are doing research for a school project on haunted castles around the world. What you are learning gives you chills. Watching online videos about people’s paranormal experiences makes you wonder if perhaps ghosts just might be real. What would you do if you encountered a spirit in a haunted castle?

  Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page as you read the stories. The decisions you make will change your outcome. After you finish one path, go back and read the others for new perspectives and more adventures. Use your device's back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice.

  Chapter 1

  A Difficult Choice

  For your project, you’ve focused on three castles. Leap Castle in Ireland, Castle Frankenstein in Germany, and the Forbidden City in China have gripped your imagination.

  Leap Castle is one of the most haunted places in the world. Many visitors have reported strange experiences there. Castle Frankenstein inspired the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. You’re aunt Sharon lives near it. And your grandma has told you many spooky stories about the Forbidden City, a palace in Beijing. That’s where she grew up.

  There is a school trip to Beijing over spring break. You want to go, but you are afraid to ask for the money. Then your dad surprises you.

  “Your research on haunted castles has given me an idea,” he says. “Do you want to visit one this year? If you pick Ireland, we’ll go in the summer. If you pick China, we’ll pay for your school trip.”

  “If you choose Germany, we should go around Halloween,” adds Mom. “Sharon says that’s the best time to visit Castle Frankenstein.”

  Where will you choose? Would you like to go with your friends to China or with your family to Germany or Ireland?

  To choose Leap Castle, press here.

  To choose Castle Frankenstein, press here.

  To choose the Forbidden City, press here.

  Chapter 2

  Leap Castle in Ireland

  You can’t pass up a trip to Ireland and Leap Castle. Its history is full of murder and bloody clan warfare. You hope for a ghostly encounter.

  When you arrive at the castle, you and your parents walk along a path by a crumbled wall. At the end stands the grey, stone castle. It’s not as big as you imagined, but something about it makes you shiver. The castle is rumored to have a torture pit beneath it. Tortured spirits may not have found the peace needed to move on to the afterlife.

  The owner greets you inside. “Welcome,” he says, “This is the Great Hall. Feel free to walk around the castle. I’ve owned it since 1991. I’ve fixed up some parts, but the spirits don’t seem to want me to finish—a couple nasty accidents while working. Other than that, the spirits haven’t harmed me. Beware of the Elemental, though. I haven’t seen it, but legend says it is powerful and evil.”

  “Wasn’t it put here to protect this place by the Druids?” you ask. You had learned about the Elemental in your research.

  The man nods, impressed by your knowledge. “Possibly. Some say it was made from Druid magic. Others say it was placed here by the Earl of Kildare. Either way, the Elemental may push you out of some rooms. Don’t challenge him.”

  You nod nervously and walk through the Great Hall. The castle is decorated with artifacts and art. Old furniture crowds the space, and plants grow freely about many of the stone walls. It’s smaller than you expected, but there is so much to see in all of its nooks and crannies. A narrow stone staircase behind a wooden door leads to the second floor.

  “If we get separated, meet back here,” Dad says.

  You wander about, and your parents follow behind. You zip up your jacket. It’s suddenly chilly.

  Then you hear giggling. You turn toward the sound and squint. You see two young girls in long dresses playing. They wave you over, and you smile. Before you can move toward them, a woman in a black dress appears out of nowhere. She steps between you and the girls, scowling.

  You fall back, bumping into your dad. All three figures flicker away in the sunlight streaming through a window.

  “Did you see that?” you ask him.

  “See what?” he asks.

  “Never mind,” you say, trying to convince yourself you were imagining the girls and the woman. Your parents turn to leave, but before you follow them, one of the little girls reappears. She beckons you around a corner and then disappears behind it.

  “Let’s go to up to the Bloody Chapel,” Mom says, nervously.

  “OK,” you say, but you’re not really paying attention.

  You’re still curious about those little girls. Part of you really wants to follow them.

  To follow the girls, press here.

  To follow your parents to the Chapel, press here.

  You can’t help but follow the girls. Around the corner is a narrow stone hall. The girls are gone. There’s very little light, and cobwebs hang down like curtains. You’re about to turn back when you hear giggling again. You squeeze down the hallway. You’re sure the girls are just around the next corner.

  The hall bends to the right and ends at another doorway. You look in and see two crumbling stone platforms amidst the dust and cobwebs. When you blink, the slabs become two small beds. An old cradle sits in one corner.

  Suddenly, you hear a sob and look up. A woman in a red dress holds a knife over you. Her face is streaked with tears. She’s about to bring down the knife on you! You scream and cower in the other end of the small room. The red lady blocks your way out.

  You hide behind the old cradle. But the lady keeps slashing the knife at you, missing your head by inches.

  The two girls suddenly appear in the other corner of the room. Their giggles distract the red lady. You take advantage and dash to the door. As you look back, the room is dark and empty again.

  What just happened? You don’t stop to think about it. You have to tell your parents what happened. Where did they say they were going? The Upper Hall or the Bloody Chapel? The Upper Hall is on the second floor. The Bloody Chapel is on the third.

  To go to the Upper Hall, press here.

  To go to the Bloody Chapel, press here.

  It seems logical that they would go to the second floor before they go to the third floor. You climb the stairs to the second floor and push open a large, heavy door. You are greeted with an icy breeze, even though the windows are closed.

  The room holds a dining table and some other old furniture. The decor is fascinating, with old painting, stuffed birds, and old oil lamps. An antique rug covers the floor. There’s a strange stain on one end of the floor, but you chalk it up to the castle being so old.

  You don’t see Mom or Dad, but a young man stands by a window, looking at the gardens outside. Maybe he has seen them.

  “Excuse me,” you say, worrying you’ve disturbed him.

  “Tell me why,” he says, staring out the window. His voice echoes.

  “Why what?” you ask, noticing the man’s strange outfit. It’s as if he was getting into medieval armor but stopped halfway. Chain mail hangs off of him.

  “Why did he kill us?” he asks sadly.

  You stop in your tracks. Is this a reenactor,

  or ghost? You can’t be sure.

  The man turns to face you. His eyes flash in anger. Suddenly, he rises off the ground and floats toward you. He must be another spirit! Before you can even think, he dissolves into a large white cloud that whooshes right through you.

  It feels like being hit by a giant snowball. You are slammed against a wall. The last thing you remember is sliding down onto the floor before everything goes black.

  When your eyes open, you see sunshine. You’re lying on the front lawn. Mom and Dad stand over you, worried. The old owner has a smirk on his face.

  “I told you to be careful,” he says.

  “What happened?” Mom asks.

  You don’t know what happened or how you got here, and you don’t want to talk about it. All you can do is cry.

  “Can we go, please?” you whimper.

  Your parents take you back to the hotel. They keep asking you what happened. But the thought of what you saw and the question of how you ended up outside scares you too much.

  THE END

  To follow another path, press here.

  To learn more about haunted castles, press here.

  You’re pretty sure your parents were going to the Bloody Chapel. You slog up the narrow, spiral staircase. There’s no electricity. Some sections are so dark, you can barely see.

  The Upper Hall You peek in the Upper Hall on the second floor and are hit with an awful smell. You see a dark stain on the floor. It’s about the size of a watermelon. It’s odd, but you keep climbing.

  Finally, you reach the third floor. When you push open the heavy, wooden door, the room is so bright, you can barely look inside. Out of the corner of your eye, you see the same stain on the floor. A chill runs through you. Can a stain follow you?

  You’re a bit shaken up and ready to run back down to the Great Hall. Just as you turn to go, a blood-curdling scream fills the air. It sounds like Mom. Is she in the chapel?

  To go down to the Great Hall, press here.

  To look for Mom in the chapel, press here.

  Mom must be safe with Dad. You have to get out of this place. You stumble down the staircase. Your hands shove open the wooden door into the Great Hall. The owner gives you a surprised look as you run outside. You find yourself back in the sunny garden. Everything feels normal out here.

  Shaking, you sit on a low stone wall and wait for your parents to come out. When they do, they look worried.

  “Why didn’t you meet us by the stairs? We were worried,” Dad asks.

  “I forgot,” you lie. “Did you see anything unusual?”

  They shake their heads. “It was an interesting castle with lots of history,” Mom says.

  “I’m disappointed we didn’t see any ghosts,” Dad says. “How was your experience?”

  You’re never going to tell them what you experienced there. They wouldn’t believe you anyway.

  “Let’s just explore Ireland,” you say. “I’ve had enough of castles for a while.”

  THE END

  To follow another path, press here.

  To learn more about haunted castles, press here.

  The scream really sounded like Mom. You can’t ignore it. You gather your courage and step into the Bloody Chapel. Either your eyes have adjusted to the sunlight, or the lighting has dimmed. The room is nothing but crumbling stone and birds’ nests. The windows have no glass. There is an odd hole in one corner of the room. It creeps you out.

  You’re about to turn back when you hear a whimper.

  “Mom?” you ask.

  There is no answer. Could she have slipped down that hole? You nervously look into it, but you don’t see anything but birds’ nests.

  “Mom?” you call.

  You step toward the hole and your body gets weak. An invisible force punches you in the stomach. You catch yourself before falling down the hole. You scramble to your feet and run to the door. That’s when you come face-to-face with the scariest thing you’ve ever seen.

  It’s grey and see-through. Two large black eyes stare at you. Its mouth is long and thin. This creature feels like pure evil.

  You want to scream, but nothing comes out of your mouth. You can’t breathe. Your vision fills with black spots. Just as the ghostly creature is about to overwhelm you, everything around you goes black.

  When you wake up, you’re lying on a couch in the Great Hall. You hear your parents and the owner speaking. You open your eyes and sit up.

  “What happened?” Mom asks. “A tourist found you passed out in the Bloody Chapel.”

  “He said something about the Elemental,” Dad adds.

  “Fascinating,” the owner says. “Legend has it that the wife of the last lord to live here, Mildred Darby, meddled with spirits and awakened the Elemental. I’ve never seen it, though.”

  You shiver again. “Can we leave?” You ask your parents. You never thought you’d say this, but you’ve had enough of haunted places.

  THE END

  To follow another path, press here.

  To learn more about haunted castles, press here.

  A window in the Bloody Chapel Whatever it was you saw has you spooked. You decide to stick with your parents. You follow them up a dark, winding staircase to the top of the tower. A doorway leads into what is known as the Bloody Chapel.

  When you reach it, there’s a group of tourists inside. Someone is telling a story of the O’Carroll family. They fought battles in the 1500s to keep control of this castle.

  “In 1532, the chieftain was Mulroney O’Carroll. When he died, his sons fought over the property. One was a priest. He is said to have held a mass for the family without telling his brother. This was considered a terrible insult. His brother entered the chapel and ran a sword through the priest. The priest died on the altar. This is why it’s called the “Bloody Chapel,” she explains.

  The guide moves over to another section of the room that has a small hole in the floor.

  “This chapel had a trap door in the floor that opened to a small but frightening room,” she says, “Prisoners were pushed down this hole. When they landed in the room below, they might be pierced by spikes and die. If they didn’t, they would starve to death.”

  The group then leaves the chapel. Dad and Mom go to the windows and admire the view. You look down the hole. You think you hear the echoes of screams. It makes you shiver.

  “Do you hear that?” you ask your parents.

  They don’t answer. Their gaze is fixed on the view. They look frozen in place.

  The room is suddenly cold. The screams grow louder. From the bottom of the hole, you hear cries for help. You flatten yourself on the floor against the edge of the hole.

  “Is there someone there?” you call down.

  “He killed us all,” an eerie voice says.

  Suddenly, a strong gust of wind whooshes out of the hole into the room. You look up at the ceiling. There, looking down at you, is the ghost of a medieval soldier. As soon as his eyes lock with yours, he whooshes toward you with an ever-widening mouth. Suddenly, everything goes black.

  Leap Castle When you open your eyes again, your parents stand over you.

  “Did you fall down?” Mom asks.

  “You were frozen,” you say.

  “What?” Dad sounds puzzled. “We were looking out the window. When we turned around you were on the ground.”

 

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