''The Haunting'' is a low fantasy novel for children written by

Margaret Mahy Margaret Mahy (21 March 1936 – 23 July 2012) was a New Zealand author of children's and young adult books. Many of her story plots have strong supernatural elements but her writing concentrates on the themes of human relationships and growi ...

of New Zealand and published in 1982, including a U.K. edition by J. M. Dent. Atheneum published the first U.S. edition in 1983. Mahy won the annual Carnegie Medal from the

Library Association The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, since 2017 branded CILIP: The library and information association (pronounced ), is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge management, knowle ...

, recognising the year's best children's book by a

British subject The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

. ''The Haunting of Barney Palmer'', a New Zealand movie based on the book, was released in 1987.

Plot introduction

Barney Palmer, a shy eight-year-old boy, discovers that one person in each generation of his family has had supernatural gifts – and this generation it seems to be him. He believes he is haunted by the ghost of an uncle he never met, and is oppressed by his fate. However, his sister Tabitha is determined to help him.

Essays

Symposium papers including: "Some Operations of Truth: A personal response to Margaret Mahy's ''The Haunting''" by John McKenzie
a paper presented at a Margaret Mahy Symposium in Christchurch in 2006. * "Feminism, Freud and the Fairytale: Reading Margaret Mahy's ''The Haunting''" by C. Marquis, ''

Landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

'', No. 162, 1987 pp. 186–205.

References

External links

* —immediately, first US edition * Children's novels 20th-century New Zealand novels New Zealand children's books Ghost novels Carnegie Medal in Literature winning works 1982 novels J. M. Dent books New Zealand novels adapted into films 1982 children's books Books by Margaret Mahy {{1980s-child-novel-stub