Obadiah's Ghost by Richard M. Wainwright (1990) has a much greater word count than most of the books reviewed in this blog. It's a long story packaged similar to a picture book. I think it would make a better story if the word count was dramatically reduced. This is a story about overcoming one's fear, a familiar theme. Tommy is afraid of the dark. He's so afraid that he doesn't go trick-or-treating with his friends on Halloween. He's not afraid of the spooky, falling-down mansion near his house though, nor the ghost he meets inside. This ghost, or rather spirit, is Obadiah. He's been afraid of spiders. "And it was written that I should remain here with only Tobias and friendly spiders until I helped someone learn that courage is stronger than fear." And there you have it. The story writes itself now. Obadiah gives Tommy a pair of glasses that make the night appear as day. That's on page 13. There are 20 more pages to go. Jack Crompton's illustrations are pretty standard fare for such a book.
