to Insleyfarne in a bid to exorcise the ghosts. Humphrey manages to escape and, weakened, travels to Norton Castle School to warn Rick. Rick, his friend Barbara (daughter of the school cook) and new boy Peter Thorne, travel to Insleyfarne by plane to save the ghosts. They are helped by Mr Wallance, one of the clergymen who agreed to exorcise the ghosts for enough money to feed his starving family, but regrets his decision to help Bullhaven. Rick, Barbara and Peter find the Hag, close to "death", and she instructs them on supernatural remedies to save the other ghosts, such as saying Latin curses backwards and using dried wormwood to cure the Shuk's tail. The ghosts hold a party to celebrate their survival and victory over Bullhaven. They rename Humphrey "HUMPHREY THE HEROIC" and pronounce Rick as "RICK THE RESCUER". The party is interrupted by Bullhaven, who in his anger, has crashed his car into a stone wall and killed himself, only to come back as a ghost. Rick implores the other ghosts to offer him sanctuary. Rick, Barbara and Peter return to their school and Rick is thoughtful and quiet. Barbara tells him about the plight of the polar bears about Alaska, and Rick begins forming plans for yet another adventure. Reception Critics praised the book for its humorous take on ghosts and apparitions, as well as the wit present in the writing. Most of them, which reviewed the 2002 release, called the story contrived, criticizing some its "narrative liberties" to keep its pace, with Janice Del Negro, writing for the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, saying The Great Ghost Rescue lacks the cohesion present in Ibbotson's Dial-a-Ghost, a companion novel originally released in 1996. Stephen Krensky, for the New York Times praised the original book for its charming and witty characters, calling them "a welcome change from the perennial chain-rattling spooks." Krensky criticized the illustrations by Giulio Maestro in the American version, which were "careless and uninspired Halloween caricatures", not meshing well with the characters themselves. References 1975 British novels British children's novels British novels adapted into films Novels set in Scotland 1975 children's books Macmillan Publishers books