Product Description

A glorious Transylvanian spoof - spooky, witty and melodramatic!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #283217 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 259 pages

Synopsis
No one in the village of Karlstein dares to leave their homes on All Souls' Eve - the night Zamiel the Demon Huntsman comes to claim his prey. But the evil Count Karlstein has struck a terrible bargain with Zamiel, and so the lives of his two young nieces, Lucy and Charlotte, are in danger. Their only hope lies with Hildi, a castle maidservant, and her fearless brother Peter. Can they save the girls from their dreadful fate? Only one thing is certain - the Demon Huntsman will not return to his dark wood unsatisfied! A deliciously terrifying and wickedly funny Gothic tale, Count Karlstein is the first-ever children's book by Philip Pullman, winner of the Whitbread Award, the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Fiction Award and two Smarties Awards. Originally published in 1982, this new edition of Count Karlstein is a treat no Pullman fan should miss.

From the Back Cover
No one in the village of Karlstein dares to leave their homes on All Souls’ Eve – the night Zamiel the Demon Huntsman comes to claim his prey.
But the evil Count Karlstein has struck a terrible bargain with Zamiel, and so the lives of his two young nieces, Lucy and Charlotte, are in danger. Their only hope lies with Hildi, a castle maidservant, and her fearless brother Peter. Can they save the girls from their dreadful fate? Only one thing is certain – the Demon Huntsman will not return to his dark wood unsatisfied!
A deliciously terrifying and wickedly funny Gothic tale, Count Karlstein is the first-ever children’s book by Philip Pullman, winner of the Whitbread Award, the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Fiction Award and two Smarties Awards. Originally published in 1982, this new edition of Count Karlstein is a treat no Pullman fan should miss.

About the Author
Philip Pullman is one of the most highly acclaimed children’s authors of the decade. He has been on the shortlist of just about every major children’s book award in the last few years, and has won the Smarties Prize (Gold Award, 9-11 age category) for THE FIREWORK-MAKER'S DAUGHTER and the prestigious Carnegie Medal for NORTHERN LIGHTS. He was the first children’s author ever to win the Whitbread Prize for his novel THE AMBER SPYGLASS.

Customer Reviews

Great Story
This story is set in the past as like his Sally Lockhart series in Victoran London, but this takes place in the mountains of some other country in Europe.

The evil Count has made a deal with a demon from tales told in his village but the demon wants payment and time is running out for the Count to repay what he owes.

This year on All Hollows Eve (Holloween) he want humans or human competle with souls (Alive) But thanks to a death in the family he has two little innocent girls under his "care" and decides they would be perfect to repay his debt.

Now the race is on to save Charrlotte and Lucy (The Girls) from the grip of the demon can a maid and her brother save them with help maybe this story is wonderfully written and is great introduction to Pullman's stories.

This stories is very long (5.5 hours)and is spread over 5 discs which makes it a pain changing the discs but the story will thrill Sally Lockhart fans and will be a good introduction as said above but I think younger children should be read it as there are a few words in the text that should be kept from thier ears until the leave middle school at least.

This is marked down as a childrens book buti think it mean high school at least.

This book would make a great addition to you Pullman collectionof stories (Sally Lockhart seires and Lyra series)

gothic and hilarious
I warn you: this is not a book that children should read. It's a book that adults should read to children. The fact is that Philip Pullman does a beautiful job of spoofing Victorian "trash" novels and horror romances like Stokers "Count Dracula" whilst writing one himself - for children, supposedly, but I doubt that any child will find it half so funny as their parents will.
Count Karlstein owns a castle deep in the Swiss Alps (which bear a surprising resemblance to Transylvania at times) and has made a pact with the Demon Huntsman Zamiel that ensures Karlsteins continued good health and ownership of the castle. But the time has now come for him to pay his side of the bargain - a life. Fortunately his two orphaned English nieces are sent to live with him as their only remaining relative, and so he decides to sarifice them to Zamiel! But the girls (who have read far too many "horror" stories themselves and use various Victorian expressions in capitals) enlist the aid of their old Headmistress Augusta Davenport, the travelling magician Dr. Cadaverezzi, and, of course, the maidservant Hildi and her brother Peter. A Horrifing Tale ensuses...

A Good Listen
I bought this audio book back in June to listen to during the summer. I am spending a year in France and cant always listen to the radio and it was only this week I started listening to the CDs, I was put off listening to them because being an HDM fan I didn't want (it sounds stupid) to be disloyal to Lyra, Lee Scorsby, Lord Asrial even Mrs Coulter and the rest of them by getting to know new characters. But within a few minutes of listening I was hooked and the style and prose is so Philip Pullman it is a joy to listen to. It is a dramatised version rather like HDM which I first came into contact with Jan 2002 when it was on the radio. I shall certainly be putting this in the car for 5.5hr car journey back to UK. It felt very comfortable and the characters immediately likeable if Hidl were to meet Lyra they would be best friends as would Max and Lee. Buy it, curl up on the sofa on a wet afternoon and immerse yourself in an imaginary parallel Switzerland