The Haunted Hotel
By Ron Roy
Grades 2-5; Genre – Fiction; GRL N; AR pts: 1.0
A ghost has checked into the Shangri-la Hotel! It’s almost Halloween, and reports of strange sounds and even stranger sights are coming from Green Lawn’s only hotel. Every day, more and more guests are being scared away. Everyone else is getting scared, too! Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose must figure out what’s going on and catch the ghost – before Green Lawn turns into a ghost town!
Comprehension Questions
Chapter 1
- What’s the setting of this story? Dink’s living room on Sunday, in Green Lawn, CT p.1
- What did the newspaper claim was haunted? The Shangri-la Hotel in Green Lawn p.2
- Why is it the biggest week of the year for the hotel? Many tourists come to see the fall colors p.7
Chapter 2
- Where did Mr. Linkletter explain to the kids what’s going on? In his office p.11
- Who’s Livvy? The hotel maid p.15
- Why did the kids want to help Mr. Linkletter? He’s their friend p.16
- What did the kids think they saw when the elevator door opened? The ghost p.16
Chapter 3
- Who did the kids meet after they pushed the black button on the elevator and ended up on an unknown floor of the hotel? Mr. and Mrs. Spivets; Mr. Linkletter’s Aunt and Uncle who used to own the hotel p.21
- What’s the ghost telling Mr. and Mrs. Spivets? To go away and leave the hotel p.24
- Why are the Spivets selling the hotel? There’s a real estate company that’s been wanting to buy it and with the ghosts they don’t feel they have another choice p.25
Chapter 4
- What did the kids resolve to do since no one they talked to had seen the ghost? Find someone who had seen it p.30
- Who did the kids talk to that saw the ghost? Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers p.32
- What did Mr. Spivets want the kids to do that night? Sleep in the hotel so they can solve the mystery and maybe see the ghost p.35
Chapter 5
- Who’s the Casper Nate referred to when saying he wanted to see a ghost? Casper is from a cartoon called Casper the Friendly Ghost p.38
- Why is Dink able to stay up later than usual? There’s no school the next day p.41
- What’s Rose Ruth’s plan to see the ghost? Hang out until midnight p.42
Chapter 6
- Where did the kids stake out to see the ghost? In the cleaning closet p.44
- What did the ghost call out as it passed each of their family’s rooms? It called each of the kid’s names and said to leave, its dangerous, or go before its too late and to leave now p.46
- What clue did Ruth Rose find on the doorframe? A human hair p.50
Chapter 7
- What was the yucky smell Josh noticed in the hall the night before? The smell of Halloween make-up p.53
- What did Livvy find under the Jeffers bed that she thought was a rat? A wig p.57
- What’s a dumbwaiter? Small elevator shaft used to lift small things up and down from one room to another p.58
Chapter 8
- What did the kids and Livvy find while searching the Jeffers’ hotel room? The wig, a tape with spooky music, a sword, Halloween make-up p.63
- Where did the kids find the Jeffers? At Ellie’s eating breakfast p.66
- How did the Jeffers react when they read the note from Ruth Rose? They waved the kids over to them and admitted it p.69
Chapter 9
- Why were the Jeffers wanting to scare the hotel guests away? They’re actors and had been hired by three men to scare them away p.72
- Why didn’t the Jeffers realize the hotel was closing? They were told the hotel was being used in a horror movie and that scaring guests away was huge for publicity, and the guests would get their money back and free tickets to the movie; the Jeffers would then have starring roles in the movie p.73
- Who hired the Jeffers’? the same men buying the hotel p.74
Chapter 10
- How did Eatch, Rail and Roock realize their plan had been found out? The Jeffers went up to them during the signing and asked about the movie. The reporter from the Green Lawn Gazette told them the entire town would learn about their plan to trick the Spivets and Mr. Linkletter p.80
- What did Mrs. the businessmen’s names become when Mrs. Spivets rearranged the letters? Cheat, Liar and Crook p.83
- What did the kids receive from the Spivets as a thank you for saving the hotel? Three airline tickets to Florida, three tickets to Disneyworld and three $50 bills p.86