Alison Evans has just finished eighth-grade when the great aunt that she or her father has never met in Wales dies. Now her and her father, her mother having already died at some unspecified time in the past, are going to summer at the isolated Pen-y-Craig house, a. k. a.: Cliff House, as her father writes his novel, and in the very first chapter of “The Haunting At Cliff House” Alison is already hearing mysterious voices. Then while visiting the nearby village of Llanarfan Alison and her dad meet the beautiful librarian Meiriana Ellis, whom Alison takes an instant resentment to, as Meiriana and Alison’s dad hit it right off the bat, and Alison feels threatened by this. When Alison gets back she gets a visitation from Cliff House’s ghost, and through this visitation she finds a diary from 1810 from the thirteen-year-old Bronwen. Alison finds as she reads the diary that Bronwen’s life, as documented in her diary, parallels Alison’s present circumstances, including Bronwen’s father having an interest in a younger woman, as Alison’s father does in Meiriana. After a near-death experience in which Alison almost drowns, Alison begins hanging out with Garath, who is Meiriana’s younger brother, and who is home from school for the Summer. Alison is, despite her above average intelligence, is still just a thirteen-year-old, impetuous, headstrong, immature girl, and she doesn’t see that Bronwen’s life, which may end in tragedy, is running parallel her own. And to emphasis this, the ghost of Bronwen keeps appearing to Alison, as this is an anniversary of Bronwen’s tragedy. “The Haunting At Cliff House” by Karleen Bradford is a solid ghost story for younger teens showing a young woman’s coming to grips with her father’s personal interests outside their own little unit. This novel certainly falls into the gothic romance genre even if written for early teens, and Bradford uses the gothic trappings of this genre very well to both teach and to entertain. To teach as in that a person should be more tolerant and perceptive of others, especially of our parents of whom we often think of being different than other people, and they’re not. Bradford also uses the novel to teach us that nothing is written is stone, we can all change our destiny if we want to, something we learn when we read the ending of this story. However, none of us ever reads a novel for just the teaching moments, that’s all gravy, that if the author is skilled enough, that we all catch on to subliminally. What most will find entertaining is that Alison, as a character, is somebody that will be identifiable for many people, as who doesn’t want to be the center of their parents universe? Especially at the young age that Alison and Bronwen are/were. Also, Bradford doesn’t overdo either the gothic atmosphere or the supernatural elements. She keeps both evenly leavened throughout the novella as she does the duel romances of both Alison and her father. Yes, Alison gets a boyfriend. The cover to the Scholastic paperback that I read is also well done, although unfortunately it is not very representative of the contents of the novella. The cover gives the impression that this is a novel of teenage angst involving a sulky child, but this novel is so much more. All-in-all, this juvenile gothic romance is a good read, a fast read, and a book well worth reading. Would make a good tv movie for Nickelodeon For this site I have also reviewed these other books of interest:Cave of the Living Skeletons by Cindy Savage.The Ghost of Windy Hill by Clyde Robert Bulla.The House On Hackman's Hill by Joan Lowery Nixon.Mystery of the Blue-Gowned Ghost by Linda Wirkner.Project 17 by Laurie Faria Stolarz.Psycho Busters, Book 2 by Yuya Aoki.Psycho Busters: The Novel Book Three by Yuya Aoki.Skull Island (Usborne Adventure) by Lesley Sims.