This series, The Joy of Spooking, sound like The Joy of Cooking, but actually it is very misleading, for a reason.  Joy is the name of the main character, and she together with her younger brother and mother and father, live in the town of Spooking, which lives up to it’s name.  Spooking used to be a vibrant little town but people had moved away and buildings fell into disrepair.  Strange stories began to circulate, people began avoiding even going to Spooking, and people began to be frightened.  This fright was brought on by loud booms heard in the dead of night, that people began to call ‘ghost cannons’ because they could never find the source of the disturbance.  This ‘ghost cannon’ was actually a rundown delivery truck making it’s routine stop at the local insane asylum.  The asylum was well cared for but the public was never allowed to see patients or the grounds, and for good reason.  The so-called doctor running the place had made a ‘deal’ for eternal life; he had discovered a mineral-laden water which extended youth for a very long time.  Along comes Octavio Phipps, a resident of Spooking who has a long history of family curses, who is trying to arrange for an investor to buy the asylum and make it into a luxury spa and resort.  Little does he know what is in store for him as he plants a former friend in the asylum to spy for him.  The whole book is action-packed, hilarious, and jaw-dropping.  Kids who love Lemony Snicket will love this series.  The humor is very subtle and the reader will have to slow down to actually hear how funny it is.  I loved it and will heartily recommend the series to other librarians.