- Chapter Books
- Ages 9–12
- Adventure
The Haunting of Fortune Farm
A spine-tingling ghost story set on a remote Irish mountain farm, where a grieving girl hunting for a lost Viking hoard must protect her little brother from a vengeful spirit — and confront the loss of her father. Atmospheric, gripping and quietly moving.
- Best for9–12
- FormatChapter
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Literary
- Conversational
Tone
- Suspenseful
- Bittersweet
- Exciting
- Scary
- Heartwarming
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Twelve-year-old Edie and her younger brother Pip are sent to spend October half term at Fortune Farm, high in the Irish mountains, with their estranged grandmother Lolly. It is the place the family once holidayed when their father was alive, and Edie dreads it: the memories hurt too much. But when she uncovers a clue that might lead to a long-lost Viking hoard buried somewhere on the farm, the treasure hunt gives her something to fix her mind on. Soon, though, the adventure turns unnerving and then dangerous. Edie can't shake the sense of being watched — whispers on the wind, footsteps around the farmhouse, a figure in red glimpsed at the edge of the lough. As she and Pip dig deeper, they wake the restless, vengeful spirit of a long-dead Viking chief, and Edie realises she must protect her brother while facing the grief she has buried so deep. Sophie Kirtley weaves a wild landscape, real peril and a tender thread of loss into one atmospheric, page-turning ghost story.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
Squarely a 9–12 read: confident enough for independent readers who like a scare, and rewarding read aloud. The ghostly peril and the thread of a father's death make it best for children ready for a spooky, emotionally weighty story rather than a gentle one.
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- Best fit · 9–12
- Read aloud · 9–12
- Independent · 9–12
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
None
Reluctant-reader friendly
Workable
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: death of parent, grief, scary imagery.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
2 / 5 · Use judgement
Graphic intensity
2 / 5 · Mild
Best for
- Ghost stories
- Spooky adventure
- Grief
- Atmospheric
Avoid if
- Wants gentle bedtime
- Sensitive to parental loss
- Scared of ghosts
Particularly good for children who are…
- Bereavement
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The whispers on the wind, the figure in red and the vengeful Viking chief make this genuinely creepy, while the treasure hunt keeps you racing through the pages. Edie is a brave, prickly heroine you badly want to keep her little brother safe.
- Surviving danger
- Adventure and freedom
- Being a detective
Why parents love it
Sophie Kirtley pairs a properly atmospheric ghost story with a moving portrait of a child carrying grief for her dad. The wild Irish setting is beautifully drawn, and the scares never tip into anything gratuitous — fear and feeling in careful balance.
- Great writing
- Conversation starter
About the author
Sophie Kirtley.
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