The origin story of Wacky Witch, a somewhat mixed-up magic-maker who first appeared in a twenty-volume comic book series of the same name, which ran from 1971 through 1975, is set out in this slim paperback picture-book from 1996. When it is her time to "go out into the world," Wacky Witch discovers that no one wants to rent to a witch. Happening upon a tower room in King Dingaling's castle, she offers to rid the royal of the ghost haunting his domicile, in exchange for the right to take up residence. Predictably, things don't go quite as planned, but the resulting chaos—first Wacky Witch causes the king's gold to disappear, and then the king himself—leads to an unexpected resolution, when it comes to the residency of ghost, witch, and even bat...

Wacky Witch: Ghastly Guests is one of two Wacky Witch paperback picture-books published in 1996 by Little Golden Books (the other being Wacky Witch's Cookbook), and offers an explanation of how the eponymous witch came to live in King Dingaling's castle, something that is an established fact in the comic books of the 1970s, as well as the two additional picture-books—Wacky Witch: The Royal Birthday (1971) and Wacky Witch and the Mystery of the King's Gold (1973)—published in that decade. I did rather wish that the origin story here went a little further back, in order to cover where Wacky Witch actually came from, before she set out into the world, but leaving that aside, this provides an enjoyable story for fans of the witchy main character. The artwork is done in the same vague style as the 1970s originals, but looks just a little bit more bland and homogenized, as if the former were done by hand and the latter via computer program (which they probably were). On the whole, I prefer the 70s artwork. Still, I do recommend this one to fans of Wacky Witch and of her humorous hijinks, as it sets out how the major characters of the series came together in the first place. ( )