ghost writers. you may read them but not see them, and often don’t even know they’re there.
So, who are these shadowy figures lurking just beyond our reach? Of course, we know that they are authors who are paid to write under someone else’s name. but that is often not enough to satisfy our curiosities. In this post, we’re pulling back the curtain on a closer look at seven amazing ghostwritten books.
You are reading: Famous ghost writers books
1. peter lerangis — the babysitters club
You might know that The Babysitter’s Club originated with author Ann M. Martin, who solely wrote the first 35 books in the series. But did you know that she paused at the 36th book? In a twist of fate, the babysitters needed to be babysat, so to speak. That was when Peter Lerangis stepped into the picture.
when asked by the senior editor to write ghosts for the series, lerangis admitted, “for the first time in my career, i asked to write sample chapters. I was petrified, I’d be terrible at writing this kind of book, so if the chapters were bad, they could find someone else and we’d part ways as friends.” luckily for lerangis, the ghostwriting came off perfectly and turned out pretty well for everyone, including kristy, mary anne, claudia, and stacey!
transparency meter: 👻👻👻👻 fully transparent. Peter Lerangis is known by his name in the Babysitters Club fandom, which to this day polls his writing for the series.
2. hp lovecraft — harry houdini
sure, harry houdini could catch a bullet in his teeth and escape from a water torture cell in two minutes. but could she write her? well not really. that’s how another master of his craft, h.p. Lovecraft ended up becoming the ghost writer for Houdini in 1924. Specifically, Lovecraft was commissioned to write a short story titled “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs” – a fictional tale in which Houdini is blindfolded by a tour guide in Egypt. and is thrown into a burial pit in the desert and accosted by a five-headed monster that is as big as a “good sized hippopotamus”.
The story was published (fittingly) in a magazine called Weird Tales. here’s a fun fact: “imprisoned with the pharaohs” is now in the public domain and you can read it here.
transparency meter: 👻👻 partially transparent. Although Lovecraft was never revealed to be the ghostwriter while Houdini was alive, it is common knowledge now that he wrote while imprisoned with the Pharaohs.
3. k.a. applegate — animorphs
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Of all the frightening creatures the animorphs faced (and there were plenty), ghosts weren’t one of them. but that’s because ghost writers and animorphs were on the same side all along. while k.a. Applegate wrote the first 24 books in this popular series, he ended up only describing most of the next 27 books in the series. a group of ghost writers took it upon themselves to write those books.
as the av club points out, applegate is one of the few authors to publicly acknowledge and discuss the ghostwriting that went into the series. In that reddit lady of 2011 (ask me anything you want), she admitted that she is one of those who “get” ghostwriters: she once wrote ghosts for sweet valley high herself in the past.
transparency meter: 👻👻👻👻 fully transparent. applegate has been completely candid about its use of ghostwriters, and the ghostwriter is recognizable on the boilerplate page.
4. robert ludlum — jason bourne
let it be known that only two entities in the world do not fear death: neil degrasse tyson and ghost writers. Take the curious case of Robert Ludlum, for example. He died in 2001, but continued to produce best-selling Jason Bourne books until 2017. Contrary to popular belief, that’s not due to the spirit of Ludlum dictating from above, but to Eric Van Lustbader’s ghost on the ground.
As for ludlum’s other unfinished works, they are also being published and distributed, though no one knows exactly who the ghostwriters behind them are. everything it says on the copyright page is a simple statement: since his death, the estate of robert ludlum has worked with a carefully selected author and publisher to prepare and edit this work for publication. can we get a “boo”?
transparency meter: 👻👻 partially transparent. some (but not all) of ludlum’s works have been publicly withheld.
5. alexandre dumas — the count of monte cristo
alexandre dumas: the infamous french nobleman, romantic lover, one of the most popular novelists of the 19th century and… fraud? well not exactly. But there’s a slim chance that the man who gave us the Count of Monte Cristo and the Three Musketeers definitely didn’t do it alone. in fact, dumas wrote them with auguste maquet, a quiet man who doesn’t appear in the credits of most of them.
After a dispute over signatures and money, Dumas and Maquet went their separate ways: Maquet died in obscurity 37 years later. Dumas gained fame, but it is on Maquet’s tombstone in Paris’ Père-Lachaise Cemetery that these words are engraved: The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Queen Margot.
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transparency meter: 👻 not transparent. Even now, Maquet is not known for the books he wrote with Alexandre Dumas.
6. rl stine – goosebumps
As befits any book that gives you goosebumps, there’s a lot of mystery surrounding r.l. stine and the ghost writers who may or may not exist. stine denies using ghosts for any of the 160 goosebump-inducing books ever published. That said, scholars claim that Stine quietly employed freelancers to write most of the series, when the goosebumps really started to peel off and the job became too much for one man.
Whatever the truth, it is an undeniable fact that in 1993 two goosebumps-raising books were being published every month. that’s such a good fare you might even say it’s…creepy.
transparency meter: 👻 not transparent. To this day, no one knows who the stine ghostwriters are…or if they ever existed.
7. alice leonhardt — nancy drew
In this episode of “Who Made It?”, we ask, “Who wrote the famous Nancy Draw series?” The most obvious answer might be Carolyn Keine, of course, the author whose name is emblazoned on the cover of every Nancy Drawn book. Here’s the plot twist: Carolyn Keine is actually multiple ghostwriters. this is called “book bundling,” a practice in publishing where multiple ghostwriters are hired to write books in a series based on a “bible” of characters, voices, and settings.
Alice Leonhardt was just one of those ghost writers for Nancy Drew. Although she has since stopped ghostwriting, Nancy Drew continues to persist. Simon & Schuster recently said that kids still send “carolyn keine” fan letters to this day.
transparency meter: 👻👻 partially transparent. although simon & schuster continues to dress up as “carolyn sharpe”, it is widely known that it is the ghost writers who continue to keep this 88 year old series alive.
If you’ve perused this list of ghostwritten books and felt envious of all these great ghostwriters at your disposal, don’t worry. Find out how to hire a ghostwriter in ten steps or locate a qualified ghostwriter on our marketplace today. Plus, take an in-depth look at what a ghostwriter is! it might cheer you up (if you know what we mean).
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