Draugr

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

A draugr is an evil person who comes back from the dead to exact
vengeance on his enemies. Young Sarah, Michael, and Angie Asmundson are
three young children from the United States who do not even know they
have enemies until they visit their grandfather Thursten in Gimli,
Manitoba. Grandpa is an immigrant from Iceland who likes to tell scary
stories about supernatural beings from the old country. One night,
Grandpa disappears after a terrific battle outside the cabin. The
Mounties blame it on a rogue bear, but other clues convince the kids
that they are dealing with one of their grandfather’s old foes who has
become a draugr.

This book is filled with factual errors. For example, Grandpa claims
that he killed a man in Iceland by throwing snakes at him; however,
snakes are not indigenous to Iceland. In addition, there is a character
named Lieutenant Roberts of the RCMP, but the RCMP does not use the rank
of Lieutenant. The story itself is a ho-hum rehash of the standard B
movie vampire story with a few Norse accents. Slade even resorts to the
use of garlic, crosses, and holy water in his plot (the draugr reacts
with the usual cowering and gnashing of teeth). Rest easy in your
crypts, Wolfman and Dracula. Not a first-choice purchase.