Haunted Castle On Hallows Eve Magic Tree House Book #30 is by Mary Pope Osborne. Haunted Castle On Hallows Eve continues the group of Magic Tree House books, The Merlin Missions. In this group, Merlin sends Jack and his sister, Annie, on their magic tree house adventures.

Haunted Castle On Hallows Eve begins on Halloween. Frog Creek Kids, Jack and Annie, are dressing in their Halloween costumes. A glance out the window reveal a raven flying toward the Frog Creek woods. It's a sign to return to the tree house. In the magic tree house, Jack and Annie find a note from Merlin: “To Jack and Annie of Frog Creek, On All Hallows Eve, look for me in the heart of the oak.” Jack and Annie, together make a wish to be taken on their adventure.

The magic tree house starts spinning. It moves faster and faster. When it stops, they notice they are wearing different costumes, Camelot costumes! They are in a thick forest. The Frog Creek Kids, Jack and Annie, notice a crack in an oak tree which on closer inspection turns out to be a secret door. Beyond the door is a room with brightly burning candles. Merlin is wating for the brother and sister.

Merlin informs them of their mission, bring order, to the duke’s castle after finding their way through a tunnel of fear. They’ll need the help of Teddy, a young magician, on this mission.

On their way, the three meet some children in a village. The children warn the trio not to go to the duke’s castle. Nothing has been right since the arrival of a flock of ravens. They tell a story of Old Maggie. She used to work in the duke's castle. One day she came running back, saying ghosts are haunting the place.

A flock of of ravens fly overhead during the telling of recent events. The scared villagers toss rocks at the birds. Annie runs to the aid of a fallen raven.

Finally, Annie, Jack and Teddy reach the castle. It is late at night and quiet. There are no children or dogs or people to be seen. However, every room is neat and tidy, so they keep trying to figure out where they are supposed to "bring order." Finally, they view a room with a table and a floor dirty with scraps of food, candle wax and flower petals. They start to clean and encounter a floating bone.

They run out the room and hide in the nursery. There they see a spinning wheel turning and moving chess pieces. They figure out that these things aren’t really moving by themselves, they are being moved by invisible children and dog.

The invisible little girl writes a note on a mirror. She writes that the Diamond of Destiny which belongs to Merlin was stolen by the Raven King. The diamond was encrusted in the handle of the sword King Arthur pulled from the stone. The little girl’s family was to keep the diamond safe. Upon failure to do so, they were all turned into ghosts.

Teddy decides to use magic to turn himself into a raven so he can fly to the top of the mountain and get the diamond back from the Raven King’s nest. However, he accidentally turns Jack and Annie into ravens, too. Jack is afraid to fly. He decides that this flight to the mountaintop is the “tunnel of fear” about which Merlin warned. Like in all of their adventures, he overcomes his fear and snatches the diamond from the nest.

The Raven King flies to Annie and Jack just as they are humans again. The Raven King who is half raven, half human, traps Teddy, still a raven, in a cage. The angry Raven King is looking for the diamond. Annie's kindness to the raven earlier in the story helps the siblings. The fomerly injured raven works for the Raven King, and will help Annie and Jack. The raven brings Jack a magic twig which turns the Raven King into a baby raven. Annie transforms Teddy back into a human.

Once the trio and the ghost girl place the diamond back in its hiding place, everything in the castle is back in order.



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