“Master of the Macabre” William Castle, pronounced dead and buried in 1977, is back! And he wants your children … to read. The legendary producer of Rosemary’s Baby and the director of such demented frighteners as The House on Haunted Hill (1959) and 13 Ghosts (1960) has written a young adult novel entitled “From the Grave: The Prayer.”

The 75,000-word book follows four angst-riddled teens from distinctive backgrounds as their lives intersect in Southern France while stumbling upon a haunted house that holds clues to finding an age-old manuscript that could bring forth an evil known as the Ancient Ones. The group band together to find the mysterious document and to keep it away from a secret society hellbent on acquiring its powers.

“From the Grave: The Prayer” is slated for a Halloween release and will be made available in print and eBook versions ($15.99 and $9.99 respectively) via Amazon, Kindle, NOOK, and iBooks. It is the first in planned series of “From the Grave” books.

Says daughter and William Castle Productions head Terry Castle:

My dad was notorious for both his spine-tingling movies as well as the legendary gimmicks he devised to drive people to the theater again and again. And now, for his latest and perhaps greatest marketing gimmick yet, Dad has written “From the Grave.”  He’s really outdone himself this time!

Along with creating numerous genre gems, Castle was known for his outrageous and fun P.T. Barnum-like approach to movie marketing campaigns (i.e. providing audience members with vouchers worth a $1000 in life insurance from Lloydes of London should they die from fear during showings of his 1958 breakthrough Macabre).

Castle first returned from the beyond last May during the 33rd anniversary of his death. Not one to rest-in-peace on his laurels, he immediately launched a blog and created Twitter and Facebook accounts to stay in touch with fans and keep them informed on all his upcoming projects.