I recall reading a teen thriller (paperback) when I was in high school
(btw. 1988-1992). I think it was called "Dance of Death" (but am not
sure), but I don't remember the author. The book featured a main
character named Regan, and other characters named Richard, Roger, and
Anna. Richard, Roger, and Anna were all ghosts who were haunting the
house that Regan was staying in. Regan had black hair and had a bad
leg that required a brace, ending her hopes of becoming a professional
dancer.
I would like to know the actual title of the book and the name of the
author so that I can try to buy a copy (if it's still in print).
Thanks!

Hello.

Your book was probably "Dance of Death" (1984) by Lou Kassem. As far
as I can tell, this is the only teen-oriented ghost/horror/thriller
novel that has ever been published with this title.

"Dance of Death" was book #19 in Dell's "Twilight Where Darkness
Begins" teen horror series.
Copies are available beginning at $1.49 at half.com:
http://half.ebay.com/cat/buy/prod.cgi?cpid=3520713&domain_id=1856&meta_id=1
Also available beginning at $6.50 at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/offering/list/-/0440916593/all
Also available from Alibris:
http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=1462601&ptit=Dance%20of%20Death&pauth=Kassem%2C%20Lou&pisbn=&pbest=17%2E95&pbestnew=1000000%2E00&pqty=2&pqtynew=0&matches=2&qsort=r
Curiously, Alibris also lists a different copy of the book that is
credited to "Sarah Armstrong":
http://www.alibris.com/search/detail.cfm?chunk=25&mtype=&qtit=dance%20death&qtopic=young%20adult&S=R&bid=8152396546&pqtynew=&page=1&matches=4&qsort=r
Perhaps this was a mistake, though, since "Sarah Armstrong" wrote
another book in the Twilight series called "Blood Red Roses" (Book
#8):
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=126333222

The "Twilight Where Darkness Begins" series consisted of a couple
dozen teen ghost/horror novels published by Dell-Laurel-Leaf in the
1980s. The books in the series were apparently unrelated, and most of
them had different authors (or at least were credited to different pen
names). Bookfinder.com lists some of the other books in the series:
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=&title=twilight+where+darkness+begins&submit=Begin+Search&new_used=*&currency=USD&mode=basic&st=sr&ac=qr

There's not a lot on the internet about the Twilight series since the
books have been out of print for about 15 years now. However, original
readers of the books are now seeking them out again, as evidenced by
various newsgroup discussions:

Subject: Wanted: Dark Forces and Twilight Series Books 
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=twilight+series+group:rec.arts.books.childrens&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&group=rec.arts.books.childrens&selm=20021203123718.00231.00000237%40mb-fn.aol.com&rnum=2

Subject: "Twilight series" 
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=twilight+series+books&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=1998042019083000.PAA06758%40ladder03.news.aol.com&rnum=3

"Subject: Help! Looking for Teen Horror series books"
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=20021125123114.22395.00003398%40mb-me.aol.com&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D20021125123114.22395.00003398%2540mb-me.aol.com

-----------

More information about author Lou Kassem:
http://www.tmwi.org/tmwi/2002conf.html#Lou%20Kassem

------------

search strategy:
various book sites (alibris, amazon, etc.): dance death, subject:
young adult fiction

I hope this helps.

---

Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 01 Sep 2003 12:17 PDT

Just wanted to add that I called one of the dealers listed above:

Seymour's Books Telephone 706-283-8203
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=82851151

I spoke to Mr. Seymour and he was kind enough to read the back-cover
description of the book to me.  It had all of the details that you
mention: "Regan Riley" needed the peace and quiet of ... manor after
her dream of being a professional dancer was shattered... etc.

Thus, I have verified that "Dance of Death" (1984) by Lou Kassem is
indeed the correct book.

Regards,
juggler

Very quick, thorough, response! All my research on the internet
pointed to author Lou Kassem, but I didn't have any confirmation that
this was the book I was looking for (couldn't find it anywhere in the
library). Thanks much!

Thank you for the tip.
-juggler