Creepy Pick: Creep

Creep
by Eireann Corrigan
Scholastic Press
2019
304 pages
ISBN: 9781338095081

Available October 1, 2019

Haunting and eerie, an abandoned mansion holds secrets and terror. The last family (the Donahues) who lived there moved away in the middle of the night and no one knows why. When Olivia takes an interest in her new neighbors and becomes friends with Janie, the new girl who lives in the spooky house, a mysterious letter soon appears.

The letter is threatening, and the writer claims to be the sentry of the house, and states no one can live there. If they do, "the ceilings will bleed and the windows will shatter..." Janie and Olivia soon join forces with  Janie's troubled and brooding brother. The three kids set out to solve the mystery: why did the family before them move away, and who is the Sentry and what does he, or it, want?

As the kids navigate interviewing neighbors, they learn the Donahues received menacing letters from the Sentry as well. Could this be the reason they moved? Why does the Sentry want this house?

Creepy enough to interest middle grade and middle school readers. Tame reading for YA fans of horror. Reluctant readers will find this an enjoyable book. This is a Scholastic Book, so you will likely find it on fall's Scholastic Book Fairs.

Recommended grade 5 and up. Scholastic says ages 12 and up, but Creep is tame enough for younger fans.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Spooky Middle Grades Pick: The Gathering (Shadow House, Book 1)

The Gathering
Shadow House, Book 1
By  Dan Poblocki
Scholastic
2016
224  pages  (with some illustrations)
Available August 30, 2016

"Shadow House has everything I love--strange characters, magic and the supernatural, endless danger and adventure--and a mystery I dare any reader to try to solve. I can't wait to read the whole series!"--R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps (from the ARC mailing)


Creeptastic! Suspense driven and utterly entertaining, The Gathering (Book 1) will leave young readers breathless! The Gathering (Shadow House, book 1) is the best middle grades read I've read in a long time!

 "Enter Shadow House, if you dare"...beware who you trust and try to remember the way you passed, but that won't be enough. In Shadow House, passages change, doors appear and disappear, strange children threaten from the shadows. Something bad has happened here and for the new kids, they have to solve the mystery in order to free themselves from the hold the house has over them.

Strangers orphan Poppy, twin child actors Dylan and Dash, musical prodigy Marcus, and shy girl Azumi meet at the abandoned edifice of Shadow House, each being summoned there for different reasons. Poppy thinks she's meeting her great aunt Delphina who will give Poppy a "forever home." Marcus thinks he's accepted into an exclusive music program. Dylan and Dash think they're set to star in a new series and Azumi wants to escape the Pacific Northwest, her sister's strange disappearance,  and attend an East coast boarding school. The children enter the stone building and are intrigued by its vast grandeur but mystified by the look of the place. It looks abandoned--as if lost in time. The furnishings, paintings, and even some paperwork in an office look to be decades old.

As the kids begin to investigate, they split up (never a bright idea!) I guess these children have never seen a scary movie or read a scary book. As they are separated, each encounters a strange child in an animal mask. The apparitions begin to threaten them. The kids are going to have to work together if they expect to survive Shadow House!

Wildly imaginative and spooky, readers may have to sleep with the lights on!

There is a FREE app in the works for  phones or tablets at Shadow House. Create a username and password and log in. you can read ghost stories, "...where the choices you make determine your fate."

This is a Scholastic book, so I am sure it will be a huge seller at back to school and fall book fairs. Keep your eyes open, books 2 and 3 are scheduled for January 2017 and September 2017 respectively.

Highly, highly recommended grade 3-up. Perfect for tween and middle grade readers. Reluctant readers will devour this series.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Spooky Pick: The Secret of Laurel Oaks

The Secret of Laurel Oaks
by Lois Ruby
Tom Doherty Associates, 2010
274 pages

Thirteen year old Lila has been hearing and seeing strange things ever since family friend and Jemez pueblo member Roberto died. Now that she and her family are visiting Laurel Oaks, a haunted plantation in Louisiana, Lila sees and hears far more than she wants to. When the ghost of a slavegirl named Daphne appears to her and asks Lila for help, Lila knows that she can't pretend she doesn't see the spirits.

Daphne hasn't been able to pass on to the other side, whatever or wherever it may be. Something is keeping her at Laurel Oaks. She has been hanging around the plantation for two centuries, trying to get someone to see or hear her, and finally Lila shows up and seems to have the powers. Daphne didn't poison the Judge's wife and daughters, but she may know who did. Daphne has been trusted by the Judge's wife to pass on her porceline bebes, figurines that were treasured by the wife, and Daphne wants Lila to find them.

Can the mystery be solved? Will the treasure ever be found? Will Daphne's name be cleared after all these years? And what about Lila--will she forever be at the spirits' beck and call?

Chapters are told in turn by Lila in the present and Daphne in the past--during the slave days of the South. Daphne tells of a life in the big house and learning hoodoo from Birdie--a slave woman gifted in spells, witchcraft, and the healing arts. The author weaves a story rich with superstitions and folklore brought from Africa and practiced among slaves in the South.

Readers who like ghost stories or mysteries will like this novel. Spooky and satisfying, the setting of Laurel Oaks and the creepy Louisiana backwoods and swamps make this novel come alive.

Recommended grades 6-8.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I bought this book for my library. I received no monetary compensation for my review.

YA Pick

House of Dark Shadows

(Dreamhouse Kings, Book One)

by Robert Liparulo

Thomas Nelson, Inc.

286 pages, with reading group guide



Xander King is not happy to be leaving his friends in Pasadena and moving to a small "hicksville" town in the mountains of northern California. His father has taken a new position--principal of Pinedale High School. The King family buys a creepy, abandoned Victorian house in a heavily wooded rural area. Soon, as expected, even creepier things begin to happen. Giant footprints are left in the dust. There are strange voices and creaky noises; things go bump in the night. Victoria, Xander's little sister, sees a huge intruder standing in her room.



Xander and his brother David discover a closet that has a secret portal. They step into the portal and out of a locker--in the hallway of Pinedale High School. Other portals lead to much more dangerous destinations.



Xander's dad has a secret, and when Xander discovers what it is, it threatens the safety of the entire family.



Part scary, spooky thriller, part strange, twister killer mystery, part time travel sci-fi genre, this debut YA novel will appeal to readers of spooky stuff like Mary Downing Hahn and lovers of Anthony Horowitz's Horowitz Horror.



Recommended for reluctant readers, grades 5-9 and anyone who enjoys creepy old houses. Book Two is Watcher in the Woods and now available.