INK OF NIGHTMARES

A horror author’s evil ink must be stopped, once and for all.

The final chapter in Szpirglas’ freaky middle-grade series keeps the chills coming as Tanya and her friend Niah face down the nightmare-collecting ink unleashed on the world’s children by villainous writer Joel Southland. Seeing Southland’s uber-popular book everywhere—and putting innocent readers at risk—worries Tanya, who’s certain the author and the ink have something more planned. In an attempt to stop the coming terror, the girls devise a scheme to lure Southland to a local cafe, but they end up discovering the horrifying truth—the ink is out of control. Now Tanya will have to put herself in grave danger if she’s going to save Niah and the rest of the world. Interspersed throughout are stomach-turning and disturbing stories elevated by Barr’s equally dark drawings; this volume delivers such scares as an angry clump of hair rising from the drains, a math book that forces its owner to smile, a spoiled boy with a sinister pet fish, and more. In the illustrations, Tanya appears white and Niah presents Black; other characters are diverse.

As icky and unsettling as it gets: a solid ending to a very fun series.