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GHOSTS OF GASTOWN

Short on logic but long on spooky spectral encounters.

A child grieving the loss of her dad suddenly finds herself accosted by ghosts who are demanding rescue from a mysterious threat.

Hardly has 12-year-old Hope arrived with her widowed mom—a popular horror novelist, appropriately enough—in their new apartment in Vancouver, British Columbia, than a ghost she comes to dub Victorian Dead Girl, or VDG for short, steps out of the closet in a flood of spectral water to make cryptic demands. Ever since the accident that claimed her father’s life, Hope has become used to seeing ghosts, but in their historic Gastown neighborhood, she finds herself not only encountering scarily urgent spirits but also up against a supernatural devorator, who’s eating ghosts before moving on to the living. Worse yet, the devorator turns out to be the pet of an even more terrifying, scythe-wielding reaper who’s actually after Hope. This piling on of villains and threats may add additional drama to the climactic face-off but at times feels overdone. Hope, who’s cued white, befriends her new neighbor Oliver, a French Canadian boy with two moms who presents Black and who also has second sight. A whiplash-inducing reveal involves Hope’s mother, who previously sent her to a therapist for her supposed visions and reacts with hostility to any talk of ghosts from Oliver or his Maman, who’s a medium.

Short on logic but long on spooky spectral encounters. (Supernatural. 9-13)

Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024

ISBN: 9781773371269

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Yellow Dog

Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024

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THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE

From the Lockwood & Co. series , Vol. 1

A heartily satisfying string of entertaining near-catastrophes, replete with narrow squeaks and spectral howls.

Three young ghost trappers take on deadly wraiths and solve an old murder case in the bargain to kick off Stroud’s new post-Bartimaeus series.

Narrator Lucy Carlyle hopes to put her unusual sensitivity to supernatural sounds to good use by joining Lockwood & Co.—one of several firms that have risen to cope with the serious ghost Problem that has afflicted England in recent years. As its third member, she teams with glib, ambitious Anthony Lockwood and slovenly-but-capable scholar George Cubbins to entrap malign spirits for hire. The work is fraught with peril, not only because a ghost’s merest touch is generally fatal, but also, as it turns out, as none of the three is particularly good at careful planning and preparation. All are, however, resourceful and quick on their feet, which stands them in good stead when they inadvertently set fire to a house while discovering a murder victim’s desiccated corpse. It comes in handy again when they later rashly agree to clear Combe Carey Hall, renowned for centuries of sudden deaths and regarded as one of England’s most haunted manors. Despite being well-stocked with scream-worthy ghastlies, this lively opener makes a light alternative for readers who find the likes of Joseph Delaney’s Last Apprentice series too grim and creepy for comfort.

A heartily satisfying string of entertaining near-catastrophes, replete with narrow squeaks and spectral howls. (Ghost adventure. 11-13)

Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4231-6491-3

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013

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EMPTY SMILES

From the Small Spaces series , Vol. 4

A thrilling and chilling end to a standard-setting series.

Arden’s quartet of seasonal horrors concludes with sinister clowns at a carnival.

A dry summer in East Evansburg sends friends Brian, Coco, and Phil to Lethe Creek to cool off. But there’s been an Ollie-shaped hole in everyone’s lives since the dastardly “smiling man” took her. The smiling man releases one of his other trapped children to deliver a message: they’ll need three hidden keys to win Ollie back. Meanwhile, Ollie—traveling with the smiling man and his carnival—tries to figure out a way to escape him on her own. When the carnival moves to East Evansburg, the stage is set for the final showdown. By day, it’s a fun-filled paradise. By night, the carnival’s clowns hunt wayward children to turn into dolls. Without the keys, Ollie and friends will be next. While predatory clowns and humans-turned-dolls are far from new territory, Arden once again flexes her gift for atmospheric writing to envelop readers in the story’s eerie mist. The expert use of pacing and sensory cues—sights, sounds, and smells—helps heighten the genuinely terrifying chase scenes. Chess matches and conversations between Ollie and the smiling man humanize the shape-shifting villain, exposing just enough of his motives to wrap up unanswered questions. Earlier volumes establish that most characters are White and Brian is Black.

A thrilling and chilling end to a standard-setting series. (Horror. 9-13)

Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-10918-2

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022

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