scary

by

The Smiling Man is back!

Until next time, was the chilling promise the Smiling Man left with Ollie, Coco and Brian.  So when things don’t feel quite right or as they seem, there is only one conclusion to make…

He is Back and a new frightening adventure is at hand.

The next two instalments of the devious games the Smiling Man plays are here.

Dead Voices and Dark Waters.

In Dead voices the kids are looking forward to a relaxing winter break but when the lights begin to flicker they fear the worst.  Their fun filled trip quickly turns into another terrifying game with the Smiling Man as they fight through a storm and for their lives.  It is not just a voice in their heads!

In Dark Waters, the friends finally have a chance to relax on a boat cruise on the lake until a sinister fog rolls in.  The captain doesn’t remember a fog so bad.  It was then that the mythical sea monster of the lake decides to show up crashing their boat and stranding them on an island no one knew existed.  How could this island never have been marked on any of the map or charts?  If the sea monster wasn’t scary enough there is always the axe man in the woods to frighten you a little bit more.

I love these scary stories! They follow on from the first book in the series – Small Spaces.  I can’t wait for the fourth and final Small Spaces story to arrive in the library. 

Read it today but make sure you finish it before bed!!!

Tried not to read these books to close to bed but it was so good I had to finish them.

Read them today if you dare.

5 out of 5 ZZZZZZZZZZZ

 

Arden, K. (2022). Dead voices. Putnam: New York, New York.

Arden K. (2022). Dark waters. Putnam: New York, New York.

Arden K. (2018). Small spaces. Putnam: New York, New York.

by

There is no place for monsters. Especially in Cowslip Grove.

Cowslip Grove was like most other towns in suburbia.  Nice houses, good schools, safe, nothing seemed out of place.  There is no place for monsters in this day and age.  They disappeared with the dark ages, didn’t they?

Tell that to Cindy Fogle who wakes on Monday night with a scratching sound that could only be a monster, but when her parents come to her room there is nothing there.  On Tuesday, a shuffling sound woke Cindy with a scream.  A really tall man, the monster in her dreams but still her parents found nothing.  Wednesday night it was under the bed.  Her parents looked everywhere, but no monsters.

On Thursday night, Cindy’s parents woke to nothing and went back to sleep.  Why would they wake up to anything different?  There wasn’t anyone else that lived there.  It was just them and the empty room Mr Fogle kept meaning to renovate. Wasn’t it?

Nothing seems out of place in Cowslip Grove except that children keep going missing…

and no one even knows they’ve gone.

Levi and Kat remember.  They remember the children who disappear and only they can see the reason every one is in danger.  The tall man with a nose like a beak and fingers like bones.  Only they can see the evil that haunts the nighttime and steals the life from the town.

Can they find the missing children before the Tall Man and his evil destroy the whole town or is it too easy to forget?

A scary story with lost of illustrations and monsters to add to the effect and make you want to stay awake at night.  Not one to read before you go to bed unless you check underneath it and lock the windows first.

I really enjoyed this story even if it did make me listen for bumps in the night!

Are you brave enough for this one?

4.5 out of 5 ZZZZz

Merritt, K. (2020). No place for monsters.  Chicken House: Somerset, United kingdom.

by

Scary stories for young foxes.

What sort of story would scare a young fox?  Turns out it is similar to a story that would scare a young human, sort of.

Seven young foxes go into the twisted Antler Wood to find the storyteller.  They beg for a scary story but the Storyteller is not quite sure.

“Do you really think you can handle it” he asks.  The kits all nod because they are brave.

So, the Storyteller starts.

As the story goes on, one by one, the little foxes leave for home too scared by what might come next until only one remains.

Can the littlest of them all survive to the end of the story?

What type of story is the Storyteller telling that even the Alpha kit slinks off home before the end?

Will you last to the end?

I didn’t think this story was going to be that interesting, but boy was I wrong!

The further I read into the story the more obsessed I became until I stayed up really late to finish it not able to put it down.  I paid for it the next day but it was worth it.

A story to leave you watching the shadows and hoping the noises in the dark are just insects.

A second book out soon.  Scary stories for young foxes: The City. Can’t wait for that one!

5 out of 5 ZZZZZ

 

McKay Heidicker, C. (2019). Scary stories for young foxes. Henry Holt and Company: New York, New York.

by

An eerie mystery makes for a frightening tale.

Eerie-on-sea is a frightful town full of mystery.  It is where Violet and her favourite Lost-and-Founder, Herbert Lemon live. Herbert’s job is to take lost things and find their homes.  It is an honourable job that not just anyone can do.

Everything seems to be going along well at Eerie-on-sea until a steam train brings a passenger with a very murky past.  Herbert doesn’t know why the evil author Sebastian Eels has to returned to Eerie but it can’t be good.

Things really got interesting when a dismembered waxwork finger appears in the corridors of the Grand Nautilus Hotel.  Old tales of the boarded up waxworks and their creator  begin to circulate once more bought to life by a missing girl and a giant clockwork robot.

What could Sebastian Eels be up to?

An amazing mystery that only Herbert Lemon and Violet could solve.

I loved reading this book and had trouble putting it down to do other important things.  It had just the right amount of scary elements to make it different from other mysteries and therefor very intriguing.

This is the forth Eerie-on-Sea mystery but can be read without reading the others.  I loved this so much I’m going out to find the others!

Read it today and then again tomorrow and the next day and the next day…

5 out of 5 ZZZZZ

 

Taylor, T. (2022). Festergrimm. Walker books: London, England.

by

The Ghost Locket

Lolli has to go back to London.  you might think that isn’t so bad but Lolli knows going back to London means facing a lot of things she would rather forget.  London was where her mum died.  London was where her guardians mean family was and London was where the house was.  The house you say, what house?  The house she vowed she’d never return to ever.  The historic house that is run by her beloved Aunt Elsie the one that is haunted.

When Lolli was younger she saw a ghost in the house.  It raged down the stairs towards her and left her paralysed with fear.  Now she can’t think of anything worse than going back but she must.  Her guardian, is going back to help get the latest exhibition ready for the christmas rush and Lolli finds out it is time to set things straight and allow the past to be the past and that included the house hold ghosts moving on.

How will she face her fears?

Will anyone believe her?

Will she find the missing locket from the past and destroy it in time or is it all just a nightmare that Lolli can never wake up from?

A story set in both the past and the present and well worth the read.  A little bit scary and very nerve-racking.

 

3.5 out of 5 ZZZz

Rushby, A. (2022). The ghost locket. Walker Books Australia: Newtown, Australia.

 

by

Monsters are only what you believe they are.

Mirabelle lived in a mansion in a world inside a world.  The age old covenant between the house and the village meant the mansion, and all those who lived inside, were cut off from the outside world but for whose protection?  Only the meat delivery was allowed in.  The humans came through the glamour with the delivery and Mirabelle looked forward to the visits.

All was fine until a hole appeared in the glamour.  Jem and Tom needed help and walking through the mysterious hole to house in the distance seemed like their only hope.

Mirabelle was thrilled to have visitors, even if Uncle Enoch was not pleased, but it wasn’t safe in the house after dark.

But it wasn’t safe in the village either.

An amazing gothic fairytale of monsters and friendship as strange as that seems.

I love monsters and this book had monsters of a new kind with hidden treasures and secrets held right to the end.  I look forward to reading the second book The shadows of Rookhaven soon.

If you like monsters and a good story then this book is for you.

I read way past my bedtime to finish this one and would have happily read all through the night to finish it.

And remember…

Monsters are not always just the ones you can see.

More than 5 out of 5 ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Kenny, P. (2021). Monsters of Rookhaven. Macmillan: London, England.

by

Can devices really turn into Monsters?

Alex collects robots. Tin and plastic, big and small but the latest one is different.  It came in a parcel from his grandfather.  He opened it to procrastinate from doing the essay he was working on. The note read – This one is special. Take good care.  Special? It was certainly old.  Alex took it out of the box to look at it more closely. He carefully turned it around under the light but he obviously wasn’t careful enough as he cut himself on the sharp edges. He tried to catch the blood before it dripped onto the robot but it was too late.  A smear of blood covered its eyes and then Alex began to feel a bit strange.  He could see himself as from above. He saw dark shadows following him and a bright glow coming from the robots eyes.  As the robots eyes grew brighter everything else began to fade until all that was left was darkness.

When he awoke the next morning still hunched over his computer.  His mum was calling him for breakfast and to get to school.  In a daze,  he runs downstairs. His mother hands him his completed and printed essay.  What?  Did he finish that in his sleep? He doesn’t remember completing it let alone printing it. Oh well doesn’t matter it was done and school awaits.

That evening his grandfather arrived.  Young and youthful as always but it was late and he was tired. He would catch up in the morning.

The night was quiet and Alex became aware he was awake.  It was still dark.  The only noise the ticking of the hall clock or was it?  What was that strange whirring noise.  Behind the chair was a robot and it was moving towards him.  It climbed up his leg and tried to stab him with a needle.  Alex threw him away just as his Grandfather burst into the room pinning the robot to the ground with his cane.  As Alex opened the window his grandfather sent the robot out into the night with one swing.  Alex sat amazed not doing anything until his grandfather told him to pack a bag. They had a train to catch.  Questions buzzed around his head but there were no answers for what was about to happen.

An amazing story of things that go click in the night and never ending adventures.   Where ancient robots fuelled by blood will either save the world or end it depending on what side you are on. I look forward to more stories by Damien Love as this debut was awesome! Definitely for older readers.

A reminder to everyone beware the things that go click in the night.

More than 5 out of 5 ZZZZZ

Love, D. (2020). Monstrous Devices. Rock the Boat: London, England.

by

The Haunting of Aveline Jones.

Aveline loves to read ghost stories.  The scarier they were the better.  She loved looking through second hand bookshops to find the old ones.  They were always scarier than anything you could buy today.  It was colder than cold when the school holiday came around.  The water was freezing in the pipes and Aveline was on her way to her Aunt Lilian’s in the tiny seaside town of Malmouth. There is an icy wind and an even icier reception.  To make things even more strange there are scarecrow type figures that start popping up outside the houses.  Their cold blank eyes staring out and their arms creaking in the wind.  What a strange tradition thought Aveline.

When Aveline borrows an old book from the local bookseller she notices a name in the front a name that keeps appearing everywhere and Aveline soon finds out she was a missing girl.

From here the things only get stranger and scarier. Until one night the ghost finally appears to warn Aveline that she will be the next victim.

But of whom?

The Haunting of Aveline Jones is a magically crafted scary tale that will leave you locking the door before you go to bed tonight and then checking it again.  It is followed by The Bewitching of Aveline Jones and is definitely one to read.

Maybe, like Aveline, you might decide that ghost stories are your thing or maybe you’ll be too scared to read another.  This story is perfect for 8 to 12 year old readers who like their stories on the scary side.

5 out of 5 ZZZZZ

Hickes, P. (2020). The haunting of Aveline jones. Usborne: London England.

 

by

Don’t be scared. Everything will be just perfect.

The street is the same as it always had been.  The kids at school the same. The houses across the street where the Oldies live, the same.  Even the Oldies were the same.  Never seeming to age no matter how many years go by.

The one thing that would never be the same again would be Quinn Parker.  Her dad had died in an accident and he was the only one who believed her when she said things about the Oldies always being the same.  They had come up with all types of theories about the Oldies.  Were they aliens or vampires or having secret experimental surgery to stay young or even taking some sort of medicine they had concocted in the Funeral Parlour one of the Oldies ran?  In fact, they were the only funeral parlour in town now.  All the others had gone out of business. Strange?

Quinn now only has her neighbour Mike to help her uncover the mystery behind the Oldies and with each passing day the mystery becomes stranger.  One day a gnarled hand, the next it’s like new.  Mr Brown can barely walk the length of the path to the letter box and now he can run faster than Mike and Quinn. How is that Possible?

A strange green glow from the eerie pond at the end of the lane holds secrets and lies and if Quinn and Mike aren’t careful it may hold them too! Will they solve the mystery before someone else dies or will Quinn be next?

A scary middle school read with just enough mystery to keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat until the last page.

This is the first in a new spine chilling series called Fright Watch.  The next in the series, The Collectors, due for release soon.

Finished this in one spine chilling, blanket hiding night!

You’ll have to be brave to read this one.

4 out of 5 ZZZZ

Lawrence, L. (2020) Fright watch: The stitchers. Amulet: NewYork, New York.

 

by

An orphan with nothing. A tangled past. A darker future?

Ingabeth was a maid.  An orphan with wild black hair that no one wanted.  She lived with Mrs Boliver an old lady who needed someone to help her around the house but she was growing taller and definitely underfed.

One day whilst Ingabeth was standing on a chair, on a chair, on a hatobx trying to rescue Mrs Boliver’s cat again, the doorbell rang.   Ingabeth didn’t go at once and by the time she reached the grass the visitor had jumped the

garden wall to meet her.  It was a scarecrow with eyes made from large silver buttons.  The scarecrow bowed low and handed Ingabeth an envelope and disappeared the way it had come.

The letter was addressed to Zita Brydgeborn.  A name forgotten by everyone except Ingabeth herself.  A name no one had muttered for so many years.  A name Ingabeth new to be her own.  Who would be sending her a letter with her forgotten name written so neatly.

The letter told Zita people had been searching for her for many years and she was the only surviving heir to Blackbird castle.  A castle with witches who eat the hearts of their enemies for dinner.  A castle Zita would now have to prove she had claim to or die in the process.

A haunting story about faith and family (even if they are dead), where every thing you think can be trusted just may not be what you think it is.  The cover design is as intriguing as the story itself and each chapter you read brings a chill to your bones.

If you like stories where death and witches rule the pages then this is the story for you but be warned…

A story like this is not for the lighthearted.

I really enjoyed this story even though I was dubious at the beginning.  I thought it would be another typical learn to be a witch tale but it was so much more.  The characters twist and change and knowing who is a friend and who is not kept me thinking and guessing until the end.

4.5 out of 5 ZZZZz

Read it if you dare.

 

Bachman, S. (2020). Cinders and sparrows. Greenwillow press: