By turns bewildering, nightmarish, and heart-wrenching.
A teen battles mysterious forces upon returning to her childhood home.
Plagued by nightmares, visions, and strange events—and inexplicably detested by everyone she meets—17-year-old Helen Vaughan has been a pariah ever since she and her mother left Harrow, their ancestral home, 10 years ago. When her grandfather’s death compels her return, Helen is stunned to learn that she stands to inherit Harrow…if she can survive a year living in a house that seems to have a malevolent mind of its own. As Helen’s dreams of being buried intensify and she learns of Harrow’s troubling history of mysterious deaths and missing girls, her health crumbles in visceral, horrifying ways. Something doesn’t want her to learn Harrow’s secrets. Is it the house’s dark entity, expressed through misshapen monsters and ghostly figures? Or is it someone from her estranged family, whose members harbor grudges and grief? Aided by her cousins, Desmond and Celia, and an aloof, enigmatic witch named Bryony, Helen makes a devastating discovery that threatens everything she knows. At times, the plot is as convoluted as Harrow’s shifting halls; readers will share Helen’s increasing disorientation. However, those with a taste for tough questions will find many to ponder in this creepy, poignant tale: What makes a family? Are people born evil? Helen and Bryony’s tentative romance lightens the gloom. Most characters are cued as White; Desmond is Black.
By turns bewildering, nightmarish, and heart-wrenching. (author's note) (Paranormal suspense. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-40511-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Masterfully modernizing the gothic horror genre, McGinnis outdoes herself.
While one cousin grapples with murder, another seeks revenge in this Edgar Allen Poe–inspired sequel to The Initial Insult (2021).
Picking up where the first novel ended, this duology closer once again follows Tress Montor in mostly White, small-town Amontillado, Ohio. Still looking for answers about her parents’ mysterious disappearance 7 years ago, Tress is also haunted à la “The Tell-Tale Heart” by the murder of Felicity Turnado, whom she entombed alive in the previous entry. Alternating with her first-person narration are chapters from her often taunted cousin, Kermit “Ribbit” Usher. Reminiscent of the title character in Poe’s “Hop-Frog,” Ribbit plans for a deadly revenge against his tormentors as well as a heroic rescue of Felicity and a family-ordered killing. As before, the alternating point-of-view chapters, with taut storytelling, dark twists, and allusions to Poe, effectively play off one another. Reinforcing the converging storylines are interspersed cryptic free-verse poems by Rue, a caged orangutan who lives at the illegal exotic animal attraction owned by Tress’ grandfather. The overall effect this time ups the mystery, intensity, and horror (emphasis on the latter!), with a satisfying ending delivering answers about ongoing family questions and clashes. Readers must be familiar with the first book to fully appreciate this one.
Masterfully modernizing the gothic horror genre, McGinnis outdoes herself. (Thriller. 14-18)Pub Date: March 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-298245-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For murder-mystery fans, there’s more than enough horror and gore to sustain this effort (and several more), making for a...
A scary gorefest of murder and mayhem, not for the faint of heart.
High school best friends Meg and Minnie join a weekend-long, alcohol-infused party on a small island off the coast of Washington. Their parents think they’re elsewhere; in fact no one knows they’re there except the ferry crew and the other eight attendees. A fierce storm is battering the island, and the power fails, plunging them into darkness and complete isolation from the rest of the world. Then teens start to turn up dead in rather gruesome, vividly depicted ways: hanged, impaled by driftwood (really!), electrocuted, etc. At first, it appears that the deaths could be caused by a bizarre combination of suicide and accident, but as the body count soars, the teens have to choose: Is one of them a serial killer, or is the murderer stalking them from beyond the group? Clues are just amorphous enough to sustain the mystery, and since mistakes are lethal, the suspense is high. Meanwhile, it also becomes obvious that some of the stereotypical teens share relationships that weren’t apparent at first, i.e., Meg’s far-overworked yearning to pair off with T.J., the handsome guy that unstable Minnie lusts for.
For murder-mystery fans, there’s more than enough horror and gore to sustain this effort (and several more), making for a breathless read. (Mystery/horror. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-211878-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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