Horror, suspense, and family history collide with marvelously scary results.
A boy teams up with his mother’s spirit to investigate a neighborhood mystery.
Sam’s mother, who was of South Asian descent, died when he was a baby. He’s learned about her mostly from her MySpace page, a digital document of her youth. Visiting his maternal grandmother in Singapore, he embraces the opportunity to see his mother’s childhood home firsthand. But it isn’t what he imagined. Despite Singapore’s balmy climate, the cul-de-sac is gray and chilly, and the house overflows with a “dizzying mess” of memories. Soon, he’s seeing ghosts—one of them is his mother, frozen in time at 12 years old, who guides him through the world she left behind. Home alone (ghosts notwithstanding) while his grandmother works, Sam explores a derelict factory. A horrifying game of hide-and-seek in its dark recesses leaves him with a maggot-covered cat skeleton on his lap, and, with a mix of fear and fascination, he accepts his mission to discover what’s behind the shadows lurking over the neighborhood. The stakes intensify as Sam’s investigations deepen and he encounters threats both paranormal and human-made. Hossain’s prose is compellingly moody, building suspense slowly while engaging readers on every page. Gothic settings, spectral attacks that leave Sam physically bruised, and eerie elements of South Asian mythology provide thrills for those seeking serious scares but may overwhelm more tender-hearted readers. Sam is cued biracial (his father presents white).
Horror, suspense, and family history collide with marvelously scary results. (Horror. 10-15)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9780823462353
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Light in tone and satisfyingly heavy on therapeutic wish fulfillment.
Chills and cheers ensue when a bullied middle schooler’s dark side rears up and exacts a fiendish round of revenge.
Led by hulking eighth grader Logan Haggis and a widowed mom from hell, the cast of DiTerlizzi’s latest is stocked with bullies of various sizes and ages. They all get what’s coming to them when sixth grader Timothy Quibble at last permits the Wump, the glowering monster he’s begun to glimpse in mirrors and reflections, to take control of his actions. Though the metaphorical essence of the premise is obvious from the outset, readers are as likely to be thrilled by the jagged, shadowy, truly terrifying Wump as by the sweet, sweet revenge it goes on to exact. Having inflicted pain but no permanent harm, Timothy, realizing he’s gone overboard, remorsefully takes back control. The author himself goes overboard in a portrayal of his narrator’s unloving, self-absorbed mother, who’s so savage that the dab of redemption he allows her at the end comes off as perfunctory at best. Still, there are supportive characters, too—including, as a nice surprise, a former tormentor who turns out to have similar struggles of his own and who has savvy life advice to offer. The students at the slyly named Jeffrey P. Kinney Middle School display racial diversity in the gallery of yearbook portraits. DiTerlizzi’s expertly crafted grayscale illustrations with pops of bright green are a highlight.
Light in tone and satisfyingly heavy on therapeutic wish fulfillment. (Supernatural. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9798217004911
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2026
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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