UNEARTHLY ASYLUM

Sophisticated fare for readers in search of a few more Unfortunate Events. Well endowed with classic horror-tale tropes from creepy woods, old curses and creaky mansions to a lunatic asylum with a strange staff and an ichorous pool with uncanny properties, the community of Spooking looms over a modern suburb, seemingly ripe for Development. Strewing broad hints that, except for protagonist Joy, who is ablaze with a massive case of Early Adolescence, and her wholly normal little brother Byron, few if any of Spooking’s residents are quite Who (or What) They Seem, Bracegirdle reprises the general arc of prequel Fiendish Deeds (2008)—subjecting an ominous new scheme of hapless villain Phipps to turn the asylum into an exclusive spa to messy and (more through suggestion than overt detail) gruesome treatment. As observed by the largely uncomprehending Joy, the antics and infatuations of the adults supply most of the comedy, but the thoroughly gothic setting and a madcap climax will keep younger audiences entertained, too. (Comic horror. 11-13)