THE ZALTHAGOR BOX

This debut middle-grade novel offers a creepy horror story about a girl who must save her family from a demon that her mother inadvertently unleashed on the world.

Evelyn Taylor’s life isn’t exactly idyllic. Her father recently moved out, and her mother never seems to have time for her—and to make matters worse, the eighth grader has been experiencing frightening visions of people getting badly hurt. But when she shares these terrifying premonitions with the folks involved in an attempt to save them from harm, they don’t believe her. After her best friend, Kayla Phillips, ignores Evelyn’s warning—and is hit by a car and severely injured—the protagonist suddenly becomes a pariah. Everyone in her middle school, including her former best friend, shuns her and she is soon known as the “wicked witch” who brings bad luck to all she encounters. The summer grants Evelyn a respite of sorts from the teasing and ostracization, but her life takes an even bleaker turn when she, her mother, and her younger brother must travel cross-country to take care of the estate of her recently deceased great-aunt. A key and an ominous letter warning to keep something called a “Zalthagor box” safe at all costs doesn’t stop her mother from finding and opening it—with nightmarish consequences. With her family members’ lives at stake, Evelyn and her brother must unearth her ancestors’ dark history to understand the mystery of the box. Character depth is an unarguable strength of Schultz’s engaging story, as Evelyn is both identifiable and endearing. Additionally, the themes explored are spot-on for the readership (bullying, self-esteem, the force of family), as is the tone, which is scary without being traumatizing: “Its ghastly face had shining red eyes and a wide, snarling mouth. It moved like a snake in the air, writhing and twisting. Black wings on its back unfurled, almost filling the small room.”

A satisfyingly spooky tale with some subtly powerful themes.