Colin Meloy

A tamed down Steven King -like horror book for Year 7-8 students. Archie's dad goes digging where he shouldn't and wakes up three strange spirit men who are hell-bent on destroying Archie's home town and everyone in it. It starts with a penny on the doorstep. Archie throws it away and it suddenly reappears. Then his Dad has a weird change in personality and suddenly this zombie like state starts extending to other adults in the community. Only Archie and his friends, who have badly timed a sleep out in the woods while all this is happening, realise something is amiss. And what does it have to do with the founding father's deserted mansion perched high on a cliff top over the spot where Archie's dad's company ( and half the town) and now frantically digging?
Small town + weird stuff + strange adults + kids who are not believed = great horror.… (more)

A young girl is out for a stroll with her baby b rother when she witnesses him ‘napped by a murder of crows and carried away into the Wildwood – an impassible and possibly magical forest adjacent to her hometown of Portland. So, she decides to pass into the impassible wilderness to rescue him, and is unwillingly accompanied by a boy her age who wants to be her friend. They quickly get separated once in the Wildwood and each have their own adventures while hunting for the tot.

I think if I could have read this as a kid I would have adored it, as I was obsessed with All Things Narnia, and this book is clearly *heavily* influenced by Lewis’ Chronicles. But as an adult, it’s hard not to be distracted by just how much Meloy has borrowed from Lewis. But, if you know any middle graders who are bananas for Narnia, I’d definitely recommend recommending this one to them.… (more)

I loved this. Many thanks to Colin Meloy for this super creepy middle reader horror that is on par with the writing of Joe Hill, Stephen Graham Jones, and even Stephen King. I was completely immersed in the lives of these four young friends in the town of Seaham in the 80s. Wonderful, very real characters and reminiscent of Stranger Things as well as It - in all the best ways. As for the creep factor, let’s just say I was sufficiently disturbed by the vivid imagery and bizarre goings on that take place. Overall, it’s the friendships that are the beating heart of this story even through scary times of new experiences - supernatural or otherwise.… (more)