Substitute Creature

This is the fourth book in the TALES FROM LOVECRAFT MIDDLE SCHOOL series, and as I expected, it delights. The series begins with PROFESSOR GARGOYLE. Each hardcover features a lenticular image that shifts a normal teacher or student into his/her/their demonic alter egos, an image that foreshadows the story within. The premise: Robert Arthur is moved to Lovecraft Middle School, a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility built over the old Tillinghast Mansion site. Oops. Naturally, a connection to the old mansion (which mysteriously disappeared with its inhabitants) still exists, and even more naturally, Robert is the one to find it. In this installment, it is nearly Valentine's Day and Lovecraft Middle School, among other more supernatural show more occurrences, also has to deal with a blizzard. It's Robert to the rescue, along with his best friend (and former bully), his two-headed rat, and a ghost. There are plenty of otherworldly creatures and mild scares, making this an excellent readaloud for a Lovecraft-fan parent to his/her horror-loving child. If you've read Lovecraft, the references will tickle you, but you won't be lost if you haven't.

Highly recommended for reluctant readers who need a page-turner, anyone who enjoys horror, and boys who only like books with boy protagonists.

Source disclosure: I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. show less

My name is Wallace McBride, and I am not the target audience for SUBSTITUTE CREATURE.

This problem might not be the fault of the story, which is the fourth installment in Quirk Books' TALES FROM LOVECRAFT MIDDLE SCHOOL young adult series. The concept of the "young adult" novel is something that baffles me as a reader, and adding a horror element only makes the idea even more dubious. YA books exist in a literary twilight zone that provides uncomplicated, quasi-adult stories to younger readers who aren't quite ready to go full Cormac McCarthy. It's "literature" in the same way that Disney Channel programming is "drama."

At least, that was my understanding of YA books before cracking the spine of SUBSTITUTE CREATURE. For better or worse, my show more opinion of YA books hadn't changed when I'd finished the story later that same day. Anyone with the comprehension skills needed to read this book should kick off the training wheels and grab the first Neil Gaiman book they find.

To its credit, my ignorance of the first three novels wasn't much of an obstacle in understanding SUBSTITUTE CREATURE. The book does an admirable job of bringing you up to speed on the characters and their relationships, filling in the gaps organically as the story progresses. By this point in the series, the book's central characters have grown accustomed to the weird happenings at Lovecraft Middle School. Monsters, spirits, sorcerers and other assorted beasties are part of the daily curriculum at the troubled school. The series follows the adventures of a bland protagonist named Robert Arthur, who keeps among his circle of confidants the ghost of a 13-year-old girl, a former bully and a two-headed rat. And that's as apt a metaphor for middle school as I've ever seen.

When a freak snowstorm dumps several feet of snow exclusively on the school's hometown of Dunwich, Mass., Robert and his pals find themselves trapped at the school with a shady substitute teacher and a legion of monsters roaming the grounds. It's an unsophisticated story with an unsophisticated narrative, but moves along at such a brisk clip that it might not matter to the kids expected to read this kind of book. It's more fantasy than horror, and not likely to haunt the dreams of many children.

The book suffers from many of the same problems as J.K. Rowling's superior HARRY POTTER series: Child protagonists with wisdom and language skills far beyond their years, who keep secrets from adults for no other reason that to keep the story moving forward. These "secrets" are also a little troubling, but for reasons hopefully not intended by author Charles Gilman. A common problem in adventure stories featuring young protagonists is the challenge of keeping adults out of the mix. Authority figures will rightfully attempt to solve the story's conflict as a means to keep children out of danger, robbing young heroes of a complete narrative arc. The trick is to keep adults at bay without making them look stupid ... and without making the kids look like liars.

SUBSTITUTE CREATURE doesn't exactly stick the landing, in this regard. There's no obvious reason why the book's young heroes hide the truth about the school from authority figures, and the message here is troubling: If it's OK for kids to lie to their parents about an otherworldly wizard trying to murder them (and a lot of other people), what else is OK to lie about? Verbal abuse? Physical abuse? Sexual abuse? There's something unintentionally gross about the situations presented in SUBSTITUTE CREATURE, and none of them have to do with magic and monsters.

Again, SUBSTITUTE CREATURE wasn't intended for me. It's possible, even probable, that I'm comparing apples to oranges by expecting adult melodrama from a book aimed at children. Am I missing the point here? Does it even matter?

Source: http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2013/10/book-report-substitute-creat... show less

From my nine-year-old son: "This book was not as scary as the other three. The only bad thing about it is that I thought Tillinghast was supposed to be scary and taking over the school. He didn't seem as much of a scary monster in this one. The plot was more about moving the "Old Ones" to the mansion rather than trying to damage the school, replace people there, etc. I think it would have been better if it had something to do with the students."

I read the book, and I enjoyed it better than the previous few. It was a bit more on the psychological horror rather than the gross-out horror, and I liked the character of Katrina, and Robert's thoughts about what was the best thing to do.

Enjoyable, with good illustrations, and I will keep show more reading the series. I think it's aimed more at grades 4-6 rather than 6-8, but perhaps I just have an advanced reader. show less

Review based on ARC.

Yes, best yet. I know I said that about the last one, but *fortunately* they keep getting better! I'm ever impressed with Gilman's ability to creep in so few pages. This is, as with the others in the series, a book aimed at a 7/8-12 year old audience. And definitely kids with a stronger stomach and a penchant for the creepy.

This one is creepiest yet. Robert and Glenn continue their adventures with the Tillinghast mansion and the Lovecraft middle school which they both attend. They find a new portal to the mansion that... lands them in a difficult situation. Caught by the janitor after their near escape, Robert and Glenn find themselves making up stories to avoid having to explain the truth, which adults clearly show more never believe in these stories. The janitor, however, tells Robert he will tell his mother (now the nurse at the school), and Robert sees problems on the horizon. Before Maniac Mac has a chance to tell Robert's mother, however, there is declared a weather emergency as a blizzard finds itself centered over Lovecraft and the school is sent home.

Robert and his mother are, of course, last to leave since she is seeing to the well-being of the kids, and they ultimately find themselves caught in a place they'd rather not be, joined by Karina, Miss Carcasse (heh heh) the substitute librarian, Maniac Mac, and other creatures from ... other places.

And that is saying enough! The story is creepy enough, Miss Carcasse is creepy enough, and we meet an individual who has heretofore been only discussed in the 3rd person! I like that Gilman continues his overall plot with each book.

My only complaint is really that the book is REALLY aimed at a younger audience. It's a simple book with a simple plot and simple prose. Although the story is something that could be made into a young adult or adult novel with some real bite, Gilman is writing for the younger audience. Yeah, that's not really a criticism of the book, just a complaint in my favor. ;)

I have sent, given, and recommended this book to many kids in my life.
FOUR AND A HALF out of five stars (again, on the higher end, so 5 stars on sites w/o half ratings).

This and other reviews can be found at AllBookReviewer.blogspot.com show less

An unexpected blizzard has left members of Lovecraft Middle School snowbound. Robert, his mother, "Maniac" Mac the janitor, Karina (a ghost who is trapped in LMS, regardless of weather) and the extra creepy Miss Carcasse are trapped for the night in the powerless building that also happens to double as a portal into the hell dimension of Tillinghast Mansion. Safe and sound, right? Who are we kidding, these people are doomed.

Mr. Gilman continues his streak of creeptastic middle grade horror that would make any "Goosebumps" fan jump out of their seat. I've enjoyed the trajectory of the series so far, and I'm looking forward to what will come next.

A note: That cover is terrifying. I was fine with a demon teacher, snake-headed twins and Bug show more Boy, but Wide-Awake-Cadaver-Teacher is too much for me. Every time I put the book down, I had to put it face down. Don't want to accidentally get a gander at that. Of course, all of this practically ensures that my kids are going to love it. show less

As with The Slither Sisters and Teacher's Pest, I was very happy to win a copy of a Tales From Lovecraft Middle School book. What disappointment I feel over my advanced reading copy lacking the series' most enjoyable lenticular covers is lessened by two things:

a. there is a color photo of the normal version on the back cover, and

b. not having to wait until September to read the next entry!
(Regarding the cover, I like the way the open eye that's a feature of the series' titles looks as if this time it's part of the woman's bun.)

Our book opens with the student team of Robert Arthur (brains) and Glenn Torkell (muscle) in deadly peril -- as in one wrong move and you're very messily dead peril. It's not as if the boys intended for that to show more happen. Glenn got what he thought was a good idea for infiltrating villain central, the Tillinghast Mansion. It's not his fault that they didn't know as much as they thought they did. Worse, the rest of the team, ghost girl Karina Ortiz and Robert's two-headed rat, Pip and Squeak, can't help because they're busy enjoying the school's Valentine's Day assembly.

I won't spoil how they survive. It's not as if they're going to stay saved. Book three took place after Halloween and before December first, when Robert's mother became the school nurse, so it's been about two-and-a-half months since the last monster attack. With that, and the fact that they were almost killed, I think we can forgive Robert and Glenn for only being suspicious that something is up. Sure, Miss Carcasse is a substitute teacher they've never seen before. Yes, she's taken the place of the librarian who knows what's really going on. She smells strange. There is that odd remark she made about the principal (mere malapropism or Freudian slip?). Those are no reasons to conclude she's one of Tillinghast's monsters in disguise, are they?

Of course they are, but there's a different crisis to occupy our heroes' minds: a huge freak blizzard has hit their home village of Dunwich. They should have 40 to 50 inches (101.6 to 127 centimeters) of snow by morning. The school is evacuated.

Luckily for clueless rich brat, Lionel Quimby, Mrs. Arthur is foolish enough to try to drive herself and Robert home in their car even though they stayed to see all the students leave. (Lionel doesn't like buses. He's sure his father will send someone to get him.) It isn't long before the Arthurs, Miss Carcasse, janitor 'Maniac Mac', and Leonard find themselves stranded at the deserted school. Mrs. Arthur spotted Karina looking out of a window, so the ghost girl finds herself having to come up with excuses for why she's still there, why she can't eat, etc.

The school's generator isn't working. The temperature is dropping. Lionel is complaining. Miss Carcasse's behavior is weird. Pip and Squeak lead Robert and Karina to yet another Lovecraft Middle School secret where they meet another of the real-life Lovecraft's characters. They also meet the reason the generator couldn't be allowed to work. Later, Robert meets Crawford Tillinghast himself.

The master villain doesn't look as one might expect an evil mad scientist to look, but not all monsters look scary. Search for a photo of Peter Kürten, the Düsseldorf Ripper, also known as the Vampire of Düsseldorf. Doesn't he look as if he wouldn't say 'boo' to a goose, as the old saying goes? No wonder his own wife didn't suspect he was the serial killer terrorizing the city.

Tillinghast has a proposition for Robert. If Robert does something for him, he'll do something Robert would like very much. Tillinghast asks where's the injustice in what he wants. Robert isn't so sure. Will he do it? Will everyone be rescued?

I really like this series. They may have just gotten lucky in the first book, but the kids have since figured out ways to deal with monsters who are more powerful than they are. I know little Latin, but I think the school motto: 'Honoris Causa Audeamus,' could be translated as, 'May we dare/risk/venture (or be eager for battle) for the sake of honor'. It's a good motto for our heroes.

If you're a parent or teacher, these books help young readers think about real-life problems while delivering monster adventures. Mr. Gilman doesn't dumb down the vocabulary, something else I like. These books are even fun for adults, if you want to discuss them with your children/students. The extra credit and teacher's lounge sections at the Lovecraft Middle School website have discussion guides for the first two books to get you started.

I'm looking forward to book five! show less

My copy of this book was received as part of Library Thing's Early Reviewers program.

Substitute Creature is the fourth book in the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School series. Even though I had not read any of the previous entries, I had a very easy time jumping in. The author made sure to briefly introduce or explain characters and concepts that a new reader might not recognize.

This is the sort of book I would have relished in Middle School. Unlike the many "Goosebumps" books I read back then, this book seems to have some respect for its young audience. It does not rely on cheap end-of-chapter cliffhangers or cheesy fake-outs. I was surprised and pleased that the characters were asked to make difficult moral decisions. The book also had show more some kind things to say about treating people with empathy and consideration.

The atmosphere is delightfully spooky, with small references to Lovecraft's work spread throughout. Several wonderful illustrations add to the overall effect as well. Overall, a good read for your little monsters. show less