Henry Hunter and the Beast of Snagov by John Matthews, 2014

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Adolphus Pringle lived a relatively normal life before he met Henry Hunter, but being the best friend of a twelve-year-old millionaire genius certainly makes life interesting. He has accompanied Henry on adventures all over the world and encountered dozens of supernatural creatures. Henry has a penchant for paranormal mysteries, and he never fails to drag his trusty sidekick, Dolf, into adventures to track down the truth in these mystical legends.

Henry announces one morning that he and Dolf are going to go in search of a creature more terrifying than Dracula himself: the Beast of Snagov. The pair of supernatural investigators travel from where Bram Stoker stayed in Whitby to Transylvania. Along the way they come across some strange things such as Dracula’s daughter, Bella, and an organization called the Order of the Dragon that wants to sacrifice Henry Hunter to the Beast of Snagov. When Henry is taken, it’s up to Dolf and Bella to team up and rescue him!

Will Henry survive this supernatural adventure? Get ready to discover the world of the supernatural through the eyes of our spooked narrator as he tags along on the first adventure in the Henry Hunter series!(240 pages)

This is the second Halloween-themed book that I've read in the past week, the first one being Monsterville. As I wrote in my review, I really loved that book and was totally in the mood for another creepy Halloween-type novel. Luckily, I had another monster-themed Sky Pony Press book sitting on my shelf: Henry Hunter. I jumped right into it after finishing Monsterville, and was expecting great things.

Honestly, though, it just didn't really hit me the right way. Maybe it felt too much like a dumbed-down Sherlock Holmes (with monsters instead of an actual crime, and a stereotypical twelve-year-old genius millionaire robot rather than the brilliant, enigmatic and flawed human being we get in Sherlock). Maybe I couldn't get over the unrealistic premise of two young boys wandering into all sorts of terrible danger, with no adult ever even attempting to stand in their way. Maybe I didn't like how vanilla and clueless Dolf was–like the worst of Watson and Hastings and movie-Ron all jumbled together.

Maybe I'm just too old for this book. I think that's really the bottom line, I've simply reached the age where I want more subtlety and dynamism than Henry Hunter could offer. Honestly, I think it's quite a good book for kids who are in middle school. It's got vampires and backwoods Transylvania, cool creepy ancient castles, and a big ole' monster that the main characters need to defeat in the end. If I were five years younger, I think I'd probably have loved reading about the wealthy, independent Henry who spoke dozens of languages and knew practically everything. I would have lapped up the story just as quickly as I devoured, say, the 39 Clues series–which also featured hyper-intelligent children entrusted with large sums of money and zipping around the planet practically on their own.

I don't know, there's probably a pretty good chance that your kid would like this if they're in middle school. If you're looking for some slightly creepier books to give them that aren't really macabre, then this might be just the thing. I can't say I really recommend it to anyone older than middle school, though, just because there are so many other books out there. I don't know that it really stands out from the crowd enough to demand the attention of anyone over the age of about twelve.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Monsterville: A Lissa Black Production by Sarah S. Reida, 2016

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Thirteen-year-old Lissa Black is miserable when her parents force her to move from New York City (the perfect home for an aspiring writer/director/actress) to Freeburg, Pennsylvania, nowhere capital of the world. There’s nothing to do there, except play her little sister Haylie’s favorite new game, Monsterville, and hang out with her new neighbor Adam.
But when a walk in the woods lands her face-to-face with a swamp monster hungry for brains and then a Sasquatch that moos, even Lissa can’t call her new home totally boring. With Adam’s help, she catches the culprit behind the drama: a shape-shifting goblin who’s fled from the monster world of Down Below.
And what do you do with a creature that can be literally anything? Make monster movies, of course! Lissa is convinced that Blue will be the secret to her big break.
But when Haylie goes missing on Halloween, Lissa, Adam, and the monster must venture Down Below to stage a rescue—and face the real Monsterville, which is anything but a game.
Monsterville is a fusion of The Boxtrolls, Jumanji, and Candyland, weaving together friendship, family, and monsters into a funny fantasy-horror brimming with heart from a great new middle grade voice.

(368 pages)

Wow. This was . . . very different from what I was expecting it to be. In the best possible sort of way! I'm really regretting not reading it around Halloween time because it would have been gotten me into the perfect spooky mood. It's definitely got a very high creep factor in it, but not in an over-the-top unpleasant sort of way.

The first thing that really made the story for me, right from the first few chapters, was Lissa's narration. She's absolutely obsessed with filmography, so half the time she describes a scene she compares it to some classic film or describes how she would film it if her life were a movie. These extra details add a very creative angle to the novel and provide many instances of picturesque imagery that we wouldn't get otherwise. Besides enjoying Lissa's narration, I also just really connected with her as a character. It's all too rare to find a main character who loves small children and is great at babysitting. For Lissa, though, acting as a "mini mother" seems to come naturally. In fact, especially toward the second half of the novel, she often behaves more like Hailey's mother than her older sister! Lissa's reaction to moving from New York to middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania is also very realistic: she's mad, and grouchy, and at first refuses to admit that there might be anything good about the entire state of Pennsylvania. Honestly, that's how I usually feel when I move somewhere new. Lissa's evolution of emotions (and the reliable, yet increasingly distant, support she gets from her friends back in New York) ring true to my own moving experiences.

So basically, Lissa is exactly like me with a love for movies swapped out for my obsession with books. Good. That right there guarantees I'll enjoy at least a large part of the book. But did I love it? Yes, absolutely. I adored Adam, Lissa's next-door neighbor who allows himself to get dragged along for the ride in exchange for nothing more than the opportunity to show Lissa reasons why she shouldn't hate Pennsylvania. The cynical part of me says he's a little too perfect to be a real person, but I'm not in the mood to listen to it. He's awesome. Hailey herself is adorable, very realistic (if a tad too cooperative at times–but then, maybe my younger siblings are just wilder than most). The side characters we meet from Lissa's new and old school all ring true in the small roles that they're given.

But now for the monsters. And I have to say, this is one of the more horrific premises for a novel that I've read in a while. The further you get into the story, the worse it gets; by the time the main characters are stumbling through Down Below, facing terrible monsters in their quest to find Hailey, things are pretty hard-core. If you stop and think about the reason Hailey's been kidnapped, they're positively horrific.

At the same time, though, like I said: I really loved reading Monsterville. Maybe it's just the fact that it's a middle-grade novel, but no matter how dark things got I never felt like it was going to end in total tragedy. I'm not usually one for horror, but I actually adored Monsterville. It had just the right mixture of family (including not-dead, emotionally-invested parents!), friendship, love, and tension. It also ended on a sort-of cliffhanger, and I am definitely ready for the sequel. Someone please tell me it will be out in time for next Halloween!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.