A review by vacantbones
Scream All Night by Derek Milman

4.0

The sun was coming up. We stopped for a moment. He put his hand on my shoulder. And we just watched the sunrise, side by side like that, without ever saying a word. Then it was over.

Scream All Night tells the story of Dario Heyward, the son of a iconic horror director, returning home after his father's death to try and save the family production company from falling apart. It's a pretty selfless move, seeing as Dario became legally emancipated in order to leave this place in the dust.

Right off the bat, I'll tell the truth: not *everything* about Scream All Night worked for me. The novel seeks to mingle offbeat humor with the true horror of childhood abuse and neglect, which more often that not worked in its favor. At times, though, the attempts at quirkiness just didn't work - thinking specifically about Dario's brother, entirely disconnected from the world outside of Moldavia, naming a character after Justin Bieber because he heard the name once or twice. Bits like this just go on for too long in this book when they'd be better off as quick one liners.

However, Scream All Night is just overflowing with heart. Dario feels refreshingly like a real teenager, albeit one who is, in ways, older than his years due to the trauma of his childhood and the necessity to grow up quick as a legal orphan. Even when you're frustrated with his responses and reactions (there was no reason for the killer cauliflower script to be entertained for so long!!!), they are logical responses/reactions for someone with his background to have. He wants a real family, he wants to understand why his parents behaved the way they did and why his adult brother never protected him, and he wants to feel understood.

This is a really nice addition to the YA horror genre. I just wish I would've had this one when I was a teen, desperate for dark, age-appropriate reading materials!