A review by shanyreader
The Ghost of Graylock by Dan Poblocki
5.0
I'm 17 years old...the same age as Rebecca. And did I love this book? HECCK YES I DID. I've actually been spending the past few weeks just watching youtube commentators play scary games like Slender, Nightmare House, etc. and just...the introduction, with the kid--the flashlight, the camera, etc. it just reminded so much of those games! I seriously thought that the entire premise of this book could be a videogame or a visual novel--it just reads so well, with so many jumpscares (REBECCA, YOU CREEEEPPPP) and a creepy atmosphere like an abandoned asylum, the woods, etc. My boyfriend didn't believe it was a scary book, but when I read out the scary bits to my 15 year old brother, he was definitely creeped out. It helped that there was a storm while I was reading some of the book.
Is it a simply written book? Yes--perfect for middle schoolers. There are no deeeppp metaphors and long-winded descriptions that we see in adult books. Which is great for this kind of story. It is DARK. This is not a book that is saying: Oh! I'm aimed for middle-schoolers, so let me be less creepy and scary! NO! IT WAS NOT SAYING THAT. NOT AT ALL. I WAS SCARED BY THIS BOOK. The way everything was described and set up--you were there with the character. You were as helpless as the characters. It was really thrilling. Never a dull moment for me. I thought the characters were all likable enough, maybe not fully-fleshed out--but you're reading this for the ghost of graylock and the plot and the scariness and the way it builds up is perfect. Perfect.
I'm going to the read the Nightmary's next, by the same author. I'm excited. If he could get me to this level of creeped out in this book, with only one girl on the cover--what can he do in a book with two creepy-butt-ghosts on the cover??? WOOOOO!!!*
*I'll be crying under my covers later tonight.
Is it a simply written book? Yes--perfect for middle schoolers. There are no deeeppp metaphors and long-winded descriptions that we see in adult books. Which is great for this kind of story. It is DARK. This is not a book that is saying: Oh! I'm aimed for middle-schoolers, so let me be less creepy and scary! NO! IT WAS NOT SAYING THAT. NOT AT ALL. I WAS SCARED BY THIS BOOK. The way everything was described and set up--you were there with the character. You were as helpless as the characters. It was really thrilling. Never a dull moment for me. I thought the characters were all likable enough, maybe not fully-fleshed out--but you're reading this for the ghost of graylock and the plot and the scariness and the way it builds up is perfect. Perfect.
I'm going to the read the Nightmary's next, by the same author. I'm excited. If he could get me to this level of creeped out in this book, with only one girl on the cover--what can he do in a book with two creepy-butt-ghosts on the cover??? WOOOOO!!!*
*I'll be crying under my covers later tonight.