{Synopsis} – One kid's trash is another kid's terror in this spooky supernatural mystery.
When Cassidy Bean leaves New York to spend the summer upstate, she's disappointed to find that Whitechapel is not the quiet, pleasant suburb she remembers. Ursula Chambers, the strange old hermit at the end of the cul-de-sac, has passed away under mysterious circumstances. And the townspeople are shocked to discover that Ursula was a hoarder: Her farmhouse is teeming with stacks of newspapers, piles of furniture, mounds of antique dolls and taxidermy animals.
Cassidy watches as the people of Whitechapel descend upon Ursula's farmhouse, claiming her abandoned treasures for their own. She listens as rumors spread that Ursula's vengeful ghost is stalking the town with a warning from beyond the grave. And when Cassidy resolves to uncover the truth behind the strangeness, she learns there are more bad things in the world than she ever suspected. . . .
Modern master of the macabre Dan Poblocki is back with another scary story best read at night.
{My thoughts} – Cassidy is a sweet twelve year-old girl that has been through a bad experience in her past. She has a neighbor that so nicely saved her from that bad experience and since had given her a notebook to right down all the things that scare her. She carries that notebook with her everywhere.
When this book begins she is going to Whitechapel to live with a host family for the summer. She had been there before and she is friends with their son Joey. Her first few days there she learns Joey is mad at her and she makes friends with a new girl named Ping that recently moved in. There is a lot of commotion going on around the host families house because the neighbor had recently passed away and she’d been deemed a hoarder.
A hoarder is someone that has an impulsion to collect things: regardless if it is trash or treasure and the inability to discard things that have no longer any use. This is a term I am all to familiar with and not one that I enjoy thinking about. However, this book gave some nice insight on what a hoarder was, why they hoard and what they could do if they got help.
The neighbors all gather around the hoarders left over junk and start taking things since she won’t be needing them now that she has passed. Once that starts taking place strange things start happening in their town, strange things that otherwise could not be explained away.
All this nice information was sewn into this interesting story about three twelve year-olds. Cassidy, Joey and Ping and a teenage boy named Hal that have to save the people they love and their friends from a terrible beast. I am going to use beast because it is used with in the book, but the description of said beast left me awestruck. It made me feel like I was there or like I was watching it on a screen in my imagination.
There are so many bad things that one can allow to let bother them. So many bad things that can scare someone. This book is a basic simple horror story meant for younger middle school kids. It is written accurately for their level and has a great level of description that pulls you into the story. It is written based on Cassidy’s point of view and I most say seeing this through the eyes of twelve year-old girl made me wonder how children would really react to situations like this.
The house of the hoarder neighbor that had passed away holds many secrets. The main one is the basis of this book and if you want to know what it is you will need to read the book. I promise that you won’t be disappointed if you enjoy simple horror that lacks blood and gore. I am grateful this book lacked that because it isn’t really something that I am much into. I do know that I will be gifting this book to my nine-year-old son in the near future. He seems to really like this kind of stuff.
This is a must read book for any fan of simple horror. I am certain that you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Final Conclusion: 5 Star Rating.
