Shadow House (The Gathering #1)

Poblocki, Dan. Shadow House (The Gathering #1)
August 30th 2016 by Scholastic Press
E ARC from Edleweiss Above the Treeline

Poppy is in an orphanage, but gets a letter from her great aunt Delphinia Larkspur inviting her to live in her mansion. Marcus' hears music in his head, but it saddens his mother. He is invited to the Larkspur music school. Azumi's sister disappeared when they were in Japan, and she is invited to a prestigious academic school. Dash and Dylan, who have been starring in a popular sit com, are invited by Del Larkspur to film a horror movie. All five children end up at the house, where a variety of weird things happen to them. They are pursued by children in animal masks and old fashioned outfits, and no proprietor or aunt of any kind can be found. They try to figure out what is going on, and Poppy eventually finds papers that indicate that an ancestor of hers ran an orphanage where he abused the children, and now the ghosts of the children are after the modern day visitors. Secrets are revealed, but the mystery of why they were brought to the house remains for book two. (Date and title to come.)
Strengths: This had some shades of  Lois Duncan's Down a Dark Hall, since all of the children had some supernatural abilities or ties. There are also a lot of really creepy pictures scattered throughout the book, sort of like Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children. Poblocki has a HUGE fan base in my library. There would be a revolt if I didn't purchase this!
Weaknesses: Not my cup of tea, and I wanted more answers more quickly!
What I really think: Poblocki manages to do a different type of horror every time, which is quite a skill to have. Too bad I'm not a fan of horror books, because my students are!