It Watches in the Dark and Seven Ghosts

Strand, Jeff. It Watches in the Dark
April 2, 2024 by Sourcebooks Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Oliver and Trisha are very excited to be canoeing in Missouri with their father, and glad to have an outdoor adventure. As we start the book, however, they are in dangerous rapids, and their father is instructing them on how to paddle so that they can stay afloat. When they hit a rock, the three are tipped out, and their father is injured. The kids manage to get their father to the shore, but he is unconscious. They are out out in the middle of nowhere, but do happen across a town, Escrow, population 999. While the people they meet act a bit oddly, a doctor, Belinda, helps them get their father into the hospital. She doesn't want the children to stay, although they would prefer to. Mayor Clancy directs them to the local diner, where they get a really good hamburger, but are reprimanded when they can't finish the enormous ice cream sundaes they are given. The people in the diner talk about the Scarecrow, a huge figure in the town square, and how they should be grateful. The mayor isn't happy that the children demand to see their father, either, and makes them sit in the square and look at the scarecrow. This freaks the children out, since they both hear the scarecrow's voice in their head. When they have to spend the night with the oldest woman in town, Edith, she has weird rules that definitely involve not going outside in the night because of the scarecrow, but of course the children sneak out. This is a bad idea, since they not only find their father trussed up in the medical center full of wires, but the scarecrow chases them. They break a window and get into a house, but the people inside tell them to leave and scream apologies to the scarecrow. The next day, Oliver and Trisha find out alarming things about the community and what exactly is being done to their father. The two try to fight the scarecrow, but if they manage to defeat it, who would keep the town safe... from the crows?
Strengths: Oh, my goodness! This was an excellent middle grade  horror book: gorey, scary, and the violence was all perpetrated by an evil straw scarecrow. It starts off very quickly but gives just enough background. The children are by themselves, really, because the father is incapacitated. Really, if you are a middle schooler, isn't that about the scariest thing of all, having to save an injured parent? The townspeople are freakishly odd, which adds another layer of discomfort. Even the scene with the ice cream sundaes; how scary would it be for strangers to force you to keep eating ice cream when you were sick and your father was in the hospital, unconscious, and you couldn't call your mother? There's plenty of scarecrow guts and bloody tubes, as well as a touch of human sacrifice for the young folk, but this was particularly brilliant because the cinematic, button-eyed, killer scarecrow is all part of a scenario that would be scary enough in real life. 
Weaknesses: I would have liked more backstory about the scarecrow and Escrow in general, delivered by one trustworthy person in town who could have been eaten by the scarecrow once the father was freed, but that would certainly slow things done for middle grade readers. 
What I really think: I loved this author's How You Ruined My Life, which is very popular with  my 8th grade boys. Hand this to readers who enjoy road trips that go horrifically wrong, like Cohen's The Shadow Grave, Preller's Exit 13, or Krovatin's Red Rover. (N.B. Rover's not a dog, it's a DEMON.)

Priestly, Chris. Seven Ghosts
April 2, 2024 by Union Square Kids
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Jake has won a writing contest at school and gets to go on a field trip to Grimstone Hall with other winners. After a tour, they will all write a ghost story. Mrs. Fox, the children's guide, shows them a creepy cracked mirror belonging to the odd Dr. Syrus, and Jake is oddly drawn to it. The history of the Hall starts in 1872 with a servant, Maisie, who has to attend Lady Agnes in her illness but finds that as she becomes weaker and weaker the more she is summoned with a china bell, the healthier Lady Agnes becomes. In 1893, young Rupert hates the local children, and closes the ice house door on a young boy who later dies, and is never the same after he is haunted. The house then passes to an American, whose son is told the legend of the folly of an ancient ruin, purportedly haunter by an "eye-catcher", a demon that only attacks those who don't believe in him. The son does believe, but when the tutor starts to doubt, bad things occur. In the 1920s, Lady Violet's daughter Margaret doesn't play the piano very well and is angry when her orphaned cousin comes to live with them and upstages her. When the two also must compete for the attention of the attractive piano teacher, what might Margaret be driven to do? In the 1970s, the estate is bought by a rock guitarist whose son Kingfisher is bullied about his unusual name. Kingfisher is told not to go into the library, but he does, and burns pages of the books. He starts to notice that the books show him tragedies before they happen; will they retaliate against his violence? Oddly enough, Jake sees all of the ghosts, but none of the others do. Mrs. Fox stops her tour when she only mentions six ghosts. Who might the seventh be? 
Strengths: This reminded me a bit of Preller's Scary Tales, which I have in my "quick picks" section for students who want a book that is shorter and at a lower reading level than most of my books. Published originally in 2019 by Barrington Stokes, which takes a lot of effort to make their titles dyslexia-friendly and, get this, says "Our books are tested for children and young people by children and young people." Yes! Focus groups! I've been saying for years that publishers should do this. I love that these books are written by well regarded authors who write longer books as well; others in this series are by the fantastic Chris Bradford, who wrote the Bodyguard series. The illustrations have an almost Edward Gorey feel to them and add a lot. I'll definitely purchase a copy if I can find a prebind of the paperback. 
Weaknesses: This was very English, with a lot of lords and ladies and servants; just not something we have on this side of the pond. Of course, I LOVED that about it! This author's Dead of Winter circulates on the strength of its spooky cover even though it has a similar feel, and I think this one will do likewise. 
What I really think: This is perfect for emerging readers who was a horror book that isn't too long and difficult. The story within a story is similar to Nance's Daemon Hall, Poblocki's Tales to Keep You Up at Night, and Szpirglas' Book of Screams.