July 28, 2026 by Delacorte Press
E ARC provided by Netgalley
It’s always been just Garrett Weathers and his mother June, so when they are visited by a lawyer representing his recently deceased grandfather, it’s a bit of a surprise. There’s been years of estrangement, but the grandfather, who wrote under the pen name Alistair Gray, has left his sizable estate to the two, on one condition. They must spend a week at his house in Georgia, Inkwell Point. June is reluctant, but Garrett is curious, so the two set off on an adventure. The house is enormous but very creepy; it looks like the Addams family house, and there are pieces of wooden dolls strewn about. Not only that, but when Garrett moves a chair that is wedged under the closet door in his room, he finds a super creepy, life sized doll there! The lawyer indicates that Alistair had some sort of unsavory project going on, and June is reticent about why she never visited her parents, which makes Garrett even more curious. There’s a locked basement door behind which there are skittering noises, a typewriter that communicates with Garrett, and a creepy attic workshop with even more dolls. The handyman’s son, Wes, agrees to help Garrett investigate, but refuses to enter the house, since he knows how sinister it feels. Garrett learns that his grandmother was a painter as well as a writer, and died some years ago. He also discovers that Alistair’s siblings all died in their 40s and 50s within a very short span of time. Even though the typewriter warns him to leave the dolls alone and to not put any of the pieces back together, Garrett continues to pry into the past, with terrifying results. Will he and his mother be able to understand their troubled legacy and move on?
Strengths: Finding out your grandfather was a bestselling author. Cool. Inheriting his palatial estate. Awesome. Discovering that there are murderous doll corpses with a dark secret strewn everywhere. Terrifying! There were deeply creepy moments scattered throughout the book, but nothing so disturbing that fourth and fifth graders would have nightmares after reading this. I did appreciate that Garrett told his mom some of what was going on, and that she was somewhat sympathetic. The backstory with her father’s past plays out in a sometimes understandable and sometimes fantastical way, and I didn’t quite put together what Alistair’s diabolical plan was. Definitely a twist on the scary doll and haunted house tropes, and another very solid book by this author.
Weakness: I’ve read hundreds of middle grade novels about haunted places and things, and I’m ready for something new. A haunted community center? Park? Little used mall? Dollar store? Church? There are some haunted library and school books. And why is it always dolls? Couldn’t we have haunted books, pets (Red Rover!), backpacks, or technology? Haunted technology would be awesome.
What I really think: I like Gillespie’s work, especially Grin, so will definitely purchase this one for fans of Currie’s It's Watching, Alexander’s Follow Me, and Sutherland’s The Nightmare Next Door. I’m not entirely sure whether the cover is scary or icky, but I can certainly hand sell this if students find the cover TOO disturbing. I know I’ll have to hide the book when my usual substitute covers for me, since she can’t stand scary doll covers!
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