Bad Things Happened Here

Hossain, Moniza. Bad Things Happened Here
September 1, 2026 by Holiday House
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Sam Wells is somewhat reluctant to spend a month in Singapore with his maternal grandmother, Jyoti, but since his mother died when he was a baby, it seems like a good opportunity to learn more about her. Sam is concerned when he sees his grandmother's house: it's packed with items, not very clean, and in an oppressively gloomy neighborhood. The two neighbors he meets, Aunty Nurual and Paul, a frail Australian man, seem nice enough, and he even meets a boy his age, Hafiz. His grandmother teaches English, so Sam has a chance to look around the house and try to find out things about his mother. His grandmother hasn't cleaned out her room, although his mother never returned to Singapore after starting college. The most disturbing thing is that Sam sees a horrific ghost, but also his mother at the age of twelve! Priya Malhotra, his mother, claims she isn't a ghost, but there's clearly something horrible that has gone on. Sam and Hafiz find an abandoned factory in the neighborhood, and come across a decades old Nokia phone with "Tammy" bedazzled on it. They do some research and find that there have been a number of neighborhood children who have gone missing over the years, and feel that they need to solve the mystery of what happened to Tammy so that her spirit, and possibly Priya's spirit, can move on. Neither Sam's grandmother nor Aunty Nural will talk about the disappearances, and it turns out that both of their husbands were questioned in Tammy's disappearance. The boys even go to visit Tammy's mother, claiming they are researching her death for a school project. She isn't interested in talking to them, but Tammy's sister does, and tells the boys that she has also seen her sister's ghost. When Hafiz goes missing, Sam knows that it's up to him to not only solve the mystery of Tammy's disappearance, but to figure out what it has to do with his new friend's absence. 
Strengths: I was not entirely sure where this story was heading, but my students will be delighted that it heads off in the direction of a serial killer! The murderer ends up being VERY close to home, and there are some nerve wracking scenes of horror, both with the ghost and with the human culprit. The Singapore setting was interesting, although it seems a bit too humid and hot for me to want to actually visit. The hoarding issue was an interesting inclusion, and it was good to see that Sam's presence made the grandmother take a look at her lifestyle and make some changes. This definitely has several different levels of scariness to it. It's perfect for middle school, but maybe a little too much for elementary students. 
Weaknesses: This may need to be hand sold, because the cover is a bit murky. It does capture the atmosphere of the book, but doesn't seem to capture the horror well. While I'm not a fan of the dead parent trope, at least there was a reason for the mother to have passed away, so that Sam could connect with her ghost and solve a crime from her childhood. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like April Henry's books but are willing to read books that involve ghosts, like Oh's Spirit Hunters or Young's What Stays Buried. I will buy a copy for my school library, since horror books are the number one type my students request.