About The Book
Daniel doesn’t believe the woods behind his new home are haunted by an evil witch and her terrifying beast. But then his little sister disappears and it’s up to him to find her. This chilling graphic-novel version of Mary Downing Hahn’s popular page-turner will thrill readers who love spooky stories.
Buy The Book: https://amzn.to/3LsAVvY
My Rating
This is a middle grade graphic novel/ghost story, of sorts. It focuses on 13 year old Daniel, who moves with his family to a new town, into a house near the woods. There are rumors that kids are taken by an evil witch, and her man eating razorback hog. One day, Daniel’s sister, Erica, goes missing, and the prime suspect is the old witch.
The plot was very slow moving. I don’t know if that was a plot problem or a writing one, but I just wasn’t as interested in the plot as I would have hoped. I thought this was going to be a spooky ghost story, like the Goosebumps series.
However, the novel was pretty creepy. The witch was very evil, so I’d say it is a good October time read. And, the artwork was really beautiful, and brought the story to life. Honestly, the artwork made the story a lot more enjoyable.
The characters in the book were fairly basic. Daniel and Erica were simple, ordinary kids. Also, their parents were fairly unlikable. I found them to be cold, and not loving to their kids.
“People were so fragile, so easily broken, so hard to put back together.”
The biggest issues I had with the story was the mature content. I believe that the book is intended for tweens, but I wouldn’t recommend it for them. There is a lot of focus on child abuse, and some intense seems about it.
Now it’s not a super horrifying abuse story, but it isn’t something I’d say is appropriate for middle schoolers. The abuse aspect made the story less spooky and more sad, which was just weird.
Overall, I don’t think it is a successful “ghost story”. It felt like a middle grade graphic novel that wanted to pull in more mature readers. But, for me child abuse is a bit of a trigger.
In the comments, let me know if you’ve read this book, and don’t forget to follow my blog for more book reviews.
Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny