Scare Scape: The Midnight Door (2) (Scare Scape, 2) - Hardcover

Sam Fisher worked as a scenic carpenter on movie sets before quitting his day job to become a writer and teacher. A native of England, Sam now lives with his wife and children in Canada, where he teaches screenwriting and film production at NSCAD University. SCARE SCAPE is his first novel.

Morton and his family have just moved into a creepy old Victorian mansion. Unlike most kids, Morton, a big fan of the horror comic Scare Scape, is thrilled by the home’s spooky cobwebbed corners and secret passageways. While mowing the lawn, Morton comes across a stone gargoyle buried in the dirt, with three wish-granting fingers and one ominous warning about getting what you ask for. Morton and his brother and sister each make a wish, and “Monkey’s Paw”–style, they get way more than they bargained for. The kids battle a series of grotesque and powerful monsters (all illustrated like trading cards in the opening pages), investigate a town-wide case of missing cats, and discover the truth behind the mysterious death of John King, the renowned, reclusive author of Scare Scape, who just so happens to have lived in the house before them. Throw in some maggot-infested steaks, wall-scaling demons, and an evil teacher, and you’ve got a Lovecraft-lite debut full of monster-fighting action and a dark-magic mystery that, while flimsy at times, will nonetheless appeal to burgeoning horror fans. Grades 4-7. --Sarah Hunter