Spooky mysteries and curses hit today's review...just in time for the Halloween season! This is the first book in a new series for middle graders, and it promises to pack tons of chills and thrills and bumps in the dark. I do have the impression that this one leans more in a Goosebump direction... which is totally fine with me!
Grab those flashlights and throw that blanket over your head because its time to take a peek.
THE OLD PERSON CURSE
Between Dark and Light
by Chris von Halle
Middle Grade Horror
36 pages
ages 10 to 14
12 years old one day, 80 the next…
Azie has no idea she and her family just moved into a cursed Victorian house in small town upstate New York. Until she learns about the Old Person Disease. Apparently, all the kids who ever lived in Azie’s new house over the past few generations died of a mysterious illness nobody ever knew the source of or how to cure. The disease slowly made the victims’ skin crinkle and hair gray out like an elderly person’s until they died a few days later. And now the same thing’s happening to Azie! Can she and her new friends find out what’s at the root of the bizarre illness and finally stop it—before she and future generations meet the same untimely fate?
Between Dark and Light is a series of nonconnected children’s horror books featuring strange, eerie, supernatural events. Ages 10 & older!
Azie has no idea she and her family just moved into a cursed Victorian house in small town upstate New York. Until she learns about the Old Person Disease. Apparently, all the kids who ever lived in Azie’s new house over the past few generations died of a mysterious illness nobody ever knew the source of or how to cure. The disease slowly made the victims’ skin crinkle and hair gray out like an elderly person’s until they died a few days later. And now the same thing’s happening to Azie! Can she and her new friends find out what’s at the root of the bizarre illness and finally stop it—before she and future generations meet the same untimely fate?
Between Dark and Light is a series of nonconnected children’s horror books featuring strange, eerie, supernatural events. Ages 10 & older!
MY TIDBITS
Chills, thrills, and unexpected twists and turns mark every page in this slightly dark and oh-so-fun read.
Twelve-years-old Azie knows that moving into a new home means a few challenges, but she never expects things to become as difficult as they do in her families' Victorian home. She hears rumors that every child, who's lived in the house, has died of an Old Person's Disease. When she wakes up one morning to find herself aging, too, she can't believe her eyes. The house is cursed and the clock is ticking. If she and her friends don't figure out how to reverse the curse soon, she'll be the next child to join the house's growing list.
This book is suggested for the older end of the middle grade audience, and it fits that level perfectly. The writing flows and draws into the story as Azie moves into her new home. Everything is familiar enough to allow the reader to fall into the scenes and get lost in the tale. Azie and the other characters come across naturally, make understandable decisions and react in a sympathetic way. So, when the curse takes hold and Azie finds herself fighting for her life, it's hard not to get invested and hope she makes it.
While this does stay appropriate for the age group and there isn't any gore, death, or extreme violence, the author still creates eerie moments and lets the tension rise in all the right spots. Something is always happening, making it hard to put the book down. And there are surprises, which are not easy to see coming. It's a fun read for dark mystery and thriller fans.
And here he is...
Chris von Halle has always been fascinated with the dark edges of life, and the light that always seems to be trying to prick through. Between Dark and Light represents the war that’s constantly raging between the two forces. Chris lives in Mendham, New Jersey, and enjoys watching tennis, playing video games, and creating the occasional comic strip.
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