Genre: Horror
Age Range: MG
Star Rating: 4 stars
Series: book 5.5
*SPOILER ALERT: contains SPOILERS for DREAD WOOD, FEAR GROUND, FLOCK HORROR, DEADLY DEEP, and FRIGHT BITE*
Blurb:
Dread Wood High is a school like no other! Angelo and his friends are used to battling horrifying creatures at school – giant spiders that fire poison darts, brain biting worms that burrow into your flesh and vampire birds that drink your blood! These terrifying beasts were brought to life by crazed caretakers-slash scientists, the Latchitts And they aren’t finished yet . . .
In this exclusive World Book Day story, Angelo and therest of Club Loser must venture deep into the tunnels underneath Dread Wood High to rescue their favourite teacher, Mr Canton. But more hideous creations live in the Latchitts’ old laboratories . . . and they’re hungry! Can Club Loser stop these creatures from escaping into the world and make it out in one piece? Read it and see, if you dare!
Blurb taken from Goodreads. Add to your shelves here.
Review:
CREEPY CREATIONS is a World Book Day special short story full of thrills and nostalgia as Club Loser battle through abandoned tunnels to find their teacher.
I loved how CREEPY CREATIONS brings the series back to its origins with an adventure in the school itself, and through tunnels that were key to DREAD WOOD. There are some new monsters introduced but also the return of older ones, which was a really nice mix. It’s a nice way to bring new readers into the series while also providing lots of fun “I remember that!” moments for existing readers.
Being a world book day book, this is quite short, so showcases the author’s skill at getting horror into a short page count where there isn’t the option to have a slow build over many chapters. Instead, it’s packed in using “gleeches”, as Gus would put it (cliches that make you happy when they are used because you enjoy anticipating their use.)
There’s great use of the unknown here with things in the dark that can’t be seen at first, just felt or heard. Knowing what else has come up in the series so far makes the anticipation of the reveal even stronger because you know it’s going to be horrifying.
There’s also plenty of fun moments with Club Loser, showcasing how far they’ve come since the start of the series – and how capable they are. They are pros at dealing with these creatures by now, with time to joke and see to practical matters like food as they go.
I am assuming this entry takes place after FRIGHT BITE due to publication date. It definitely occurs after DEADLY DEEP, as there are references to the first four books of the series. My assumption is that FRIGHT BITE isn’t referenced in order to protect some of the major spoilers in that book for readers who might be discovering the series through this short.
Read my reviews of other books by Jennifer Killick:
Dread Wood (this series):
- DREAD WOOD (#1)
- FEAR GROUND (#2)
- FLOCK HORROR (#3)
- DEADLY DEEP (#4)
- FRIGHT BITE (#5)
Crater Lake:
- CRATER LAKE (#1)
- CRATER LAKE EVOLUTION (#2)
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 