Are You Afraid of the Dark? by Rin Chupeco
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Many of you probably remember, hopefully fondly, the 1990s-Horror Anthology television series for young people called Are You Afraid of the Dark? I loved that show and all things related to it.
Recently, I binge-watched The Midnight Society on Netflix and it made me hugely nostalgic for this series. As I was searching the web for more content, I stumbled across this book about a week before its release date.
Seeing Rin Chupeco’s name on the cover sealed the deal, I ordered it immediately. Having read YA Horror from Chupeco before, I knew this would be good. I just knew it!
Spoiler alert: I was right.
In this story we meet Levi, who is the new boy in town. He gets the opportunity to try out to be a member of the Midnight Society. This book is the story he tells around the campfire that night.
First, let me just say, Levi is definitely getting in and deservedly if this is the story he is telling. I became so immersed in this and loved how it all played out.
The story follows Zane, who is also a new boy in town, after his family inherits a haunted mansion. He moves to town with his Dad and his little sister, Emma.
Local legend says the property is haunted by the Gravemother, a woman who was apparently suspected of kidnapping and harming local children.
It doesn’t take long before Zane comes to believe the legends are true. Even though they aren’t living at the property, it needs some heavy renovating, they do spend time there and Zane starts to see and experience things he can’t explain.
Along with his new friend, Garrett, who started out as a bit of an enemy, Zane digs into investigating the legend for himself. Are the stories about the Gravemother true? And even if they are, how can they help her to rest?
I really enjoyed this story. It had so many fun elements and was written really well. Zane’s friend Garrett has his own ghost-hunting team. How could you not love that?!
I think Chupeco did a great job transitioning into the Spooky Middle Grade genre. There is quite a difference between YA Horror and Middle Grade Horror and I feel like they navigated that so well.
The imagery was great, the story fluid, fun and engaging and there was also great messages about family, friendships and personal growth. I felt like it was so thoughtfully written for the target audience.
The highlight of this for me was the friendship between Zane and Garrett. I feel like Chupeco nailed the natural progression of new friendships.
In the beginning, I thought Zane and Garrett were going to have real issues; like a bully situation. Happily though, they were able to advance past that and become supportive friends. They also acknowledged it and communicated their feelings to one another.
It was nice to see and I think in a MG story, it sets a great example for Younger Readers. This is more than a spooky story, there’s substance here.
Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this. While I don’t think it will stick in my mind for years to come, I had a great time with it in the moment and that’s what I was looking for.
I’m hoping this is a start of an all-new revamp of this series. I would love to see future installments from other talented writers like Chupeco.
I would definitely recommend this to any fan of the original series, new fans, or any Young Readers who enjoy a spooky story. This was a lot of fun!
