Scare Scape

Have you ever picked up a book to read and really didn't have high expectations?  I have.  When I selected Sam Fisher's new book Scare Scape from Scholastic Books to read and review I was expecting another typical  middle-grade, pre-teen fantasy novel the likes of which seems to have proliferated on bookshelves.

 

My first clue that the book was different should have been when I saw the cover and interior art by Sam Bosma.  It didn't look like conventional teen magic/sci-fi/fantasy art.  It looked cool-especially the full-color cover art showing the three main characters facing off against a gaggle of monsters.

The interior art spotlights each of the creatures mentioned in the book which leads up to the story.

When Scare Scape comic book fan Morton and his siblings move into a creepy old Victorian house with their father each has his own reaction.

Morton loves it, his sister Melissa hates it and his older brother James is as complacent as ever.

But when Morgan accidentally runs into a half-buried gargoyle statue with his dad's mower things get really interesting.

Somehow the statue grants the trio their wishes, only not in the manner they expected.
What results is the creatures of Scare Scape become alive and a terrible plague of black magic begins to sweep over their home and eventually their school and community.

Banding together the three siblings must use their wits, courage and the help from newfound friends to unravel the mystery of the gargoyle and attempt to put things back to the way they were.  But there is more to work than simple wish fulfillment.

Dark forces are at work and time is running out before things only get worse.  More than a horror story, Scare Scape is about family, believing in others and the value of friendship.