We loved the first two books in this series. They were kind of scary, but this one feels a little different, as the author ties the supernatural element to a lamp used in a theater in Eerie-on-Sea, while the first two books featured creatures that were forces of nature, natural beings that resided in Eerie but weren’t inherently evil. In fact, in those books, other than figuring out his nemesis’ latest plan, Herbie’s biggest challenge was understanding why the creatures did what they did to be able to stop them, before others killed them.
In this book understanding the creature is indeed one of Herbie’s challenges, but the being featured in this tale is inherently evil and it gives the story a more horror / spine-tingly feel overall. Not bad, just different.
Eerie has an All Hallows’ Eve tradition of holding a puppet show called Ghastly Night to ward off the Shadowghast, a sort of nightmare creature that can steal your shadow, if you’re not careful. What happens once your shadow’s stolen is less clear.
Lady Kracken brings in a famous magician, Caliastra, to do the show in the dilapidated Theater at the End of the Pier, instead of the town’s Dr. Thalassi and Mrs. Fossil, proprietess of the Flotsamporium and sole vendor of manglewicks, a sort of mangled candle the whole town lights during the Ghastly Night puppet show to ward off the Shadowghast.
Herbie Lemon, the Nautilus Hotel’s Lost-and-Founder resident orphan, learns Caliastra knew his mother. She knew both his parents, however briefly, aboard the ship, the SS Nautilus, before it sank off Eerie and orphaned Herbie. And she offers Herbie a home. A “real” home. With her traveling show.
Or is it all smoke and mirrors, designed to get Herbie away from the hotel and relative safety, and set the stage for one of Sebastian Eels’ nefarious plans?
Yeah, I thought so too.
It turns out, Caliastra is controlling the Shadowghast with a silver orb inside a magic dragon lantern and she has big plans for the Ghastly Night puppet show. Including turning Violet against Herbie.
Or is it her plan – at all? Is it possible someone – very sneaky – is controlling Caliastra? Someone who’s already stolen her shadow? Someone like …Sebastian Eels?
I won’t spoil how the kids defeat him, again. Or what Herbie learns about his family.
Love the creepy feel to this latest book in the Eerie-on-Sea series.
