This middle-grade horror was chock-full of chills and spooky summer vibes. It also dealt thoughtfully with themes of loss and grief while building on a powerful backbone of close friendship between kids who've all been through emotional situations both separately and together. I picked it up based on a recommendation that compared it tonally and thematically to Stranger Things, and it absolutely lived up to that comparison!

One thing I especially appreciated about this book was the author's care in choosing the "fears" that the monster uses against its victims. It would've been easy to include things that would be not-fun scary to real-life kids (gun violence, cops, etc.), but while the fears are still real things and sometimes deal with heavy topics (like the main character's mother's recent death), there are comparatively few things that I think would be traumatizing to young readers.

I adored how the characters were written—each human and flawed, but not necessarily in a way that needed to be "fixed." The friends shore up each other's weaknesses and reassure and support each other even while they're all afraid and in danger. Also, it was great to see a male MC who goes to therapy (I think the book uses the word 'counseling') and actually uses the things he's learned without there being any stigma around it or around his grief and anxiety.

The book's ending left an opening for a sequel, and I really hope there is one because I had a great time reading this story and I'm not ready to leave the world and characters behind! I highly recommend this to readers of all ages, but particularly to kids/preteens who are into horror and can handle a moderate-to-high level of scary.

content warnings: loss of a parent to illness; financial insecurity/debt collectors; rats, snakes, and spiders; brief mention of medical needles