Amicus Arcane

(2.5 Stars)

This book was good, the first half of the book (The Fearsome Foursome) was slightly better IMHO, but both volumes were enjoyable. It is obviously "YA Fiction", but don't let that scare you away. It is campy and clever, well written, and has all the tropes of many horror stories you might read. Readers of the Goosebumps series will enjoy this book, but so will adults looking for the nostalgia of Disney's Haunted Mansion ride. I am looking forward to finishing up with volumes III and IV because, you know... there's always room for one more.… (más)

Middle schooler Shelley shows off in class by bringing the frog she's dissecting back to life. Already an outcast, this display of her scientific genius makes things worse, but it does bring her former best friend Hank back into her life. Hank's brother died a few years ago, but Shelley might be able to help.
Then we meet obnoxious Chris and his two friends, who don't really like Chris. When the class takes a trip to a local lighthouse, Chris claims he saw the legendary, and dead, pirate captain who is said to have hidden his treasure along the coast, and Chris talks the others into risking their lives to retrieve it.
The stories are all tied together by the story of asylum patient Prudence Pock, who was a famous horror writer at one time, but who now sits in her cell making up stories and waiting for visits from Dr. Ackerman, who finds her both terrifying and intriguing.

Another superb volume in the series, these fall under the tag of "horror lite" for me. They feature some horrible situations (children often die) and plenty of humor.… (más)

The second in the series sees Haunted Mansion librarian Arcane bringing a grieving young man into the mansion because the stranger insists on a meeting with Madame Leota, whom he's heard was the best medium to have ever lived. The problem is that Madame Leota supposedly died years before, and the young man is searching for someone who can verify that she was genuine. That someone is Arcane, who is compelled to tell his visitor the life stories of several of the mansion's residents, such as the young girl who refuses to speak, or the "man" who lives in the mansion's graveyard.
This is the third I've read in the series (I've jumbled the order a bit), and each is sinister and fun, as Arcane can't stop himself from breaking into his own stories with asides for the reader.… (más)