SPOILERS AHEAD

I'm a middle school librarian who read this book to make sure the content was appropriate for my students. The "fear level" is appropriate for this age group, but I would not recommend it to any child who is terrified of clowns. Horror is not a genre I genuinely like nor read, and this book didn't change my mind on that. BUT I hope my thoughts are helpful for librarians and parents alike.

Two Sentence Summary: A group of 8th graders and high school freshmen receive ominous notes on Halloween telling them to go to the graveyard. What they find there begins a series of nightmares and freakish events that force them to face their deepest fears.

The story is pretty straightforward, which is good for middle schoolers and boring for adults. The fears addressed are sharks, clowns, snakes, ghosts, and being buried alive. One character, Kyle, fears snakes, but it's revealed that what he really fears is his abusive father. The abuse is handled appropriately for this age, but I definitely felt like his dad played a lot into the "stereotypical bad father" trope. The things he said and did were very generic. While tropes aren't necessarily bad for middle schoolers, it makes the characters feel fake. What adds to that is that every time snakes are brought up, so is Kyle's abusive dad. Over and over again. Another thing that happens repeatedly is the characters knowing something only through some "deep pit in their stomach". The situation may look one way, but then the character knows "deep down" it's something else. This happens too many times. It wasn't until the end that I thought "I've read this before..."

The part when readers find out Caroline's mom died and that she and her dad didn't say anything to anyone about it was unbelievable. How could people not know? In schools, news like that spreads whether or not it's put in the newspaper. The creepiest part was when her dead mother, who is actually just the clown acting like her mother, tries to get her to join her in the grave. That is a little intense for middle school. My final qualm with this book is how Caroline gets buried alive and her friends IMMEDIATELY think she's dead. First, she didn't need to get fully buried (in my opinion) and second, she was not buried long enough to think she was dead. Was that just because they were young and didn't know any better? Not sure.

LibraryThing* Rating: 3 Stars - I think students will like it more than I did
Book Lady* Rating: 1 Star - Not for me

I liked the...
- Positive message
- Use of teamwork to fight the clown

I disliked the...
- Representation of the parents/lack thereof
- Title - "fear" is relevant but "zone"???

Content: 7th Grade and up, frightening scenes and threat of death

Recommended for students who like horror books and are ready to take it up a notch.

*LibraryThing rating takes into consideration the intended audience's comprehension and interests.
**Book Lady Rating is what I would give it if I based it on my personal preference and likes/dislikes. ( )

I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler-free way. Unfortunately, there is still always a risk of slight spoilers despite my best efforts. If you feel something in my review is a spoiler please let me know. Thank you.

It wasn't bad. It was a really quick read, which left it a bit hard to really connect with any of the characters on a personal level. It might be that it was because of the clown, but I can't help but feel like this might have been inspired by It by Stephen King. So much reminds me of it only child proofed.

It was a bit spooky though and crushes between the characters were cute. It really is hard to believe that this was a 300 page book though. It reads super quickly. I'm guessing it is because this is meant to be middle-grade audiences, which may also explain my inability to really connect with the characters. All in all, though this was a decent read. ( )