Dan Poblocki

{My thoughts} – Just when I’d thought this series was concluded it came back with an incredible addition. The Shadow House is definitely a creepy house. This book is a lot like the previous three. It is about the Larkspur house and mentions some more of the background history that the readers hadn’t already read about in the previous books.

Larkspur house is dying since the last children it had gathered up had managed to escape. Since they had escaped that meant it needed new children. New children whose fear it needed to heal and mend itself so that it could continue on living.

There are quite a few twists in this book that leave me wondering if there is going to be more to come or if this was the conclusion. I really enjoyed reading through this book as I did the previous three. It has some illustrations in it that you can find a graphic on that then can be entered into the APP that has been developed for the series to get more bonus short stories to read as well. I think the APP addition was a brilliant idea and that it allows children to better explore the world of Shadow House.

I recommend this book and the series for any child that has shown an interest in scary type stories and or books. It’s a very mellow horror for children and it is an interesting story to read. If your child is interested in this genre then it is worth picking up the first book in the series at least to see if they like it and would like to read the remainder of the books that have released.… (more)

This appears to be the conclusion to. Dash, Azumi and Poppy’s adventure. There are tons of twists and turns throughout the pages as well as mystery and problem solving. I have to admit when I’d first started reading the series I hadn’t thought it was going to be as engaging for me as it was.

It’s a nice little mold horror series for younger children. It’s not even remotely close to scary in my opinion, however some of the descriptions within the pages could be considered scary to a younger audience.

I think of your child enjoys telling spooky ghost stories or likes to be extremely mildly scared, that they will more then likely enjoy this series.… (more)

{My thoughts} – “Lakespur House can twist your thoughts and make you believe things that aren’t true. Or it can make you forget what was once important, so that you lose yourself entirely.” -Moriko

Poppy, Marcus, Dash, Dylan and Azumi all return for another haunting adventure within the walls of the Lakespur House. They have to try and keep their thoughts true to themselves and not allow outside things to influence their judgment. This proves to be a very trying situation for each one of them. They have fragments of their memory that seem real and fragments that seem off or different or made up, they aren’t entirely sure. The wander the house in search of a way out and instead find more ways to get lost, more ways to question their sanity and more ways to be split up and or separated from one another.

This book is an incredible addition to the series. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and seeing where the author was going with the storyline. I enjoyed all the unsuspecting twists and turns and the lure within the writing that helped to pull me into the story. The added pictures and or illustrations helped to make it virtually impossible for me to put the book down until I’d reached the end.

I look forward to reading the shorts within the app as soon as possible, because I know they add to the lure of the story.

I highly recommend this book and series for anyone that enjoys soft horror. It was a pleasurable read that kept me on my toes.… (more)

{My thoughts} – Dash, Dylan, Poppy, Marcus, and Azumi are about to take part in a massive life changing event. They need to keep their wits about them, they need to be smarter then the situation around them and they need to try not to be too scared.

Dash and Dylan are twin actors that have been invited to the Shadow House to do a movie production. Poppy was invited be her long lost relative. Marcus was invited to attend as a music prodigy. Azumi was invited for academics. When each of the children arrive they question where everyone is and why they seem to be the only ones around. They wonder around and look from room to room in search of other individuals but they don’t find anyone right away.

They do find other things that are questioning. They also discover things about the house that catches most of them off guard to the point where they don’t want to believe some of the things that they are seeing. Can they trust their eyes or should they continue to question their own sanity levels?

This book is very nicely written and was really hard to put down. I enjoyed reading it and I hope that my kids will one day enjoy it as well. If you’d like to know what happens please don’t hesitate and read this book. It’s really mild horror even for a childrens book and a well written piece of work.

{The APP} – I also downloaded the APP that goes along with the book. It is well thought out and I like the way that it is put together. I like how you need the book to advance in the APP. I also like how it is made like a pick your own ending kind of thing. Very enjoyable!… (more)