For fans of R.L. Stine, this supernatural horror follows twelve-year-old Sam to his unsettling family home in Singapore, where his journey to unearth details of his dead mother's life entangles him in a deadly decades-old mystery.Lonely twelve-year-old Sam Wells has never known his mother. So when his maternal grandmother calls with a plane ticket to Singapore, he hopes the trip will give him the answers he's been looking for. But his imposing family home isn't what he expected. His grandmother is a stranger. Spiders crawl over impassible mounds of hoarded mementos. The house is such a labyrinth that Sam can barely make his way through the boxes, let alone find out anything about his mom.
Until he meets her ghost, frozen in time at age twelve.
Something terrible happened when Priya Malhotra was just a schoolgirl in Singapore. Something twisted enough to keep her trapped. Something that might be happening again. Children are going missing as they did decades before in Sam's eerily unsettling neighborhood . . . and the closer Sam gets to the terrifying truth that lurks within the haunted, abandoned factory where the original crimes occurred, the more it seems that Sam will be the next to disappear.
To save himself, he'll have to untangle the mystery. But if he does, will he lose his mom forever?
Moniza Hossain is a Singaporean author of Bengali descent who writes children’s books inspired by her South Asian heritage. She has a Bachelor of Arts with Honours from the National University of Singapore, and a Masters in English Literature from King’s College London. Her works include her debut picture book,
Street Puppy Masjid Cat, and her sophomore picture book,
Ritu In The Sun. She also writes books for middle grade readers. She has a short story in the award winning anthology
Being Ace, and another in an anthology entitled
The Beasts Beneath the Winds. She lives in Manchester with her husband.
Visceral, unsettling imagery sustains the horror-tinged atmosphere, while quieter interludes of connection between Sam and his mother’s ghost lend the story tender warmth. It’s an ominous combination of paranormal suspense and complex mystery that centers grief, memory, and longing.
—Publishers Weekly
The fright factor is maintained through Sam’s frequent nightmares and the appearances of a terrifying ghost stalking Priya. . . . Packed with vivid and gruesome details, this book will appeal to mature readers who relish ghost stories and mysteries.
—School Library Journal
Hossain’s prose is compellingly moody, building suspense slowly while engaging readers on every page. Gothic settings, spectral attacks that leave Sam physically bruised, and eerie elements of South Asian mythology provide thrills for those seeking serious scares. . . . Horror, suspense, and family history collide with marvelously scary results.
—Kirkus Reviews
Vividly evoking an everyday Singapore, Hossain adds sensory details that heighten suspense, and the genuinely creepy images of decay and restless spirits are satisfyingly chilling. Themes of grief, memory, and finding acceptance add heart to this authentically gothic tale. An immersive, shivery read and an impressive, haunting novel.
—Booklist
Equal parts eerie and heartfelt, Hossain’s novel weaves a tale of grief and connection that explores the ways loss can change people. Her descriptions of Singapore and the haunted locations are textured and immersive, tapping into a sense of the uncanny through prose that stimulates the senses. While suspenseful and unsettling, the story shines brightest in its moments of emotional connection and vulnerability.
—The Horn Book
