by Joshua Skye:
Spencer “Spooky” Lawson, our fearless zombie hero, has found an enthusiastic confidant in Donny, the new kid on the block. Together, they make a fun and mischievous team.
Mr. Lawson is helping out with a fundraiser, the goal of which is to raise money to renovate an abandoned old schoolhouse and turn it into a museum. Interest in Schoolhouse Number Five transcends the mundane, however. While on a relatively routine visit to the old ruined building with his dad and Donny, Spooky runs into The Hellchasers, a group of paranormal investigators desperate to get inside. It seems that Schoolhouse Number Five is haunted. Spooky and Donny are more than ready for the adventure. You should be, too.
The maturity level continues to grow in the third installment of “The Spooky Chronicles.” We find Spooky staring at girls and there’s even a naughty expletive or two. There’s nothing crude or overt, however (there are no F-Bombs here). It remains age-appropriate, just with a little added bite. Think “Harry Potter” and you’ll be on the right track.
As a genre fan, I am constantly amused by the references Ranson makes throughout his enchanting series. The winks in “Schoolhouse Number Five” are no exception. I was particularly fond of the nod to “Short Circuit.” In spite of these amusements, the third outing in the Spooky saga has a more serious tone to it then the previous two. I quite like that not all of Spooky’s attempts at humor are laugh-out-loud moments, sometimes the comedy stems from how realistically awkward those moments are. As the parent of a future class-clown, I know them only too well. Intentional or not, this character quirk only further endears Spooky to us as readers.
“The Spooky Chronicles: Schoolhouse Number Five” is confidently written, fun, and imaginative. Thankfully, it is not a typical haunted house story. It has a unique twist to it, a trait I have come to expect from this series. And hey, it’s Spooky! Gotta love him.
DarkMedia contributor Joshua Skye’s short stories have appeared in anthologies from STARbooks Press, Knightwatch Press, Sirens Call Publications, Rainstorm Press, JMS Books and periodicals such as Blood and Lullabies. He is the author of “The Singing Wind,” “Bareback: A Werewolf’s Tale,” “Midnight Rainbows,” the forthcoming “The Grigori,” and “The Angels of Autumn.” You can find him on his website.The Spooky Chronicles: Schoolhouse Number Five can be found on Amazon.com.
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