You’ve Let Them In (Lois Murphy, Transit Lounge)

Scott is not happy when his hippy stepmum convinces his dad to buy a house straight out of The Amityville Horror. A far cry from their comfortingly overcrowded flat, the new place is smelly, old and filthy—and the grungy garden gnome in the backyard won’t stop talking. When Scott’s mate convinces him to hold a seance as a joke, then the trouble really starts. Scott is a very typical teenage boy: he spends the first half of the book skiving off working on the house, understandably upset over the upheaval of his life. The scenes of him alone in his new, unwanted room at night, thinking about his life before his mum died are really well written—not overly emotional but effective. The scary stuff is great too, often with a touch of humour, and a few scenes genuinely made me stop reading to check all the corners in my room. You’ve Let Them In has some minor swearing, so booksellers might feel like they need to check with parents before selling it to children younger than 10. That withstanding, this is a great read for horror fans, especially boys aged 11 and up, and readers who enjoyed Skulduggery Pleasant or Kenneth Oppel’s The Nest.

Dani Solomon is the assistant manager of Readings Kids.

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