Happy Halloween: A Creepers Book Review
Released in 1998, Creepers: Happy Halloween was the 5th out of 6 books released in the Creepers series. Although Edgar J. Hyde is credited as the author (which is obviously a pen name), at the back of each book it reads:
This series was conceived by Edgar J Hyde and much of the text was provided by his minions under the slavish conditions and pain of death! Thankfully none of the minions defied their master and so we can say ‘thank you’ to them for toughing it out and making this series possible.
Edgar J. Hyde, 1997
As you can then imagine, the writing style may differ somewhat between each book. This is the first Creepers book I have read and then reviewed – so I have no benchmark to say whether the writing style of this particular book is similar to the rest.
With that out of the way, let’s get into the blurb…
Blurb
3 siblings (Samantha, James and Mandy) are taken on a short holiday to a village over the Halloween weekend by their parents. Whilst exploring the cottage that they are staying in, they come across a spell book and other magic paraphernalia in the attic. With nothing else to really do at this point before they go trick-or-treating, they decide to dabble with the occult.
Samantha, the oldest of the siblings, discovers that she is the only one that can harness the power of magic. James and Mandy try their hand at casting spells, but this does not work. Very much like in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone published in the previous year, a wizard comes to Samantha in the night telling her that she is a witch and that she must attend a meeting on Halloween night.
But is all as it seems? Samantha finds herself drawn into the dangerous world of witchcraft. Will it be all happy spellcasting and pumpkin juice – or will it be a terrifying ordeal where she will be fighting for her life?!
Themes in Happy Halloween
Witchcraft/ Occult Horror
The 90s were the heyday for the witchcraft craze. A surge in books, films and TV series marked the captivation of the zeitgeist with all things witchy. There are many references to the occult in this novel, however, these are not as strong or as frequent as the similarities of the main turning points in the story to that of the first Harry Potter book.
Many themes and turning points are so similar to that of The Philosopher’s Stone, it may lead you to think these have been, heaven forbid, ripped off. Whilst I believe there is no such thing as truly original ideas, and that all ideas are derivative, the similarities between Happy Halloween and Harry Potter are too strong to ignore.
Morality Tales
There would not have been much of a story if Hagrid bust into the Dursley’s hideaway, and Harry refused to leave for Hogwarts with him because of ‘stranger danger’. Harry Potter would have not been an epic tale of a young boy learning magic and fighting the forces of darkness, but a police incident of harassment and potential kidnapping.
Happy Halloween is a fable, of sorts. The moral of the story is, people lie and they may not be who they say they are. But more importantly, be worried if an adult is complementing a child – this could be grooming. For this, I like that there is a message in the novel to help keep kids safe,
Summary
I did not enjoy how much of the dialogue was presented in this book. Despite the small page count for this novel, conversations between the kids felt like it went on forever. The same could be said in the scene where Samantha is learning a particular spell – the frustration and boredom experienced learning spells was also felt by me reading it. It dragged!
Regarding the language used by the kids in this book, what came straight to mind was that kids don’t speak like this. A lot of the way the kids spoke struck me as a combination of the following, how middle-aged, quirky, middle-class people speak, and how a caricature of ‘the English’ would talk. Whilst some may get a chuckle from this, I was not one of those people. As an adult, there was one conversation that got a small laugh from me:
“Isn’t it amazing how parents find garden centres so fascinating,” said James, “I find them boring, boring, boring.”
Happy Halloween, p.27
“I know what you mean,” agreed Sam[antha], “I mean, they actually go around them with smiles on their faces as they see – I don’t know – this season’s most fashionable begonia, or-or-or the lesser-spotted-Outer-Mongolian Rhododendron in electric blue, with speed lines and a soft top.”
Despite the negatives above, there are the ingredients to a somewhat entertaining read. A darker take on the “You’re a wizard Harry” storyline provides a lesson for any kids who have read this.
I also appreciated the cheesy Halloween imagery later on in the story:
The walls were covered in thick, green slime, which oozed down to the floor and accumulated in thick puddles. Rats the size of terriers scuttled over the floor, which was covered with the skeletons of dead rats and mice, as well as slime.
Happy Halloween, p.93
Whilst not the most eloquent description, even by a kid’s novel standards, I am a sucker for cheese – and this book was full of it!
I was not a fan of the ending for similar reasons why I disliked the ending of Don’t Ever Get Sick at Granny’s, at least the ending in this novel was slightly more creative.
There was the odd moment that I found entertaining, but most of the book was miss, rather than hit.
