The summer Jake turns twelve, he befriends a pair of siblings new to town, and so Calvin decides to initiate them all into the “Saturday Night Ghost Club.” But as the summer goes on, what begins as a seemingly lighthearted project may ultimately uncover more than any of its members had imagined. I hate writing a review like this, and I know that the author put a lot of work into the book (as every author does) and that other people really liked it.Growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls–a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place–Jake Baker spends most of his time with his uncle Calvin, a kind but eccentric enthusiast of occult artifacts and conspiracy theories.

And though I generally rate lower than the average book reviewer, this is the first book I’ve ever rated 1 star (I gave 1.5 stars once last year). Instead, I found myself wondering what the point of it was. I’m not generally one for horror anyway (and the fact that I read it a few days before Halloween is completely coincidence, as I don’t really do Halloween), but I thought it’d be a fun, intriguing read. Also, the book is possibly meant to be YA–it depends on where you look, but the MC is 12, after all–but there is some language and references to adult situations. The “reveal” wasn’t very exciting, and I found it strange that the previous events didn’t all tie together like it seemed like they should (hard to explain what I mean without spoiling). I could have done without them, especially the too-descriptive explanations about how a brain looks and feels, and what it’s like to do surgery on one. The reception of these parts seems to vary widely from reviewer to reviewer. Because she’s older, I guess?Įach chapter begins with tales of adult Jake’s life, from stories about his neurosurgeon cases to an account of his son being born. The girl felt like such a stereotype, and from the moment she’s introduced, Jake sees her as a goddess…for what reason, I still can’t tell you. And the characters were limp and/or cliched. The very first legend this club investigated was nice and creepy, and I thought it would ramp up from there. What really happens is that the summer passes quickly and only 5 local legends are investigated, the MC (Jake) goes long stretches without seeing his Uncle Calvin, and the only comparison that can be made to Stranger Things is that the book is set in the 80s and there are kids who do things. Oh, and you may see the book listed as horror.

And in some places online, the book is compared to Stranger Things. It mentions the MC’s uncle with whom the MC spends most of his time. The blurb for this book says that it’s about some kids who spend the summer investigating local urban legends and ghost stories.

The saturday night ghost club review