The Haunting of #AvelineJones is the debut book from Phil Hickes. It’s creepy, atmospheric and down right terrifying! It is the perfect Halloween read to curl up with on a dark and windy evening… if you dare! And that cover by Keith Richardson is just amazing!
Phil Hickes has just BURST onto the Middle Grade scene with his chilling story ‘The Haunting of Aveline Jones’. When we meet Aveline, we find out she is on her way to stay with her Aunt Lilian for a few days while her mother goes to take care of her poorly grandmother.
Aveline’s Aunt lives in a quiet and weird little town near the sea called Malmouth – where nothing ever happens. And if she had of known that her Aunt put a 30 minute time limit on using the computer then she would have brought some books to read!
Thankfully though, Aveline discovers a quirky second hand book shop owned by my favourite character in the book – Ernest Lieberman and his nephew Harold. Mr Lieberman, as her Aunt Lilian warned earlier, is a real chatterbox. Anyway Aveline manages to get away long enough to scour the bookshop to look for her favouite kind of stories – ghost stories.
One book in particular about local folklore catches her eye and what becomes apparent next is that she shares a connection with the its previous owner – Primrose Penberthy who mysteriously disappeared over 30 ago and was never found.
As Halloween approaches strange things begin to happen in Aunt Lilian’s house and more and more of those creepy scarecrows (which are described in such a horrifying way that I’ll be having nightmares about them myself. Thanks Phil!) keep appearing around the town. And the threat of a vengeful and petrifying ghost looking to take back what she once lost!
The author Phil Hickes is able to make you feel you are in Malmouth IRL. He does such a good job of describing how terrifying and dark the town is that you can’t help but get sucked in. I think a lot of readers will also relate to Aveline and her love of ghost stories just adds to her quirkiness. What I also like in this book in particular is how the adults are actually not annoying. They are understanding and empathetic and give the youngsters respect and space to just be themselves. It’s summed up really well by this quote from the book…
She appreciated Mr Lieberman asking her advice. Most adults simply told you what was going to happen next. Being consulted on something as important as this made her like the old man even more.
The Haunting of Aveline Jones
It’s true and probably really obvious by now that I really enjoyed this book and so will all children and adults. It really is excellent and a perfectly chilling way to get you in the mood for Halloween. But, (no not that kind of butt) there is something I didn’t like… it wasn’t long enough! I wanted more. You can easily curl up in bed or on the sofa in front of a crackling fire and read this in on go. With biscuits obviously.
I cannot wait for book 2 which has already been announced and it is called – ‘The Bewitching of Aveline Jones’ so be on the lookout for that one. If it’s as scary as this one then I’ll definitely be reading it under the covers.
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I’ve also had the pleasure of interviewing the author Phil Hickes which you can read here.
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