The Nightmarys

Title: Poblocki, Dan.  The Nightmarys.  New York: Random House, 2010.  Print.

Overview: When Timothy July and Abigail Tremens are partnered for a history project they don't realize that their once separate lives are going to become intertwined by waking nightmares.  Both haunted by different horrors - the ghosts of two girls who made Abigail's world a living hell, and a dead and rotted vision of Timothy's brother, Ben - the two come together to find out just what's going on and why they're being haunted.  With the help of Abigail's grandmother they work to find out the truth and put an end to the horror.

Critical Analysis:  From the opening scene this is a book filled with horror and scary things going on.  The style the author uses to describe the details makes the nightmares come to life. It's easy to see exactly what Timothy, Abigail, and the others are seeing.  As the book progresses it becomes harder for the characters to discern the nightmare from reality and keep the two separate.  They must use tricks to keep the nightmares from overtaking them and the fear from paralyzing them.  The book is very much about taking a person's deepest fears and using them against that person.  With elements of magic, the book definitely delivers on the scare factor.  Unlike a lot of horror books it wraps up nicely at the end which I found satisfying.

Book Recommendations With Similar Themes:

1. Rotters by Daniel Kraus.  Joey Crouch lived a life like any other American teenager until an accident kills his mother and he's sent to live with a father he knows next to nothing about.  A father who disappears for days at a time, coming back with strange things he locks in a safe in his room.  His father's profession is anything but legal, most definitely macabre...and Joey's about to learn the family business.