A Midsummer Night's Scream

Gr 7–10—Sixteen-year-old Claire and her friend Delia have just gotten their big break in show business: they are starring in a remake, 60 years later, of Mayhem Manor, a film that started production in 1960. The movie was never completed due to multiple deaths on the set. Some say that the film is cursed, although Claire's parents, who own the studio, are banking on it being a hit. But the remake is also marked by multiple gruesome deaths, and the cast and crew begin to think that the curse may be real. When Claire meets Mr. Puckerman, a strange, hairy little man in an unmarked trailer, who claims to be a master of potions, she finds him suspicious-especially since she is the only person who sees him. Claire wants to be a star, but she doesn't want to die. Stine, master of light horror for middle grade readers, seems slightly out of his depth in the young adult market. The characters are superficial and flat, the plot is disjointed and lacking an air of menace, and the incorporation of Shakespearean elements is clumsily done. No doubt this book will attract some readers looking for something a step up from the author's usual fare, but horror aficionados are more likely to find themselves laughing rather than shuddering.—Misti Tidman, Licking County Library, Newark, OH