Creep

by Eireann Corrigan

Overview

The haunting tale of a family that moves into a new house and finds that someone — or something — does NOT want them there.

Olivia is curious about the people moving into 16 Olcott Place. The last family there moved out in the dead of night, and the new family, the Donahues, has no idea why. Olivia becomes fast friends with Janie Donahue . . . so she's there at the house when the first of the letters arrives:—I am the Sentry of Glennon Heights. Long ago I claimed 16 Olcott Place as levy for my guardianship. The walls will not tolerate your trespass. The ceilings will bleed and the windows will shatter. If you do not cease your intrusion, the rooms will soon smell of corpses.—Who is the Sentry? And why does the Sentry want the Donahues out of the house badly enough to kill? As Olivia and Janie explore the house, they find a number of sinister secrets . . . and as they explore their town, they find a hidden history that the Sentry wants to remain hidden forever. You can lock the doors. You can close the windows. But you can't keep the Sentry out. . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338095081
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	HL650L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Eireann Corrigan is the author of the poetry memoir You Remind Me of You, and the novels Splintering, Ordinary Ghosts, The Believing Game, Creep, and Accomplice, which Publishers Weekly called "haunting and provocative" in a starred review. She lives in New Jersey.

Editorial Reviews

2019-07-14
Mysterious letters torment the new inhabitants of a house.

The gorgeous, stately Langsom house is among the finest residences of Glennon Heights. After the Langsoms move out—mysteriously—the Donahues move in from out of state. Olivia Danvers becomes fast friends with the new family's youngest daughter, Janie, and gets drawn into the Donahue family dramas. These dramas include something unspoken about Janie's brother, Ben (whom Olivia rapidly develops a crush on), that prompted the move, and Mr. and Mrs. Donahue's volatile relationship. By far, the most interesting oddity at the Donahue house are creepy letters from the self-proclaimed Sentry, warning the family of secrets inside the house and the gruesome fate that awaits them if they stay. While the teens investigate possible suspects and uncover the history of the house (including hidden passages and a secret room with peepholes), Mr. Donahue jumps on the knowledge that the Langsoms also received some letters as a nondisclosure that justifies a lawsuit against multiple parties, including the real estate agent and the Langsoms—a move that doesn't make his new-to-town kids popular. After a very slow-burning plot, when the pieces come together they come hard and fast, overly explaining the mystery and leading to an abrupt climax. All characters seem to default to white.

Despite interpersonal storylines stuck in ruts and an underwhelming ending, the creepy house moments land well. (Horror/thriller. 12-adult)

Kirkus Reviews