Peril at Price Manor

by Laura Parnum

Overview

Fans of Ghost Squad will love this lightly scary creature feature standalone novel about a tween aspiring horror movie actress who pairs up with the twin children of her favorite director to defeat zombifying octopus-like creatures!

Halle dreams of becoming a scream queen. She practices her loudest scream every day and has learned a lot from studying the horror movies of her favorite director, Maximus Price. Maximus lives just outside town, and when the chance to go to his home arises, Halle grabs it with both hands. She doesn’t realize that real life horrors await her at Price Manor.

Paisley and Argyle, Maximus’s twin children, think that the creepy, squid-like creatures that have attached themselves to the faces of the manor’s staff, putting them in a zombie-like stupor, are just another one of their prankster dad’s tricks. When Halle arrives and is attacked by one of the creatures, she meets the twins and assures them that this is no joke. The three kids will have to work together using all of their unusual talents to defeat the monsters—and maybe even save the world.

Blending quirky humor and poignant heart with delightfully creepy monsters, this debut middle grade novel is a perfect entry point for young readers to the horror genre.

“Price Manor is perfectly mysterious. With just the right amount of chills and thrills, I was hooked from page one!”—Lindsay Currie, author of Scritch Scratch and The Girl in White

"It's Alien in a spooky mansion. Nonstop action, tentacles, and slime. So much fun."—J.W. Ocker, author of The Smashed Man of Dread End

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063249530
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/08/2023
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	291,274
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Laura Parnum writes stories that blend humor and heart with a touch of horror. When she’s not writing, she’s editing other people’s stories and helping out at the local elementary school library. She currently serves as Co-Regional Advisor for the Eastern Pennsylvania region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Laura lives with her family in Philadelphia. They have a turtle that bites and a snake that doesn’t.

Editorial Reviews

05/29/2023

In this good-humored romp, horror film mega fan Halle Thompson, 12, leaps at the chance to deliver flowers to the lavish home of Maximus Price, creator of one of her favorite movies, The Manic Marmoset Invasion. Meanwhile, on the morning before their 13th birthday, Price’s twin children Argyle and Paisley abruptly awaken to find their usually orderly estate in shambles. Upon investigation, they discover that the heads of the mansion’s adult caretakers have become encased in slimy, squidlike creatures; these appear to be controlling the adults, and they spontaneously replicate when they sense a new host. Initially believing their trickster father was pulling a prank, the twins are ill-prepared to handle the mayhem, until they meet Halle, who teaches them the rules for surviving “Dire Circumstances” (“Number one rule: Avoid Peril at All Costs”). By combining Argyle’s vast knowledge of animal behaviors, Paisley’s acrobatic prowess, and Halle’s expertise on all things horror, the trio works together to defeat the multiplying invaders. Debut author Parnum keeps the scares gentle but gooey via lively prose that conveys a vibrant setting. Quick-moving chapters and alternating perspectives that showcase the characters’ dawning agency make for a propulsive creature feature. Characters default to white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Kaitlyn Johnson, Belcastro Agency. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Price Manor is perfectly mysterious. With just the right amount of chills and thrills, I was hooked from page one!”
— Lindsay Currie, author of Scritch Scratch and The Girl in White

"It's Alien in a spooky mansion. Nonstop action, tentacles, and slime. So much fun." — J.W. Ocker, author of The Smashed Man of Dread End

"Halle’s vast knowledge of horror tropes combines with the idiosyncratic skill sets of the long-cloistered Price offspring, and between a roller-skating disco, sousaphone practice, and a horrifying foray into a stinky cheese cellar, they tackle the tickly nemeses and prove themselves resourceful and brave in the process. Playing lightly on the tropes of classic B-movie horror, Parnum’s imaginative and satisfying debut is packed with high-spirited hijinks. Playful energy propels a laugh-out-loud scary story that doesn’t tread too far into truly terrifying territory." — Kirkus Reviews

"[A] good-humored romp. Debut author Parnum keeps the scares gentle but gooey via lively prose that conveys a vibrant setting. Quick-moving chapters and alternating perspectives that showcase the characters’ dawning agency make for a propulsive creature feature."
— Publishers Weekly

"Parnum’s whip-smart narrative pokes fun at its own genre with a classic middle-grade cheekiness, giving each character depth beyond their archetypes. The three main characters have a delightful combination of bizarre talents. A playful acknowledgement that overbearing parents stop their kids from fully experiencing the world, this is a fantastic combination of mild locked-room horror and heroes who manifest in unlikely and hilarious ways." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

2023-05-09
A trio of preteens find friendship while combating comically grotesque tentacled blob monsters.

Halle Thompson, a scary movie devotee, is excited to deliver flowers from her mother’s shop to imposing, isolated Price Manor, home of famous fright film director Maximus Price. His children, Paisley and Argyle, are preparing for an ordinary day, flanked by a coterie of servants in their grandiose abode. But the house seems eerily quiet. When the twins finally locate their staff, they discover that all the adults are possessed by squidlike creatures who affix themselves to people’s faces and effectively zombify them. Halle, approaching through a thick mist, finds a similar scene on the mansion’s lawn. The three kids meet and swiftly join forces to combat the mysterious foes in a series of outlandish situations. Halle’s vast knowledge of horror tropes combines with the idiosyncratic skill sets of the long-cloistered Price offspring, and between a roller-skating disco, sousaphone practice, and a horrifying foray into a stinky cheese cellar, they tackle the tickly nemeses and prove themselves resourceful and brave in the process. Playing lightly on the tropes of classic B-movie horror, Parnum’s imaginative and satisfying debut is packed with high-spirited hijinks. Characters are implied White.

Playful energy propels a laugh-out-loud scary story that doesn’t tread too far into truly terrifying territory. (Light horror. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews