It all started with a research project in history class. Barret Eloise does not want to explore the creepiest place in town, known as Raithfield House, but she has a reputation to uphold as the smartest kid in school and needed a great idea. Plus she could use some friends. She’d declined her brother’s dare to go in the place for $100, but when the group decides to go in, she talks herself into believing it will be fine.
They plan to sneak in after dark, which is their first mistake. As the doors close and lock, they find there’s only one way out. There’s a dark history of sudden deaths in the family, and one victim is not willing to let go, not without a game or two in which there can only be one winner.
While similar to Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, this one has more sinister variations of traditional childhood games, where loss ends up in death (or at least disappearance). It’s dark and dismal, but strangely hopeful, and would be great for any reader who loved Nightbooks and authors Mary Downing Hahn and Dan Poblocki.
