Wow, let me start off by saying right up front that I was not expecting The Clackity by Lora Senf to be as dark as it was! I didn’t know much about the book before I started reading it, so I was surprised that as a middle grade book it had a slaughterhouse, serial killer’s ghost, and a super creepy monster thing that gave me the heebies.

The Clackity is a story about a girl named Evie who recently lost both of her parents to mysterious circumstances, they hadn’t died, just disappeared one day. She now lives with her aunt Desdemona in a small town called Blight Harbor (the 7th most haunted town in America). This town has embraced it’s haunted lifestyle and ghosts are welcome and treated like part of the community. Aunt Desdemona works as a paranormal expert (she has an advice column in the local paper) and does research on-site for paranormal happenings. One day, something bad happens to Aunt Desdemona and Evie takes up the task of finding her aunt, the last little bit of family she has left. Early on in her search, she meets the creepy Clackity, who gives her a quest, and ends up in a magical realm where she must complete several tasks in order to save her aunt.

This story is magical, mysterious, creepy, spooky, and gives off a real hard vibe that falls somewhere between Coraline and Tim Burton works. The magic here is very interesting and Lora Senf does a magnificent job in giving us rich visual descriptions of all the weird stuff that happens.

I decided on giving this a rating of 5 out of 5. It’s that good for being a middle-grade book. Although, parents should take caution on this one, as it is spookier, more unsettling, and creepier than other middle-grade “scary” stories I’ve read. I’d classify this at the upper end of middle-grade, or even a YA-lite book. Basically, if your child was afraid of Coraline, this one might have to wait a year or two.

If you’d like to read more about The Clackity by Lora Senf, check it out on Goodreads.

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