Don’t listen to the tapes! Definitely don’t listen to the tapes. Burn them for all I care, but DON’T LISTEN!

The next book in the series and this time we get some tapes! I was actually surprised that kids knew what tapes were and how to use them, haha.

Be sure to also check out my review for the first book: Tales to Keep You up at Night.

🎃 I loved the tapes and that this was the way to tell the story, it was just such a fun nostalgic nudge! Not that I would listen to them, haha, but it brought back some memories~
🎃 Gilbert was a great character, and while I do think that he should have listened to his brother, on the other hand this way he could at least see if he could help out his brother. I loved getting Gilbert’s reactions as he heard the stories and saw through him the changes in his universe. See him connect all the dots.
🎃 Be sure to keep an eye out for the Gilbert chapters illustration headers! It was such a fun thing to see that change.
🎃 Percy! Percy! Sorry, but I am just so used to having characters who are disbelievers that I was delighted to see a friend who actually believed (or wanted to believe until he got the evidence) and it just sparked so much joy in me. Go Percy!
🎃 Seeing Dan Poblocki himself pop up in the stories made me smile.
🎃 The variety of stories and what happens in them. We have glitches, we have monsters, we have demon shells, we have cemeteries that are a bad thing to visit, we have doors that you may not want to enter, dolls that will take you and feed on you, there is something for everyone, though haha, to be fair, most terrified me. XD
🎃 I loved how, unliked many short story collections, these stories are all interwoven and you learn more and more about November, October, various plans and ploys as the stories continue. It is just like a giant puzzle and bit by bit it is getting more and more complete. I was just so giddy to read about characters we read about in the previous stories or see items appear again or even locations! It definitely keeps your attention high, will you find all the references? Will you get all the hints?
🎃 November was such a creepy dude. Seriously. Best to stay far away from that guy.
🎃 How everything not just connected inside the stories but also with Gilbert and his brother.
🎃 How to end it all + all the epic stuff that Gilbert did in the end. I was just cheering for him. He used his wits, smarts, and thought of a new plan each time something came on his path. Go go Gilbert!
🎃 The cover definitely also needs a mention. When you haven’t read it you think it is just a creepy cover, but when you read it? It gets creepier!

🤔 I know I said that I wanted more unhappy endings? That sometimes MG horror is a bit boring as it seems everything is hunkydory at the end? Well, I would like to revise that I don’t mind a happy end. These stories at times got a bit depressing or felt incomplete. I would have liked at least ONE happy ending, maybe two, in the stories.

😡 My least favourite story was the that of the boy in the town and seeing him use the book + the shell. BAH. What a horrendous person.

All in all, I flew through this book, was properly scared out of my wits several times, loved how it all connected, and boy I would recommend this one to everyone. It is fab! I hope that Dan Poblocki writes more books like this one, I definitely don’t have enough after two books.