The Smashed Man of Dread End

by J W Ocker (Author)

Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade

A chilling middle grade horror perfect for fans of R.L. Stine and Holly Black alike.

Noe Wiley couldn't be more excited to move. After the slumber party sleepwalking incident of last year, she's ready to make some new friends. But Noe didn't expect the sullen, strange girls who live on her new street. And she certainly didn't expect the strange warning they give her--to stay out of her basement, no matter what. Noe's not going to let these girls boss her around. She'll go in her own basement whenever she wants. So she does. And there he is. And now there's no going back.

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Kirkus

While the ending is satisfying, new reveals at the end signal possible sequels. The majority of the cast is assumed White; Radiah is implied Black. The imaginative and truly horrifying monster at its center makes this tale stand out. 

Publishers Weekly

When 13-year-old Noelle "Noe" Wiley's cued-white family moves to a new home across town, the first thing she notices is the ominous hand-altered sign marking their cul-de-sac "Dread End." She pays it little heed, however, until some neighborhood kids tell her, "Don't go into the basement of your house at night." And when Noe awakens from a sleepwalking episode in the basement, she discovers a terrifying two-dimensional figure, invisible to adults, that silently begins oozing out of the subterranean wall's cracks each time a child arrives to witness it. When Noe--whose sleepwalking once ended in her inadvertently hurting a friend--learns that her sister, three-year-old Len, has the same condition, she fears for their safety should they accidentally awaken in the basement. Finding that the siblings' resourceful, resilient neighbors also live in fear of the figure, following an incident with the previous owners of Noe's house, the kids collaborate to stop him before he can escape from the wall. Ocker (Death and Douglas) slowly builds the tension and atmosphere with this eerie tale, his villain a constant, unsettling presence, and the unawareness of well-meaning adults furthering the sense of alienation and danger. While the metaphysics of the story feel a little loosely defined at times, readers of this effectively spine-tingling piece of horror will find it hard to ignore their own dark corners. Ages 8-12. Agent: Alex Slater, Trident Media Group. (Aug.)

Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes


Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780062990532
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
HarperCollins
Publication date
August 02, 2022
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039060 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Friendship
JUV039140 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JUV022000 - Juvenile Fiction | Legends, Myths, & Fables | General
JUV018000 - Juvenile Fiction | Horror
JUV052000 - Juvenile Fiction | Monsters
Library of Congress categories
Moving, Household
Horror stories
Monsters
Horror fiction
Horror tales
Neighborhoods
Sleepwalking
Basements

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