A review by shanyreader
The Book of Bad Things by Dan Poblocki

5.0

I have read all of Poblocki's horror books save one, The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe, and this book is easily my second favorite (my all-time favorite being The Ghost of Graylock). Why did I like it so much? Well, I was really sort of worried for the characters almost the entire time. And it was actually a very mature book--with characters dying in violent ways, scary zombies, five-pointed stars, etc. etc. I love how Poblocki includes teenagers in his book; not just 12 and 13 year olds, but 17 and 18 year olds as well, which allows me to relate to the characters in the book as well. And

Spoiler

The older kid's car accident actually made me so sad. I had been hoping he would be a main character, and then Poblocki just...HE KNOWS. The part where the zombies are chasing them and he appears in the doorway with the mannequin? It's genius!

. I love it when an author knows their audience and Poblocki consistently demonstrates that he knows his readers, both adult and young teens, and he knows exactly he needs to do to scare the bejeebies out of us! The stakes are high, we worry about our characters, and the scares are real and terrifying! Definitely for everyone who loves to read scary books!