Witchbone is a horror-fantasy series for readers of Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, and Stephen King. Akin to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Something Wicked This Way Comes, the Witchbone novels follow the spooky, dangerous, sometimes ill-advised, and definitely not for the squeamish adventures of Danny Hallow and his friends as they routinely save the town of Eddystone (and themselves) from monsters and mayhem.
Eleven-year-old Danny Hallow accepts his life, such as it is. His father is dead, his mother is gone. His three Keepers are the only people aware of Danny's erratic and not-very-impressive psychic powers. He has no friends, his room is disorganized and his grades are terrible.
When his uncle dies under mysterious circumstances Danny and his Keepers are called to the town of Eddystone for the reading of the man's will, and everything begins to change for Danny.
Arriving at the crumbling estate of Gnomewood Home, he falls into the weird web of his ancestor's secrets and begins to question everything he thought he knew. Disturbing memories come to him in dreams. His psychic abilities begin to grow stronger. Strangest of all, a horde of cryptic creatures is plaguing the town of Eddystone, seemingly drawn out by the spell of an unusually cold February. Toothy little goblins that are sneaky, vicious and hungry. Goblins that take an interest in Danny.
Will the emergence of the alien, and potentially dangerous, traits he's inherited from his peculiar family tree help Danny survive a goblin infested winter, attempts to befriend the town's most feared bully, and the sixth grade?
This middle-grade debut novel stars a boy who inherits a house full of magical secrets from his uncle.
Enoch Wildwood, resident of the Gnomewood Home, has been murdered. This means that his sixth grader nephew, Danny Hallow, must drive with his guardians from Easton, Maryland, to Eddystone, New Hampshire, for the will reading. Danny’s father is deceased and his mother left, so his Keepers, Gloria Jean Grace, Silas Murray, and Ali Ramirez, protect him well. Often bullied at school, Danny’s one friend is the brown bat Max. Danny can communicate with Max. The boy also has a Just Know ability, a psychic talent that makes him sharper than most children. When Enoch’s will reveals that Danny is the sole inheritor of Gnomewood, the Keepers decide to settle in Eddystone despite the frigid weather and a rash of pet disappearances. Danny quickly makes two friends his age, Church McGee and Unwen Shaw. One day, they’re playing near a frozen creek when Unwen loses her shoe on the ice. As Danny tries to retrieve it, he sees a small robed creature snatch the shoe. Danny then falls through the ice only for Ezra Harker, a ragamuffin boy with a reputation for stealing, to rescue him. Ezra tells Danny the creature is a goblin, one of many terrorizing Eddystone. Is there a connection between Enoch’s death and these unsavory beings? Norton, who infuses his book with the small-town eeriness found in Stephen King’s work, delights in connecting the dots for well-read younger audiences. Danny’s family has an elaborate backstory, much of it explained by the Keepers, about clans with tremendous power who came through a portal. The source of Danny’s abilities—and their potentially dire consequences—rides the Chosen One trope while blending elements of fantasy, horror, and SF. But younger readers may be intimidated by the detailed plotting in this series starter. Scenes involving the children hunting goblins, away from the adults, work best because they advance the plot with suitable drama. Norton clearly wants to entertain a mixed-ages audience, yet the Keeper-heavy scenes slow the pace.
This engaging tale will challenge middle-grade readers who love mysteries and a good fright.
A riveting great read and the first volume of author Alex Norton’s new ‘Witchbone’ series, “The Goblin’s Winter” showcases a master of the fantasy action/adventure novel who has a genuine flair for originality and a thoroughly reader engaging narrative storytelling style. While unreservedly recommended for school and community library YA Fiction and General Fantasy Fiction collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that “The Goblin’s Winter” is also available in a digital book format. ~ Midwest Book Review
What would you do if an uncle you never met, or at least you don’t remember meeting him, suddenly died and left you an incredible mansion full of fascinating and mysterious objects, hidden staircases and an abundance of rooms to explore? For eleven-year-old Danzellan Wildwood Hallow (or, as he prefers to be called, Danny), it’s like living in a fantasy home like the ones in the horror movies he loves to watch. But there are many secrets hidden in the house, secrets that involve the young boy and his heritage. His Keepers – that’s what he calls his Guardians, since his parents are long gone – have managed to keep the boy safe. Until now.
Alex Norton’s young people’s fantasy novel, The Goblin’s Winter: Witchbone Book One, has all the makings of an original Grimm’s fairy tale: magic, goblins, good and evil, an exciting plot complete with battle scenes and just enough bloodshed and gore to entice the young reader into the story. The list of characters certainly includes a number of unlikely heroes: Danny, the misfit at his old school; Ezra, the dirty, untrustworthy, shifty boy; Ellie, a sweet girl whose connection is vague until closer to the end; Church, short for Churchill, a skinny boy with freckles; and Unwen, a dark-skinned girl with a lot of courage. It seems unlikely for these five to come together, all being subjugated to scorn and ridicule for one reason or another. But they do. And what adventures they have.
Like any good, classic fairy tale, the plot unravels slowly, with the introduction of the scene – a bitterly cold winter in New Hampshire – and the characters. The mysteries and the secrets are revealed as needed, adding to the suspense and excitement of the plot. Although the story revolves mainly around the five children, there are a multitude of others that affect and challenge not only their existence but their right to be together. This is a powerful story, only the beginning of a series that will unravel more of the mysteries and secrets surrounding these children. A great read!
