Title: Professor Gargoyle (Tales From Lovecraft Middle School #1)
Author: Charles Gilman
Genre: Children, 9 +
Length: 160 pages
Publisher: Quirk Books (25 Oct 2012)
Synopsis:
Our hero is 11-year-old Robert Arthur, and he’s among the first students entering the brand new Lovecraft Middle School (LMS). The town is a buzz over the extraordinary new facility and its many state-of-the-art features. Solar panels! Radiant floor heating! Wireless internet! Digital smart-boards in every classroom! LMS is truly the school of the future. Better still, it’s a totally green building, constructed almost entirely of recycled materials. But Robert soon discovers some strange mysteries. Rats in the lockers. A student goes missing. And he encounters an old section in the school library – a corridor full of worm-eaten, antiquated books. How did such a musty dusty room end up in a brand new school? Even worse, Robert’s new science professor is behaving really strangely – it will become clear over the course of the book that the professor has been consumed by some kind of demon/wraith/spirit, that it’s transforming him into a monster from the inside-out. Robert tries to unravel these mysteries with some help from his new friend Karina Ortiz – but soon she presents him with yet another conundrum: Why has he never seen Karina outside the walls of Lovecraft Middle School? The answers to all of these riddles lie in the fact that LMS was constructed almost entirely of recycled materials – but these materials came from the abandoned Tillinghast mansion, a large ancestral home and hotbed of weirdo paranormal activity. After decades of unpaid taxes, violent episodes, and unexplained phenomena, the state government tore down the hospital but then essentially REBUILT the same materials into a new building. And thus Lovecraft Middle School was born. By the end of this first volume, Robert will vanquish Professor Gargoyle and learn the creepy origin story of LMS. But his troubles are just beginning. There’s something odd about the lunch lady in the cafeteria …and report cards are getting mailed home next week!
Review:
I received a hardback copy of Professor Gargoyle and loved that the front cover was a hologram which when moved it changed from a headmaster which a serious look to a red devil headmaster with a sinister grin. My children also loved this and were constantly moving the book so the picture would change.
I had not heard of the series before receiving Professor Gargoyle although I did know that the books would be pretty scary but not too much to frighten children.
I started reading it and was absolutely hooked, yes I know it is more for pre-teens/teens but why should I miss out on all the fun just because I’m a mum.
The way I would describe Professor Gargoyle in terms of scariness would be it is similar to Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark. Too scary I think for my six year old though but give another couple of years and I am sure she will love it.
The story starts off by introducing the main character Robert Arthur on his first day at the newly build, state of the art Lovecraft Middle School. This wasn’t just any Middle School though, not only did it have a swimming pool, and everything was digital but it was also very weird. Rats in the lockers, a secret library in the attic and two headed rats, strange teachers, and of course a story about a school would not be complete without a school bully.
I really enjoyed this book. As did my fifteen year old daughter.
Very well written and fantastic start the the Tale From Lovecraft Middle School series.
Available to purchase in Hardback, Kindle and audo download
For more information visit http://lovecraftmiddleschool.com/
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