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I don’t normally read or review scary stories, but “A Little Too Haunted,” by Justine Pucella Winans, has such an unusual premise that I am making an exception.
The main character, Luna, is the daughter of two moms who flip houses for a living. Not just any houses: haunted houses!
They promote their “brand” extensively on social media, and a major income stream is support from sponsors of their channel.
Luna’s family moves from state to state finding haunted houses to rehab.
This means Luna rarely gets to finish an entire school year in one place. On top of that, or because of that, Luna feels painfully shy and struggles to make friends.
When Luna discovers her moms are faking the hauntings (which happens before the story begins), she is furious.
She always believed in ghosts and thought her moms believed, as well.
In her distress, she “outs” them during a livestream of a home makeover.
“A Little Too Haunted” begins when Luna’s family arrives at the latest haunted house just after the disastrous livestream.
Luna’s parents are focused on how to rebrand themselves to make up for lost sponsors.
Luna feels a little bad for the havoc she created (both financial and otherwise), but she is also still angry at her moms.
It is interesting to note that very few fans were upset about the hauntings being fake.
They are, however, furious at Luna and attack her online.
Shortly after they move in, Luna becomes convinced this house is truly haunted.
It takes the rest of the book to learn more about the ghosts in the house and to convince her parents that they do, in fact, exist.
For those of you with young readers who might be higher on the sensitivity scale, the story becomes kind of scary and violent toward the end.
You might want to read the book first before you pass it on to your readers.
Luna has set herself up for trouble because of her behavior following the discovery of her moms’ deceit.
When the ghosts start misbehaving and becoming destructive, Mom and Mamma are convinced it is Luna herself acting out.
I will not give away the ending, but it is hard as a reader to not yell, “Come on, Moms! Listen to Luna’s explanations!”
There are some other unusual elements in this story.
Perhaps the most unusual (at least in my reading) is that Luna suffers from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), so there is a lot of attention paid to diet and pooping, etc.
I think for someone suffering from IBS, it might be nice to have a character who has to deal with that.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that includes a character with IBS.
In addition, their neighbor, Dani, is struggling with her gender identity and decides to use they/them pronouns in the second half of the book.
It’s nice to see this kind of issue included but not be the centerpiece of a book.
Moreover, Dani is a self-described scientist who totally doubts ghosts but also talks very clearly about evidence and the scientific method.
I am always happy when a character talks about or demonstrates the scientific method (hypothesis, gathering data, interpreting data, new hypothesis), because I think sometimes people dismiss scientists, because science seems to keep changing its mind about things.
First, scientists say one thing and then another.
Which is true, of course; when new data comes in, sometimes our understanding of a phenomenon changes.
That is certainly what Dani experiences in terms of her belief in the existence ghosts!
I think the idea of ghosts really appeals to Luna, because often she feels very alone, with her mothers being so busy and having no siblings.
She struggles to make friends and feels socially awkward, as well.
Their frequent moves do not help her situation.
But when these ghosts turn physically violent, all bets are off.
I will not give away any of the rest of the book, but it had me on the edge of my seat.
And it was scary for me — though I am the first to admit I am highly sensitive to scary stories (which is why I don’t read them too often, I guess).
Still, in true middle-grade-novel fashion, in the end, everything works out okay!
