Craig's review - 10 june 2008
Dean Lorey is an established American writer for Hollywood movies and television series. However, he has decided to venture into children's books, giving tweens and adolescents a darker edge to their novels – the culmination of his years of experience. The first book of a trilogy is ‘Nightmare Academy: Charlie's Monsters' (HarperCollins, 2008). It has a simple, wonderful blurb on the back cover that should reel many potential readers in:
‘Your parents lied. There ARE monsters under your bed. Thing DO go bump in the night. But don't worry. At the Nightmare Academy… we bump back.'
‘Charlie's Academy' follows Charlie Benjamin, a thirteen year-old who is a little bit different, to put it mildly. His mother home-schools him. In fact, he never socialises with any of the children, despite his desire to. This is because Charlie has nightmares. And when he does, chaos follows.
When Charlie finally receives an invitation to a sleepover birthday party, perhaps out of pity, he begs his parents to let him attend. They cave, but it is a mistake. The birthday attendees are soon found hanging in the bedroom, wrapped in webbing. Charlie is the only one untouched, and is adamant a massive spider appeared from the darkness... The night is dubbed The Sleepover Apocalypse.
Then things get worse. Charlie has a special power within him that allows him to open portals into another world (the Nether) full of monsters that were only thought to exist in nightmares. Only, fear prompts the portals' opening, and Charlie is full of fear that he cannot control. He is saved on the next occasion by a strange team, who bring him to The Nightmare Academy, where he will learn to master his gift. However, the director of the Academy immediately wants Charlie ‘Reduced' (a nice term for lobotomised), since he soon opens a portal to one of the worst places imaginable.
Amongst the adventure of learning to use his gift, Charlie befriends Theodore and Violet, an amusing pair (especially given Theodore's old-fashioned views of women). When they learn a powerful creature has kidnapped Charlie's parents, they must work together to prove their worth and save the day.
There is no denying publishers are still trying to fill the void left by a certain young magician, and when I first began reading this novel I could feel my frown set further into my face as this book appeared to be desperately trying to do just that. I mean, it has three main teenage characters – two boys and a girl – who are ‘different' from the norm. They attend an Academy. They learn *ahem* magic – that is, how to open portals… Am I the only one seeing similarities here?
But as the story continues and the plot deepens, you forget such similarities and enjoy the novel for what it is – a wonderful adventure. Lorey thankfully owns a rather unique style, a blend of nightmarish scenes and humour, obviously the product of his years writing both horror (Friday the 13th: Jason Goes to Hell) and comedy (Happy Gilmore, My Wife and Kids). The characters feed off the jibes to one another, each giving the impression they are only there, banishing monsters, because they have to (as a team) – though they band together when needed, and more personal revelations arise near the end of the novel to further explain this.
The novel contains such wonderful creatures as: Gremlins who love to eat energy, including the life from a Gameboy; a ‘Trout of Truth' that swallows you and spits you out on the beach if you are lying; a massive spider who is one of the most intelligent beings at the Academy; hags that steal your memories via a tongue through your ear; and a powerful being with the body of a giant crab. And it is good to have an intelligent main character in Charlie. He does not just prove himself with well-timed magic, but with his wits, tricking almost every character to try and get his parents back.
Though the novel is decent in its own right, it is really just laying the foundation for more to come. With four enormous monsters aiming to emerge from the Nether into our world, you know something terrible will happen in the next instalment. The intended tween/ teenage audience are going to lap this novel up. And I dare say their parents may want to sneak a read to, if only to enjoy a bit of fun and adventure. I personally would have loved the scenes related to the Nether monsters to be a little longer, to create more fear and tension, and Charlie's inner turmoil to be a bit more dramatic, but that would have shifted the intended audience (and please, Mr. Lorey, there is no need for an ‘adults' version). Nevertheless, I haven't had this much fun with a young teen's novel since the Lemony Snicket series (yes, I preferred that to our wizard friend).
the novel
Dean Lorey's 'Nightmare Academy: Charlie's Monsters' (HarperCollins, 2008) - YA Horror/ Fantasy
