Welcome to Feral

September 15, 2022
Feral is probably a nice town to live in--so long as you stay away from the playground tube slide after dark, that broken down ice cream truck in the woods, and the (shudder) middle school's basement. As collected and retold by deceptively genial local archivist Freya, the five incidents here mostly involve tweens doing something they may, or more likely may not, live to regret. For failing to turn in a book report, Agatha finds herself serving detention in a dim, doorless basement room where the clock ticks...but the time never changes. Likewise, Keller and Landon nerve themselves to dive into an old, twisty slide (despite the eerie screams that issue forth)...and have yet to emerge. "Your ice cream--it's moving," turn out to be a hiker's last words as she and two friends become tasty snacks for a trio of toothy, tentacled horrors. And in the final tale, a troop of Ferret scouts turn the tables on their new troop leader, an overconfident vampire. Readers can track these episodes and anticipate others thanks to an opening map with lots of suggestive labels ("unidentified ruins," "bog beast sightings," etc.). In contrast to the popeyed young folk who have an ordinary look and come in a mix of skin colors and body types, the adult humans tend to be--or suddenly change into--menacing, green-skinned monsters. The more gruesome bits, though, are largely left for imaginations to supply. Thrill-seeking readers will be eager to visit. (Graphic paranormal. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2022
Grades 3-7 Feral is a small, rural town with a penchant for unexplained phenomena and mysterious disappearances. With a population of 16,000 residents and a handful of haunted landmarks, it is no wonder kids are intrigued by the things that go bump in the night in this town. Freya, a young sleuth with a fascination for the unknown, presents each of the eerie legends, ranging from a hungry twisty slide, an unusually generous ice cream truck operator, an extremely speedy bike, and more. Fearing's sketchy, full-color cartoon artwork nicely balances the horror of monsters, portals, and ghosts with a kid-friendly style that tones down the scares just enough--though there are still plenty of tentacled creatures, gnashing teeth, and pitch-black nights to be found. This volume ends with Freya beginning her own investigation into a mysterious occurrence in Feral, which will hopefully continue in volume 2. A perfect choice for kids who love anything by R. L. Stine, this will thrill middle-grade readers who like to get a little scared.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2022

Gr 4 Up-In this wild and weird graphic novel about the supernatural small town of Feral, many a terrifying tale is told as Fearing sets a city-sized stage on which to spin tall tales of youthful demise. A flannel-clad narrator frames stories of sinister playground slides, a soul-sucking sweets seller, and a campfire vampire. Fearing's illustrations are sketchy, infused with the energetic spirit of childhood, and the characters' expressions are almost goofy, so it's something of a surprise when the yarns he weaves nearly all end in protagonists trapped, transformed, or blasted to space. For newcomers to scary stories, it's a slightly discombobulating, and thus perfect, way to introduce the psyche-rocking roots of horror-terrifying concepts, parceled out in manageable morsels for more timid readers. VERDICT An amusing, just-scary-enough graphic novel for young genre fans and perhaps even those hesitant to try spookier fare.-Emilia Packard

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.