Books: Dead Voices by Katherine Arden (2019)

“Having survived sinister scarecrows and the malevolent smiling man in Small Spaces, newly minted best friends Ollie, Coco, and Brian are ready to spend a relaxing winter break skiing together with their parents at Mount Hemlock Resort. But when a snowstorm sets in, causing the power to flicker out and the cold to creep closer and closer, the three are forced to settle for hot chocolate and board games by the fire. Ollie, Coco, and Brian are determined to make the best of being snowed in, but odd things keep happening. Coco is convinced she has seen a ghost, and Ollie is having nightmares about frostbitten girls pleading for help. Then Mr. Voland, a mysterious ghost hunter, arrives in the midst of the storm to investigate the hauntings at Hemlock Lodge. Ollie, Coco, and Brian want to trust him, but Ollie's watch, which once saved them from the smiling man, has a new cautionary message: BEWARE. With Mr. Voland's help, Ollie, Coco, and Brian reach out to the dead voices at Mount Hemlock. Maybe the ghosts need their help--or maybe not all ghosts can or should be trusted.”

In the second book in Katherine Arden’s series, Dead Voices is just a bit creepier than Small Spaces but it’s still a wonderful middle grade horror story. Arden is able to capture the innocence of childhood friendships that have a troubled and shared history and mash that up with the spooky supernatural world that exists in the haunted ski lodge (perhaps a cousin to the Overlook). The book borrows a lot of themes from other haunted house stories, along with the Upsidedown from Stranger Things, but what Arden is able to do here is pretty neat. It’s still an atmospheric tome, filled with cold, dread, and deception, but at its core is the friendship between our three main characters that is the warming heart of the book.

It’s also clear we’ll get at least one more book with our charming cast of youngsters, but I don’t feel this is the “filler”, it works as a continuation, really. Still, the smiling man is not done with our triumvirate kids and I fear that the real battle for Ollie, Coco, and Brian is about to begin.