Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Book Review

Title: Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Genre: Horror

Rating: 5 Stars

I did want to read this for Halloween last year and never got to it but I pulled for my TBR Jar vlog so after reading the first chapter in this and Hand of the Sun King I decided on this first since it seems really dark and gritty with murders and a potential demonic element to the story. We are introduced to Thomas Wickley who was arrested after being captured by four teenagers and a dog, in true scooby-doo fashion but when one of the four confronts Wickley after he makes parole, she learns that he confessed to the crimes because he wanted to leave the lake and the so-called “demon house” and she seems to be going back. The four teens, Kerri, Andy, Peter and Nate aren’t doing great as they don’t speak anymore and Peter is actually dead. This seems exactly like my kind of horror and I can’t wait to see where it goes. Andy eventually goes to see Kerri to convince her to go back to Sleepy Lake to figure out what actually happened there since it screwed them up and it takes some convincing but Kerri agrees to go and now they have to collect Nate from the mental asylum he has checked into to.

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As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, I was invested in the characters since whatever happened at Sleepy Lake really messed with the kids, Peter got into drugs and eventually killed himself, Nate is in a mental institution, Kerri has night terrors and Andy is borderline psychotic. The girls manage to find Nate and the way they free him from the hospital is in true scooby-doo fashion and it was hilarious but now the trio plus the dog are making their back to the place where the most horrific things happen to them. Nate is also suffering with hallucinations of his dead friend Peter and their conversation are funny but he doesn’t disclose to the girls what he is going through with this and it makes me think that Peter might not be a hallucination but something much darker. The group drive almost non-stop for over 40 hours before reaching their destination and during this time we get to know them better in preparation for what is going to come. We also have hints of a demonic book compared to the Necronomicon and I can’t wait to see where this goes when the real creepy stuff starts to happen.

As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, the group finally arrive back in the town from their childhood to find it both the very same and greatly changed from what they remember. Once there they decide that all decisions have to be made as a group and their first task is retrace their steps from that night. This begins with a visit to the old captain who agrees that there are discrepancies in the version of events from that night and what they remember and before they leave he gives them some of the evidence from other cases they worked on. Kerri seems to be the most affected by the return and doesn’t want to head to lake yet but she is outvoted by the others and they also decide to row out to the isle Mansion to see whether anything is different there. While the house has been abandoned for a long time someone has recently visited the lake but the most disturbing part is the symbols they find painted onto trees which Nate seems to remember seeing somewhere else before but can’t remember where.

As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, things really start to pick up. That night something comes out of the lake to attack the group, the creature whatever it is, is hard for the human mind to actually comprehend but not hard to kill as Nate shoots it with minimal effect and to great effect. It seems the group has the proof they have been looking for a present it to the police who take over but that encounter has taken its toll on them all especially Kerri. Even after she calms down Kerri has to face the creature again as it is decomposing fast and she’s the only biologist in town. The local police recounts the Walla Walla tale of the first settlers and how they resemble this creature but I think it is more than that since it comes back to a Cthulhu like myth and the Necronomicon. It turns out that 13 years before Nate accidentally read aloud from this book and summoned back the spirit of Damien Deboen who was trying to summon this God or so they believe. This means that there are more of those creatures in the lake since they protect something more powerful than them and the group might have to face whatever that is in the second half.

As we cross into the second half of the novel, it is definitely making up for the slow first half as the action is coming in hard now. The group have learnt that the creatures now called the wheezers are coming from underground so in the spirit of retracing their steps they head back to the mines. They have been down in the mines before but this time they have the knowledge that these creatures are real and not men in costumes. In the mines, chaos erupts when they get lower down as the air becomes CO2 rich meaning they can’t breathe without to oxygen masks. While Kerri heads back up with Tim, Andy and Nate continue on finding a chamber covered in spells which Nate reads aloud causing a quake. Racing back up they stumble upon a wheezer hoard which begins chasing them leading to a fire fight, an explosion and more quakes before the reach Deboen manor on the island. There they head to the attic where Nate finds the grimoire again but this time something intends to kill them. They manage to escape into time with the book but something or someone wants the group gone and was willing to lead them dead into the mines to do it.

As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, the book mentions something about an avatar being needed which means someone might get possessed soon but I can’t wait to see how the novel builds to the climax. We begin to dive deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that is Daniel Deboen and it is a wild ride. Knowing they have to return to the manor despite knowing that each member of the group houses a piece of Deboen’s soul that he wants back is terrifying to everyone except Peter since he’s already dead and that piece of soul is lost forever. At the manor, they are quickly surrounded on all sides by the wheezers who they are trying to fight back when Nate abandons the girls at Peter’s command. However, during his row back to the mainland he realises that the Peter that convinced him to leave the girls was Deboen showing the duality of Peter’s ghost. The girls and Tim are hiding in the dungeon trying to think of a way out without realising that Nate is coming back and he has finally figured out the final piece of the puzzle.

As we cross into the final section of the novel, I was ready for the final showdown between the group and Deboen and to see who would come out on top in the end. Everything coming together in the end and seeing battle upon battle and the aftermath was amazing. If you are a fan of Cthulhu or Lovecraftian horror at all then I highly recommend picking up Meddling Kids. Seeing the references to Scooby Doo littered throughout the book were amazing but not overly distracting from the story and really answers the question of what would happen if the gang encounter real life monsters not men in costumes. Overall, Meddling Kids was a slow build to one of the best climax’s I have come across in recent years, filled with nostalgic references and some of the best horror. The kind that isn’t overly gory but fills you with a sense of creeping dread that builds to sheer terror towards the climax.

Buy it here:

Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com

Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com