Evie doesn’t have many rules to follow, but one of them is to stay away from the town abattoir.
Her Aunt Desdemona is a clairvoyant who helps people with their paranormal questions, and is Evie’s loving guardian. Evie isn’t sure what her aunt has against the abandoned slaughter house, except for the story of a local man who is infamous for his crimes. Long gone, his creepy legend remains in their small town called Blight Harbour. The abattoir is connected to this killer so that at least is one reason to stay away.
There are other spooky places around town, but the occupant ghosts and witches are widely accepted by the human residents of Blight Harbour.
Evie moved in with her aunt four years before, after losing her parents to a house fire. Despite having a memorial for her parents, Evie believes that somehow, somewhere, her parents are alive.
Her aunt Desdemona has become her family, her person, her rock. So when she tells Evie she is going to the abattoir, Evie is keen to go too. Not just for her own curiosity, but to make sure nothing happens to the only family she has left.
But when the abattoir’s terrible reputation proves itself, Evie must place everything on the line, face her fears and fight her panic attacks, to save her Aunt D.
The Clackity lives inside the abattoir. It’s a terrifying creature, with a deal for Evie. A deal with no other choice….
Winner of the Bram Stoker Award for Middle Grade Fiction 2022, The Clackity is a truly, terrifying tale.
The cleverly constructed plot takes the reader and character through a series of ghastly challenges and tests. Evie meets all manner of menace along the way, in order to save a beloved family member.
Evie is a likeable character with everything on the line, which forces her into ghastly situations again and again. Forced to make decisions constantly, and using both everyday items and magical gifts, she navigates a world of monsters, endless black depths, and a trio of witches, all with a serial killer who has been dead a 100 years, on her trail.
This novel is followed up by The Nighthouse Keeper & The Loneliest Place, continuing the story of brave Evie Von Rathe in her small town full of supernatural neighbours and the parallel land that lives within it.
Author – Lora Senf
Illustrator – Alfredo Cáceres
Age – 10+
(2025, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Monsters, Witches, Paranormal, Parallel World, Deal, Serial Killer Ghost, Action, Adventure, Betrayal, Blended Family, Courage, Crime, Family, Horror, Fantasy, Ghost, Grief, Murder, Series, Aunt, Librarian, Clairvoyant, Panic attacks)