Elston Fright is a small coastal town with a history of magic. This history is all but forgotten, especially as the powers that be have denied it ever happened.
But one boy named Flip knows there is still plenty of mystical things happening around them. After all, his three best friends are Girl (a ghost that can’t be seen except when she’s wearing the gloves and cape he gave her,) Corpse (another ghost who has made herself a body out of stolen wax, shells, teeth and seaweed) and Simon (a giant spider who can understand them but talks in clicks).
Flip Little lives in the town lighthouse with his grandmother. This lighthouse was once extremely important to Elston Fright, as the light it emitted was particularly special. It didn’t just serve the ships of the region, it repelled bad magic. But this light has long gone, way back in Flip’s grandfather’s day of being the town lightkeeper. He was from a long line of lightkeepers in their family.
One day Flip notices something strange in the air around the lighthouse. It isn’t a thing or a someone, it’s a wrongness that is hard to explain. After past adventures with his ghost and spider friends and terrible magic, he knows he must report this phenomenon to them immediately. Rowing out to their home on a rock not far from shore, the full horror of this wrongness reveals itself – and kidnaps Simon.
Flip, Corpse, Girl and with a little help from Girl’s octopus friend, Mr McKraken; they begin looking for clues to help unravel the strange air currents and get their furry friend back.
Along the way with Girl and Mr McKraken at hand, Flip discovers terrible truths about his family’s legacy of light, and Corpse learns more about her lost parents. The weird wind gusts are Poltergusts, greedy for magic. They will do anything and hurt anyone in their desire to collect it. Using Flip’s grandad’s diary, meeting new creatures small but mighty, and relying on each others’ love and loyalty, they fight back to reclaim their friend.
It seems even more adults in their lives have kept secrets and told lies about the history of their town. Will Corpse, Flip and Girl ever get to the bottom of it all?
The second in this ghostly but fun trilogy, the story is told in the two viewpoints of Flip Little and Corpse. Learning more about the history of Elston Fright was intriguing and seeing the trio work together in a quest to save their furry spider friend, endearing.
A few shocks along the way kept me reading and guessing at the true history of the lighthouse and it’s lightkeepers, and the epilogue left me wondering….
If you like humour, quests, friendships, magic and mystery, this is a series for you.
Author – Reece Carter
Illustrator – Simon Howe
Age – 9+
Read the review of the first book in the series (Click on the Cover)
(2023, Allen & Unwin, Ghosts, Magic, Evil, Spells, Funny, Humour, Sea Monster, Kraken, Spooky, Love, Series, Friendship, Lies, Lightkeepers, Poltergusts, Family, Secrets, Truth, Kidnap, Creepy, Winds, Compass)