Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collections
Publication
Walker (2008), Paperback, 160 pages
Description
When Luke Watson turns into a werewolf for the third time, he and his parents are moved to Scream Street, where they and other "unusual lifeforms" are trapped unless Luke and his friends can find six powerful relics hidden by the founding fathers before sinister landlord Sir Otto does.
User reviews
LibraryThing member SmithSJ01
I love children's book and spent a happy hour this morning getting to know the residents of Scream Street. You never know, I might even go back to read more about them in the future (when I've got my own pile of reading down a little bit lol). I'm guessing there's going to be six in the series as
It combined all the elements from my favourite novels for young readers - there were vampires (I love Darren Shan!), there were goblins (I love Artemis Fowl!), there was a talking book, and there was a feisty mummy. I'm sure as the novels progress the other characters mentioned will play a leading role - for example, I'd like to know more about the beautiful witch Eefa Everwell. Will the teacher play another role as well? Scream Street is relatively well written, with sentence structure that won't bamboozle a young reader. It's straightforward and fast paced. Had it been pitched at an audience of a few years older, then Donbavand could easily have expanded the description and slowed the pace down. The print size is good, it doesn't look babyish and I know children of 11 and over who will enjoy this - in fact I'm going to let some have a read of it!
I read the preview chapter of the next novel and what I liked was that it summed up how Luke and Resus (his friend) had met but opened straight into the exciting plot, bringing in Resus' parents and Luke's parents. Making the next novel sound very promising on their second quest, a quest I feel sure will involve Eefa Everwell.
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there are six quests in total to be made. I haven't had a child read this book so I can't tell you how well it is pitched at 7-9 year olds, which is Donbavand's target audience for 'Fang of the Vampire'. I would imagine if you aren't a sophisticated young reader this book is going to pose the right level of challenge - there is good vocabulary in there and excellent narrative. If you are a good young reader then this will be a lovely adventure with lots of laughs and screams along the way. Even better would be having this read to you by an entertaining reader because it has some fantastic puns and play on words that I feel a young reader might miss. It combined all the elements from my favourite novels for young readers - there were vampires (I love Darren Shan!), there were goblins (I love Artemis Fowl!), there was a talking book, and there was a feisty mummy. I'm sure as the novels progress the other characters mentioned will play a leading role - for example, I'd like to know more about the beautiful witch Eefa Everwell. Will the teacher play another role as well? Scream Street is relatively well written, with sentence structure that won't bamboozle a young reader. It's straightforward and fast paced. Had it been pitched at an audience of a few years older, then Donbavand could easily have expanded the description and slowed the pace down. The print size is good, it doesn't look babyish and I know children of 11 and over who will enjoy this - in fact I'm going to let some have a read of it!
I read the preview chapter of the next novel and what I liked was that it summed up how Luke and Resus (his friend) had met but opened straight into the exciting plot, bringing in Resus' parents and Luke's parents. Making the next novel sound very promising on their second quest, a quest I feel sure will involve Eefa Everwell.
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LibraryThing member Rhinoa
The first 3 books in the Scream Street series introduce us to the main characters Luke Watson (werewolf), Resus Negative (vampire) and Chloe Farr (mummy tomboy). Luke was a normal boy growing up with his parents when one day his whole family are transported into Scream Street by the mysterious
Luke and his two friends set out on a quest to regain all the original artefacts of the towns founders. In the first book they much find a fang of the original vampire, the second a vial of the witches blood and in the third the heart of the mummy who founded the town. They are guided by an author who trapped himself in his own book and are chased at every step in their journey by evil landlord Otto Sneer.
These are a fun read and can be enjoyed by older readers too. The illustrations are great and it have just the right amount of bite in them. It looks like another great children's Liverpool (go scousers!) writer is on the scene.
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Government Housing of Unusual Lifeforms (G.H.O.U.L.) movers. There Luke makes friends reluctantly while trying to find a way to go back home. He begins to settle in, but his human parents are having a very difficult time getting used to the strange characters and their supernatural abilities. Luke and his two friends set out on a quest to regain all the original artefacts of the towns founders. In the first book they much find a fang of the original vampire, the second a vial of the witches blood and in the third the heart of the mummy who founded the town. They are guided by an author who trapped himself in his own book and are chased at every step in their journey by evil landlord Otto Sneer.
These are a fun read and can be enjoyed by older readers too. The illustrations are great and it have just the right amount of bite in them. It looks like another great children's Liverpool (go scousers!) writer is on the scene.
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LibraryThing member juliamjparker
I loved it. It was full of action and adventure. I recommend it to anybody who likes humour and horror.
LibraryThing member JalenV
Thanks to Dominic 'The Dom' Smith's Scream Street episode of his enjoyable 'Lost in Adaptation' YouTube series, I ordered book one, Fang of the Vampire, through interlibrary loan.
The book opens with a schoolboy named Steven Black being chased into a graveyard by a werewolf. The boy is not our
By chapter two we learn the consequences of Luke's attack, which involve three blonds in purple jumpsuits. They're quite unnerving, but not nearly so much as when the Watsons wake up in their new home at number 13 Scream Street. Their next-door neighbors are a nice vampire family: Alston and Bella Negative, and their son, Resus. Resus is inclined to sneer at Luke until he finds out what Luke is.
Scream Street doesn't exist in our world. The sky seems to be permanently gray. It's supposed to be a place where monsters can safely live among other monsters. Sadly for Mr. and Mrs. Watson, they're normal humans. They're coping about as well as visitors to the Addams Family or the Munsters. (Well, to be fair, their home is attacked by a poltergeist even before their new landlord, Sir Otto Sneer, shows up in chapter five to penalize them for breaking a rule they knew nothing about. Yes, Sir Otto is THAT kind of jerk.)
Resus and Luke head for Everwell's Emporium to see if the local witch, Eefa Everwell, has finished that spell she's been working on to take care of poltergeists. On the way, they meet Doug, one of the three zombies who live at number 28. At the emporium itself we meet the she who will become the third member of a trio: Cleo Farr, a mummy. Luckily for Cleo (who is very brave, but completely lacking in good sense), Luke doesn't need a full moon to transform.
Luke really wants to get his parents back to the real world. His new teacher, Dr. Skully, owns the only copy of Skiptone's Tales of Scream Street, a book that's supposed to contain the secret of getting out of monster central.
The rest of the book involves our trio's efforts to find the book and follow its clues. They run into considerable danger along the way. It's handy that Resus' cloak stores plenty of useful objects and still hangs stylishly. (I want a cloak just like it!)
Because I'm an adult, I can think of solutions to some of our characters' problems, but they aren't very nice ones, so it's just as well that none of the characters have thought of them.
Notes:
Chapter 3:
a. We learn what the acronym 'G.H.O.U.L.' stands for.
b. Luke became a werewolf a year ago, on his birthday.
c. The outside of number 13 is briefly described.
Chapter 4: We meet Doug, Cleo, and Eefa.
Chapter 5:
a. We meet Sir Otto Sneer and his nephew, Dixon.
b. We first hear about Samuel Skipstone, who had a weird belief about the Loch Ness Monster.
c. We meet the teacher, Dr. Skully, his wife, Tibia, and their skeleton dog, Scapula.
d. We're told the titles of three of Dr. Skully's books besides the Skiptone one.
Chapter 6:
a. We get to see Sneer Hall and meet some hellhounds.
b. Doug mentions the title of the book he wrote.
Chapter 7:
a. There's a description of the library in Sneer Hall, which also has a conservatory.
b. Dixon seems to be singing 'The Hokey-Pokey'.
Chapter 8:
a. Resus demonstrates how useful his cloak is. (His joke makes sense if you know that a flashlight is called [an electric] torch in Britain. This is a British series.)
b. Samuel Skiptone hints that Sir Otto is Up To No Good. (What a surprise...)
Chapter 9:
a. Skiptone talks about the founding fathers of Scream Street.
b. Luke learns about the useful moss called 'gutweed'.
Chapter 10: We meet Squiffer and the Great Guff.
Chapter 11: We meet Resus' illustrious ancestor, Count Negatov.
Chapter 12: We learn why Sir Otto is such a jerk.
Mr. Smith admitted that he was older than the intended audience for Scream Street books and didn't expect adults to bother looking them up. He did highly recommended them for children who were old enough. I might be old enough to be 'The Dom's' grandmother, but I'm certainly glad I bothered. In fact, I've already requested the other three entries owned by my county libraries.
The book opens with a schoolboy named Steven Black being chased into a graveyard by a werewolf. The boy is not our
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hero. That's the werewolf, Luke Watson. Then an unlikely rescuer shows up.By chapter two we learn the consequences of Luke's attack, which involve three blonds in purple jumpsuits. They're quite unnerving, but not nearly so much as when the Watsons wake up in their new home at number 13 Scream Street. Their next-door neighbors are a nice vampire family: Alston and Bella Negative, and their son, Resus. Resus is inclined to sneer at Luke until he finds out what Luke is.
Scream Street doesn't exist in our world. The sky seems to be permanently gray. It's supposed to be a place where monsters can safely live among other monsters. Sadly for Mr. and Mrs. Watson, they're normal humans. They're coping about as well as visitors to the Addams Family or the Munsters. (Well, to be fair, their home is attacked by a poltergeist even before their new landlord, Sir Otto Sneer, shows up in chapter five to penalize them for breaking a rule they knew nothing about. Yes, Sir Otto is THAT kind of jerk.)
Resus and Luke head for Everwell's Emporium to see if the local witch, Eefa Everwell, has finished that spell she's been working on to take care of poltergeists. On the way, they meet Doug, one of the three zombies who live at number 28. At the emporium itself we meet the she who will become the third member of a trio: Cleo Farr, a mummy. Luckily for Cleo (who is very brave, but completely lacking in good sense), Luke doesn't need a full moon to transform.
Luke really wants to get his parents back to the real world. His new teacher, Dr. Skully, owns the only copy of Skiptone's Tales of Scream Street, a book that's supposed to contain the secret of getting out of monster central.
The rest of the book involves our trio's efforts to find the book and follow its clues. They run into considerable danger along the way. It's handy that Resus' cloak stores plenty of useful objects and still hangs stylishly. (I want a cloak just like it!)
Because I'm an adult, I can think of solutions to some of our characters' problems, but they aren't very nice ones, so it's just as well that none of the characters have thought of them.
Notes:
Chapter 3:
a. We learn what the acronym 'G.H.O.U.L.' stands for.
b. Luke became a werewolf a year ago, on his birthday.
c. The outside of number 13 is briefly described.
Chapter 4: We meet Doug, Cleo, and Eefa.
Chapter 5:
a. We meet Sir Otto Sneer and his nephew, Dixon.
b. We first hear about Samuel Skipstone, who had a weird belief about the Loch Ness Monster.
c. We meet the teacher, Dr. Skully, his wife, Tibia, and their skeleton dog, Scapula.
d. We're told the titles of three of Dr. Skully's books besides the Skiptone one.
Chapter 6:
a. We get to see Sneer Hall and meet some hellhounds.
b. Doug mentions the title of the book he wrote.
Chapter 7:
a. There's a description of the library in Sneer Hall, which also has a conservatory.
b. Dixon seems to be singing 'The Hokey-Pokey'.
Chapter 8:
a. Resus demonstrates how useful his cloak is. (His joke makes sense if you know that a flashlight is called [an electric] torch in Britain. This is a British series.)
b. Samuel Skiptone hints that Sir Otto is Up To No Good. (What a surprise...)
Chapter 9:
a. Skiptone talks about the founding fathers of Scream Street.
b. Luke learns about the useful moss called 'gutweed'.
Chapter 10: We meet Squiffer and the Great Guff.
Chapter 11: We meet Resus' illustrious ancestor, Count Negatov.
Chapter 12: We learn why Sir Otto is such a jerk.
Mr. Smith admitted that he was older than the intended audience for Scream Street books and didn't expect adults to bother looking them up. He did highly recommended them for children who were old enough. I might be old enough to be 'The Dom's' grandmother, but I'm certainly glad I bothered. In fact, I've already requested the other three entries owned by my county libraries.
Show Less
Language
Original publication date
2008
Physical description
160 p.; 7.72 inches
ISBN
1406320609 / 9781406320602
Local notes
When Luke Watson turns into a werewolf for the third time, the Government Housing of Unusual Lifeforms (GHOUL) moves his family to Scream Street — a frightful community of vampires, zombies, witches, and sundry undead. Though Luke quickly makes friends, he vows to find a way to take his terrified parents home. The secret to opening the exit, he learns, is collecting six powerful relics the founding fathers left behind.
Signed and humorously inscribed to A by Tommy.
Signed and humorously inscribed to A by Tommy.