Genre or Category
Horror
Target Age Group
Kindergarten – 4th Grade
Summary
Andres has just moved to a new house in a new town. His parents are concerned with him making friends, but he has bigger worries when it turns out his new house is haunted. Thankfully he meets his new neighbor, Desmond Cole, who is a professional when it comes to ghosts. It looks like Desmond will be the answer to his friend problem and his ghost problem.
Justification
I selected this book for the horror genre. I wanted to read a children’s horror book because I thought it would be fitting for Halloween week. I learned about the Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol series in my search and chose this book. I was drawn to the idea of the haunted house next door. Who doesn’t love a spooky haunted house story this time of year? When I started reading the book I realized it was a graphic novel as well—something that is a brand-new experience for me. This book is both a horror story and a graphic novel.
Evaluation
For this review, I will be evaluating mood, pacing, and illustrations.
With this being a horror story, a spooky mood is a must—and this book delivers. The atmosphere was creepy and the vibes were haunted. I felt like a ghost or creature was about to jump out at me and the characters every time I turned the page. Even though this is a scary book, it’s not too scary for the age recommendations. However, I imagine a Kindergartner would be more scared than older grades. I would personally recommend this book to 2nd Grade – 4th Grade and I think they would love it. The eerie atmosphere makes this book the perfect Halloween story.
A horror story needs a certain type of pacing so you can anticipate what’s going to jump out at you. The pacing in this book was phenomenal. It was fast paced but kept the suspense building throughout the book. I was on edge with every page turn waiting for Andres to find the green ghost. The mystery keeps you reading but it was also mixed with just the right amount of humor to balance it out. Just when you think Andres is about to find a monster, he finds the utensil drawer instead and makes a joke about it.
The illustrations in this graphic novel stole the show. This was the first graphic novel I’ve read and I enjoyed it. It was literally all illustrations on every single page. They did such a good job of telling the story that I could have just looked through the book without any words and understood what was happening. The illustrations showed movement and emotion—I could really see Andres’ terror living in his haunted house. They did an outstanding job to create a creepy setting of the haunted house, especially the dark basement with shadows lurking. Any kid that loves graphic novels or horror stories would love this book.
References
Miedoso, A. (2026). The haunted house next door: The graphic novel (Glass House Graphics, illus.). Little Simon.