The Intruders

by E.E. Richardson

Joel Demetrius is quite looking forward to moving in with his new step-family, but as far as his sister Cassie's concerned, they're nothing but intruders. She doesn't want anything to do with Gerald and his two sons, and to make matters worse their new home is a derelict old house, neglected for decades. Joel thinks it's interesting. Cassie thinks it's a dump. But his sister isn't the only reason the house doesn't feel like a home. As fascinated as he is by the place, Joel has to admit there's something not quite right about it. Not only does he keep seeing things out of the corner of his eye, but his sleep is plagued by nightmares. He can't seem to stop dreaming about a terrified boy who keeps repeating the same fractured IF I SHOULD DIE BEFORE I WAKE, I PRAY THE LORD MY SOUL TO TAKE ...As events in the house become harder and harder to explain, it seems that the line between nightmare and reality is getting steadily more blurred. And when the battle between Cassie and her step-brothers draws everyone deeper into the mystery, all four kids are forced to confront the question of just who the intruders really are.

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Paranormal, Ghosts, Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy

278 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

E.E Richardson is a twenty-two year old cybernetics graduate who now lives as a recluse.

Reviews

[Crissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose the Intruders because the cover has a intresting picture on it and it looks creepy and cool.
I also chose this book because when I read the back it was good. Just by the title it just looked good.
This book is Fiction it tells about ghosts and haunting but it could happen in real life though. It keeps you wanting to read more and more and its like a mystery. And can't believe what happens to Joel Demitrius and Tim step brother when they go through all these crazy things. They move a old house that has a lot of damage and needs to be fixed up in the middle of nowhere. The mostly main character is Joel he is nice and likes to try making his sister happy when she is in a bad mood when her mom got remarried and she has two stepbrothers Joel was ok with it, it didn't bother him. He was ok with everything and the new house and moving. They move to this old house and bad things happen to Joel and and his step-brother Tim. The main conflict is all these weird things are happening in the house and it's affecting Joel and Tim and only happens to them and the parents don't that that things are going on. They find out that two boys died there and was trying to reach out to them. At the end they find out their is bodies in their basement during a storm. After all that the house finally felt good and no longer have that feeling any more. I enjoyed the book because it was full of mysteries and it kept me intrested in whats going to happen next and just the ghost they talked about and them finding out what happend in the house. I realy like this book a lot it is a goog book.

[Ingrid Jonach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things I loved about this book:

1. The cover art
2. The size of the book. No, not the number of pages. The actual measurements of the book. It was kinda square.
3. That the blurb was the one sentence repeated over and over again: If I should die before I wake. If I should die before I wake. If I should die before I wake. Creepy.
4. That the author was described as 'reclusive' in his bio.
5. The book trailer. Wow! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=armBIK...
6. Oh, and the actual story!

Things I hated about this book:

1. Nothing.

Yes, the overarching plot was simplistic and I had guessed the ending by about the forth chapter (and got a little impatient as the characters caught up) — BUT it was so well written and executed that I had to read every last word. Although I did have to shelve it for one night while my partner was out of town, because I was too freaked out being home alone to read about ghosties!

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really pleasantly surprised by this book. At first I wasn’t expecting much from a middle grade horror especially when the blurb made it seem like a stereotypical horror movie, kids in a haunted spooky house with a dark past and all that.

But I found it tense and spooky all the same and the writing had me wanting to read it faster in order to find out what happened. I wouldn’t call it life changing or ground breaking or terribly new or unique but that didn’t stop it from being a really good read.

[Matty · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars- A good haunted house story for October, I enjoyed all the characters, might pick up the author’s other works

[Rants and Bants · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. But just okay. It was basically the generic ghost story of a haunted house with a dark past, and our protagonists find out said dark past, and all is well again. I wasn't really surprised at all by the story either. I think it was meant to be a twist that it turned out that the father had murdered his children and wife, but it really wasn't a shocker. I mean everything sort of pointed to that right away. The characters were alright. The beginning was pretty good and hooked me right away, it just got kind of dull and underwhelming towards the end. I also would've liked to see some interactions with the family after the conclusion. See Cassie and Damon start to get along, see her start to respect Gerald more, have Cassie's mother find out that she didn't really ruin the garbage bags (Cassie may have been a brat, but it's still not cool when someone gets blamed for something with zero evidence). .

I remember trying to write a haunted house story too when I was in like sixth grade and it had the generic plotline of a brother and sister who moved into a new house with clueless parents who were all excited and didn't know what was going on, but the kids noticed strange things all the time. It's a decent enough kind of a story, one you could perhaps tell around a campfire on Halloween night, but we've all heard it before. There's nothing really new or interesting.

It would be good I supposed for like a children's Goosebumps books (and hey, I'm not bashing that series, I love Goosebumps, it was literally my life during my childhood), but it wasn't as exciting or even as dark as I wanted it to be.

[Megan Otero · Rating 4 out of 5]

In short, this story was a nice read, except for the fact that one of the characters really annoyed me with her bratty behavior. If you put yourself in the character's shoes, you will realize how creepy this book is.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is honestly, THE MOST AMAZING BOOK! I love it!
The writing is so gripping and the story line is so engrossing. I have read this book 4 times and I re-reading it for the 5th time. It never fails to send shivers up my spin.
I would highly recommend this to everyone!

[Mark Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun ghost story romp that has a few clichés but revels in them and carries you along. Great characters. A not over complicated ghost and a lot of fun. Quick read. Would recommend

[Ellie Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable YA book. I could see the ending coming from about half way through but still enjoyed the writing. A good quick little read!

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't believe this was published in 2006. Something about it just felt very early 90's or 80's and I can't pinpoint why. This ended up being very detailed and gory, pretty gruesome for something considered middle-grade or junior fiction. I had a hard time getting into it because the beginning is very much juvenile - soon to be step-siblings who are moving in together for the first time and can't stand each other. They've moved into an old house that has been abandoned for perhaps decades (which seems far-fetched by itself) and strange things start happening, but are blamed on the oldest daughter, who is most reticent to be part of this new family dynamic. The kids and parents fight a lot in the beginning and I just wasn't here for it. Made it hard to get into the story. Eventually the haunting brings the 4 kids closer together and they bond over the experience trying to figure out who/what the ghost is and what they want. The kids investigate the mystery of the house and try to communicate with the ghost(s), even going to a library to research the former occupants. The last third or so of the story is where it really picks up and the finale is surprisingly spooky and exciting, otherwise this would be a lower rating for me.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember picking this book up from my local library as a kid. I did not put it down for the entirety of my time reading it, it was really good.

Recently, I decided to buy this book again purely for the nostalgia reasons, but it was just as good as I remembered it to be. It truly scared me as a kid and around that time I found reading books was rather a difficulty as I had a very short attention span, but this book managed to keep my focus and thoroughly entertain me throughout.

Not only did I like the characters, but the way the story is told and the start, dilemma, climax to the end was not rushed it was done perfectly.

I would really recommend this book to anyone who loves a good horror / ghost book but if it is not for you, I can guarantee you that your children or any young ones that may be in your life who are horror lovers would really enjoy this book!

[Cailin · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Stars
Even though this is YA, it really freaked me out. Several moments had me so immersed that I honestly had to remind myself that I was okay and that it wasn’t actually happening to me. I am a scaredy-cat so this probably wouldn’t do much for the average reader, but this definitely gave me much more than I expected. This was the perfect length for a readathon as it was long enough to be satisfying, but not to long as to be dragging and hard to get through. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a good, short horror book. As a lover of haunted house stories, nightmare like visions, and a group of kids solving a mystery, this was an amazing book.

[Abbigail Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very suspenseful starting in the second half of the book. The first half of the book was just a big character introduction and a lot of complaining from Cassie. My favorite character is Joel because he was the most mature of all the kids and I had a strong connection with him. I haven't really read a lot of horror books, but this one was at the top of my favorite reads. The only reason I gave the book four stars is because the English was very simple and almost not developed quite right. Overall this is a great read!

[Alice Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice easy read. I haven't read many YA books recently so this was a nice one to break up my recent reads. It was a good story, it reminded me of a typical haunted house horror film, which I quite enjoyed.
It would have been nice to get a bit more background and detail on the previous house owners, just to let us know a bit more about why what happened to them happened. But overall it was a good story line.

[Qorry 'Aina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the book. The story is kind of cliche but the author succeed putting elements that make the readers want to finish the book.
Detail of the flashback and paranormal activities in the story are able to create a feeling of connection between the reader and the characters. The fear and misery of the ghosts are described quite beautifully so the reader want to know what happened dan why.

[Flyss Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Not really sure how this one got into my reading pile as it’s a mid grade book, however I did really enjoy it, largely for the nostalgia as it’s the type of book that made me fall in love with reading as a kid. Classic family moving into a haunted house fair!

[amberrr · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book honestly scared me. i mostly enjoyed this, idk why but i didn’t really like the author’s style of writing. she made a good book but explained it in a way i didn’t like. of course, that’s just my opinion, it’s still a good book.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Couldnt put it down but was disappointed in how fast they played out the ending.

[auteaandtales · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is pretty good proof that women are better at writing horror than men are

[Hanna Larsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it back when I was a child. Still gives me the creeps

[Kinley Goodman]

Omg sooo good

[Lana Lazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. The mantra the child kept repeating 'if I should die before I wake' stuck in my head and added to the overall creepiness of the story.

[Teria Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Intruders is a mystery book by E.E. Richardson. I came across this book because I needed something to read. At first the book was slow but then it got really interesting toward the middle and the end. At some points in the book I never wanted to stop reading but I had to because there were other things I needed to do. I would recommend this book to people who like supernatural stuff. If you get scared too easily then this book is probably not for you.

[Catherine Hannigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my project, I read the book Intruders by E.E. Richardson. Intruders is about 4 kids that move into a new house, and discover that something just isn’t right about it. The author did a great job with using detail and helping you imagine and understand the book. At some points, it felt as if you were actually in the book with the characters, due to the mass amount of details Richardson added. I could picture the scenery, such as the attic. However, the author does use repetition in one part of the book about the sister Cassie not accepting everything that happens, which slowed the story down and made it hard to keep reading. The author also does a great job on making sure that she does not give the ending away. She does in fact give hints to what has happened, so that the reader can try and guess what the ending is going to be like. I feel that the best part of the book was when all the kids came together to try and talk to the little boy’s ghost. Richardson used great details to describe what the boys message was and how he shattered the glass. She also tells the reader about how after the ghost boy appeared, the kids had to leave the attic and plan out another way to contact the ghost boy. I found this part the hardest to abandon while reading because is was so suspenseful and I wanted to find out how the kids were going to contact the ghost again without getting caught by anyone. In the beginning of the book the author described what the house looked like and how it was old and in the middle it describes the man who built the house and that will contribute to what happened at the end and why the boy is trying to talk to the kids. Due to this, I would say the main literary technique in this is imagery. The author goes into depth with details and it really helps the reader understand and enjoy the suspense in this book. As a person who generally doesn’t enjoy reading all that often, I thought Richardson did an amazing job at holding my attention throughout the book. I felt completely immersed in the story, and I even had a lot of trouble putting it down because I wanted to find out how children that young were going to manage to release a spirit that has been trapped in this house since the 1950’s. They had to find a way to put together everything the ghost boy was trying to tell them. All the kids had to find out why the ghost was trapped and who was after him. They couldn't tell there parents either because they wouldn't trust them so they had to sneak around and try to contact the ghost. All together Intruders by E.E. Richardson was a great book, that i would strongly recommend to those who like a good mystery.

[Lari · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Intruders is E.E. Richardson’s second novel for Random House Children’s Books and it is an excellent thriller for children around the age of 11-14 and is guaranteed to give them a good scare. The book will most likely give you goose-bumps and bring your fears to life in a way, like being scared of looking in the bathroom mirror and finding that you’re not alone, or wondering what’s lurking in your attic.

The story’s plot isn’t really that unusually but the characterizations or the children are very well done, particularly the conflict between Cassie and Damon. The book is about a newly married couple and their respective children. They move into a rundown and haunted (unknown to them) country house. The man, Gerald, has two sons – mature yet sarcastic Damon and clever but shy Tim. The woman, Amanda has a stubborn, rebellious daughter, Cassie, and an easy-going son, Joel.

In the book the characters Joel and Tim were both having the same nightmare every night of a terrified boy who was running for his life. A ghostly boy was seen running through the garden, movements just out of sight. A blood stained knife, blood stained bed covers. There are cupboards that lock themselves and unexplained breakages. All these weird and spooky happenings and the voice of a young boy repeating the same fractured prayer ‘if I should die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take’.

The kids try séances, and historical research to try and find out about the house and its previous tenants and what really happened to them. Their determination and bravery to face the dangers and solve the mystery bring them all closer together.

Some ‘new’ families don’t get on but it sometimes helps if they do, but in this situation the family was forced to get along with each other and work together to solve the mystery. An old derelict house stood on its own. Most kids would say it was haunted. In this case the kids were right. Lots of people think of cellars and attics to be full of cobwebs and are always dark, damp and dusty and therefore they seem spooky. The book brings these thoughts alive in your mind with a lot of events happening in these places because that’s where most people would expect them to happen.

The book grabs you and pulls you in as it fascinates you constantly and keeps you so interested that you can’t put it down. You just have to keep reading to find out what’s going to happen next.

A gripping and un-missable read, but maybe not by torchlight at bedtime.

[Truly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saya ragu apakah cerita ini cocok untuk anak-anak, minimal remaja. Karena latar belakang cerita ini adalah dua keluarga yang akan menjadi satu saat orang tua mereka menikah. Dalam cerita ini kedua keluarga tersebut tinggal dalam satu rumah, padahal kedua orang tua mereka belum menikah! Walau tidak ada adegan sex, namun setidaknya bisa menimbulkan persepsi bahwa hidup serumah setelah bertunangan adalah hal wajar, Namun tidak di negara kita!

Joel Demetrius dan kakaknya Cassie harus pindah ke rumah baru karena ibunya bertunangan dengan Gerald, yang telah membeli sebuah rumah baru. Jelaskan apa maksud saya!

Gerald sendiri punya dua orang anak laki-laki. Damon yang sulung berusia setahun lebih tua dari Cassie, dan yang bungsu, Tim, sedikit lebih muda dari Joel. Tak seperti Joel yang dengan mudah bisa menerima kehadiran kedua calon saudara tiri mereka, Cassie benar-benar kesal karena harus pindah dan bergabung dengan keluarga barunya. Dia menjuluki mereka sebagai para pengganggu.

Rumah mereka merupakan rumah tua yang tidak terawat. Menurut berita yang beredar, tidak ada yang tinggal lama di sana. Namun sejak tinggal di rumah itu, Joel sering mengalami mimpi-mimpi yang menyeramkan. Kadang mendengar suara-suara bisikan seorang anak yang mengucapkan semacam doa menjelang tidur. Ternyata hal itu juga dirasakan oleh Tim.

Perseteruan antara Cassie dengan Damon dan Tim kian memanas. Guna membuktikan siapa yang paling berani, suatu hari mereka sepakat untuk melakukan upacara memanggil roh. Namun upacara tersebut malah membuat emreka lari ketakutan keluar dari rumah. Itu membuktikan ada sesuatu di rumah tersebut.

Ketakutan yang mereka rasakan, tanpa mereka sadari malah membuat mereka kian mendekat dan mau menerima satu dengan lainnya. Terbukti dengan Cassie yang sudi bermain catur dengan Tim, mengurangi sikap saling mengejek, bahkan pergi ke perpustakaan bersama-sama.

Sebenarnya ceritanya cukup seram, hanya plotnya dibuat sederhana sekali. Baru sebentar cerita ini sudah tamat. Mungkin karena diperuntukan untuk anak-anak, maka pengarangnya merasakan sudah cukup dibuat seperti itu. Padahal kalau lebih diperumit atau diperpanjang bisa lebih seru lagi.

Namun yang paling membuat saya merinding adalah saat Joel mendengar kata-kata ” kalau aku sampai mati dalam tidurku aku bedoa semoga Tuhan menerima jiwaku disisi-NYA....” ampun deh seramnya!

[M.L. Sparrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book when I was about eleven and it totally scared the life out of me! Almost a decade, and many re-reads later, The Intruders has lost it's scare factor, but remains one of my favourite book. I always find that books I loved during childhood remain my favourites no matter what!

This book is aimed at children - probably ten upwards, I would say - and the writting style does reflect that, however, it's not simplistic in the least. Some of the descriptions are brilliant, not to mention creepy even as an adult. My only real fault in this area would be that E.E. Richardson repeats himself sometimes when discribing the characters, especially Tim.

Moving on to the characters though, they are one of the main reason I adore this book. I enjoyed the dynamics between them and found the banter between Cassie and Damon extremely amusing, if a little immature at times - however, immature is allowed, after all, they are meant to be kids. My favourite character was Damon, but I felt that his character sort of faded out in the last few chapters when all the action was going on. I expected him to be in the thick of it, but he was almost off to the side-lines. Also, Joels characters changes drastically in the last few chapters as well, he suddenly seems a lot older than he did during the rest of the book. The thing that bothers me is that we never get told exact ages for the characters - we know they are all relatively close in age, but never get told exactly and I found that they appeared to be very different in ages, Tim being on the younger end of the spectrum - ten, maybe even younger sometimes - and Damon being at the older end - fifteen, sixteen perhaps.

The story line was enganging for the age it's aimed at, though a little predictable - but that's probably just my grown-up self talking; I can't remember if I guessed the ending when I read it the first time! However, despite the little things I've found to pick at in this story as I grew older, I still have to give this book five stars, simply because it has kept my interest over the years and, even at twenty, I still enjoyed reading it.

For more reviews visit my blog at http://mlsparrow.wix.com/mlsparrow

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

What attracted me to this book at first was the dark cover art. Oooh, scary! Then when I turned it over and saw that scary night-time prayer on the back, I didn't even open the book before I got it from the library.

The book is fairly simple to follow. You have the kids moving into a scary old house that's basically falling down around them. There's a lot of tension in the air because of the mixing together of two families and two sets of kids. Everyone was pretty likable, although I do have to say that I didn't much care for how Cassie handled herself.

Everyone knows that when you have a lifestyle change, especially a big one like that, that no one's really happy at first as it takes time to adjust. Her acting like a creep wasn't helping anyone.

Other than her snarky, mean attitude I thought that the book had a decent amount of suspense, good narration and had some decently scary parts. It wasn't scary enough to make me want to throw it across the room and say some prayers, but for the age group I guess some people would have their knees knock together a few times.

For older readers, you may want to just have the plot hurry up and get to the end, because you may figure it out early. For younger readers, maybe read it with the light on when it gets to the scary parts. All in all, a good book to read around Halloween!

[Eden Silverfox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joel and Cassie are moving in with their step father and his kids. Joel doesn't mind so much, but Cassie definitely isn't thrilled about it. They move into a big, old house that needs a lot of fixing up. But Joel is excited about it being so big since him, his sister and mom lived in a small apartment.

But as much as Joel likes the place, he begins to admit something is not right about it and whatever is there, is making it more and more clear.

I've read one other book by this author called Devil's Footsteps and it is a creepy good story. The Intruders has a good, gripping story too and I found that I couldn't put it down.

What made it less enjoyable for me was how Cassie character was written. When she is not complaining, she is a good character. And while I understand she felt that her new family was intruding on their lives, she could be mean. However, Damon was pretty much the same as Cassie. And what else bothered me was that whenever something happened, Joel and Cassie's mother always blamed Cassie. There was no even seeing if any of the other kids did it.

Besides that, I liked the story and this author just seems to write books that really hook me in and make me want to keep on reading.

While I enjoyed Devil's Footsteps more, this was a good read and it kept me reading to find out what would happen next. I would give it 3 and a half stars.

[West Region,]

The Intruders by E.E. Richardson

"If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

These are the words Joel, and his stepbrother Tim, hear over and over again in their dreams. After having the same nightmares, they decide to search the creepy, old mansion that their parents have decided to move in to. Their new family of 2 parents and 4 kids not only have to deal with getting used to each other, but also with a haunted house that has visions of Others, and blood dripping, and glass breaking, and doors slamming.

Have you ever thought that you’ve seen a ghost, or played with a Ojui board, or how about a séance? If you like to be scared, then read The Intruders. This supernatural thriller will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

Grades 6 – 9, Spine-Chilling Horror, AHE-0990
Submitted by Jocelyn Mullen, 10/9/07