Night of the Living Zed

Zed Watson #2

by Basil Sylvester, Kevin Sylvester

Three days in a haunted mansion full of secrets. Two intrepid investigators. And one chance to solve a generations-old mystery. Beloved monster enthusiast Zed Watson returns in this charming new adventure chock-full of illusions, spirits, haunted pasts and heartwarming friendships.

Zed and Gabe are back to their treasure-hunting, literary-sleuthing ways in this spooky new adventure!

After some lacklustre cases involving lost books and a missing pet, the two friends have finally come across a mystery worth their attention: the secrets of Glyndebourne Manor, haunted home of a late, great opera designer. Every twenty-five years, the Manor hosts a challenge. You have three days and two nights to solve the puzzles in each room before the stroke of midnight. If you leave, you forfeit the game. If you solve the puzzles in time, you win a huge pile of money.

Simple enough, thinks Zed. They and Gabe are interested in all things ghoulish. And if they win, they will be able to give their friends Sam and Jo the large wedding they deserve.

There's only one problem: no one has been able to stay in the house for more than a single night.

Cue a whirlwind of scary ghosts, moving walls and cryptic letters. The two friends are going to need some help. Which means figuring out who the mysterious figure holding a crowbar is. And how to get out of a room with no doors! But thanks to Zed's fearless enthusiasm and Gabe's encyclopedic knowledge of theatre, they might be able to survive and maybe even right some past wrongs.

Genres: Middle Grade, LGBT, Mystery, Contemporary

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 16, 2024

About the author

Basil Sylvester is an author, student, editor, sometimes bookseller, and occasional backstage person in community theatre. Their favourite monsters are vampires, but ghosts are pretty good too. Recently, they worked on Empress of Blandings Productions' queer noir podcast Hardboiled. The Fabulous Zed Watson! is their first book, which they co-authored with Kevin Sylvester. When not in quarantine they can be found drinking london fogs at local cafes and watching Pride and Prejudice (2005) while they should be working.

Reviews

[Celia T · Rating 5 out of 5]

MAYBE THE REAL TREASURE WAS THE LESBIAN GHOSTS WHO HAUNTED US ALONG THE WAY

[Geena · Rating 5 out of 5]

FINALLY got to read this wonderful sequel to the Fabulous Zed Watson 😊 Thanks Basil for making me sob my eyes out.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful 😊💖💞

[Paul Sutter]

NIGHT OF THE LIVING ZED is book two of the young adult series featuring best friends Zed and Gabe. Their antics in book one, gave them even more opportunity to get into even more challenges in this book, thanks to a residence that may be seriously haunted.
It revolves around the Glyndebourne Manor, which was the home of the late great theatre set and costume designer Charlotte Scherrer. Every quarter century, there is a contest held that involves the Manor. There is a boatload of cash offered to anyone who can stay in the house for two days and three nights, and at the same time solve a host of challenges. If that person can stay in the house and solve the puzzles, they win. But to date not one single person has existed there beyond a night, reportedly because of the horrors, ghosts, and more that lie in wait.
Zed and Gabe decide they are up for the challenge, and are chosen as one of two couples. Zed and Gabe also have another reason for wanting to win. They vow to give their friends Sam and Jo the greatest wedding possible with their winnings. Almost as soon as they enter, they get the ghostly vibes and feeling there are other presences within those four walls.
The first night when they awaken in the morning, they find the room is totally different and they get that chilling feeling something else in with them. There are puzzles within puzzles, and soon they meet Hyacinth, who may be a ghost or human. The three of them embark on an adventure of survival, as they face a host of challenges such as flaming arrows and other deadly dealings.
What makes the book even more fun, are the illustrations that accompany the book, giving it an equal level of amusement, certainly to keep readers entertained through dialogue and visuals. While the Manor has been desolate and dreary for decades, the trio want to conquer the challenges and bring back life and hope to the Manor, and perhaps put the spirit of Charlotte to rest.
Anyone who likes a scary fun book, will definitely find NIGHT OF THE LIVING ZED, to be the perfect combination.

[Lisa Pineo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure why it took me a couple weeks to get through this when it was pretty cute and rather short being middle grade but overall I liked it quite a bit. Zed and Gabe are back along with cameos from other side characters in the first book. Again, Zed is a weird kid with even weirder fashion sense trying to solve mysteries and loving anything spooky. He's a tween, nonbinary and really wants to meet some ghosts. Gabe is pretty much the opposite being an opera-loving guy who's also into plants and set design. They meet another tween, Hyacinth, in the midst of trying to solve the mystery of what treasure is buried in a huge haunted mansion and learn the story behind the person who built the house. There's lots of teasing but love for all the different hobbies, fears, relationships and sexual identities, as well as automatic use of proper pronouns. This is my second spooky but not scary or gory middle grade "horror" novel this year (I previously reviewed Doll Bones by Holly Black) and while they're very different stories, they both have hope, understanding and love. They both have cool illustrations as well.

[Sarah Butland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificent mix of magic, mayhem and marriage that reminded me of the video game Luigi's Mansion with a sprinkle of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Two young kids with their obsessions, one on the macabre and the other on the opera, form an unlikely duo of mystery solvers and ghost hunters. Add a similar age ghost to the mix and let the antics commence.

The imagery and trickery throughout this escape-room like tale make for an adventure perfect for the Halloween lover as the characters are fabulous, fantastic and creatively work to extend the night of trick-or-treating. Inspired to go on an adventure to a haunted house after an anonymous call inviting them to apply to be a part of something obscure, they jump at the chance to solve riddles, research opera's and be trapped in a house for a weekend.

This is a fast-paced, comical story of exploration and friendship.

[Kay S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't hate this as much as the first one. It's a fun puzzley, haunted house mystery. But Zed is a terrible friend and continues to say and just be mean in general to Gabe (he came with them to a spooky haunted house even though he was terrified and Zed continually dismisses his interest and belittles him about it. So rude). And the making demands of neighbours before and after Halloween? Awful.

I still find Zed to be an entirely unlikable character. The first was a novelty in terms of non-binary representation but there are better, more likeable NB characters out there for kids to work with now. Certainly with more representation than this white-washed gothic gong show.

[Mike Broderick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really my book but I read this because one of my student's loved Zed Watson. So we each read it and discussed the book. I will say that there is something about Zed that is so much fun. This book is better than the first Zed Watson book in my opinion.

[Mikaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited when I saw this one in the bookstore, but unfortunately, for me it did not quite measure up to the absolute love I had for the first novel. A lot of what I loved in the original wasn't present in this sequel, but I will still avidly promote this series to my students!

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really 3.5. The plotline was fun as the mysteries were solved, but it isn't up there with other solve the mystery escape room thrillers like the Lemoncello series or other Kevin Sylvester series like Neil Flambe! Still worth a read.

[Mary-Esther Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the inventive escape house and the romance, disliked the annoying Zed.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

just as cosy and fun as the first book, this time with more scary moments! genuinely had so much fun reading this and uncovering the story along with Zed. if I’d had these books when I was a kid I would have been obsessed with them. so much love!!