What do you think?
Shivers #33
The Forgotten Farmhouse
Nico and Ana get lost while horseback riding and get trapped in an old farmhouse haunted by its gruesomely slain owners.
Paperback
Published September 14, 1997
About the author
M.D. Spenser
56 books143 followersM.D. Spenser is a children's author, journalist and music critic. Born in the United States, he lives now in the UK.
"The Enchanted Attic," Book 1 of his popular SHIVERS series of novels for children, was republished as an e-book in August 2011. It is available at amazone.com, Barnes & Noble, Sony and iBookstory. Book 2, "A Ghastly Shade of Green," and Book 3, "Ghost Writer," followed shortly afterwards.
The rest of the 36-book series will be published as ebooks over time.
Also, an internet petition is circulating asking that the entire 36-book series be republished in paperback: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/md...
"The Enchanted Attic," Book 1 of his popular SHIVERS series of novels for children, was republished as an e-book in August 2011. It is available at amazone.com, Barnes & Noble, Sony and iBookstory. Book 2, "A Ghastly Shade of Green," and Book 3, "Ghost Writer," followed shortly afterwards.
The rest of the 36-book series will be published as ebooks over time.
Also, an internet petition is circulating asking that the entire 36-book series be republished in paperback: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/md...
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 29, 2024
Well let me start off by saving I vividly remember this book from primary school. This already adds one star because of nostalgia reasons. I definitely remember a lot of scenes from this book especially the gory details and descriptions. I would say my perspective on it has changed a lot because reading this as a much younger child I didn’t really rate it and just thought it was really good. Looking at it now it’s still a good book but I would say not a lot happens when a lot of stuff COULD have happened. I feel like there was a big buildup and cool transition to this farmhouse which really created a eerie atmosphere with the fog, raised suspense and left me with a lot of questions halfway through the book which is good. I would say that it does drag on a bit but if you just let it flow it works. Second half is where it falls down a bit. Nothing really happens when they arrive at this farmhouse and although there is a very real danger it doesnt seem that bad as the book goes on because it’s a constant back and forth for a while. I would say the “villains” are very creepy and obviously they can’t actually kill of the main characters in a kids book. Rate the book a 3 but because I read it as a kid and enjoyed it so much I’m gonna give it a 4
June 27, 2026
7/10
I have been wanting to read The Forgotten Farmhouse for years, the first time I saw the cover art I knew I had to read it, and luckily I found a copy recently. The reason this book captured my attention is because I love farm books, I love the spooky atmosphere they have. However what surprised me is that the first half of the book has nothing to do with farms and is actually set in the mountains where the two main protagonists are horse trekking, but they eventually get separated from their guide and stumble upon the farmhouse mentioned in the title.
I was surprised with how dark this book was, I know that Shivers is generally an extreme series compared to Goosebumps but this book took it the next level. I will try to not spoil much but it contains scenes with a whole family with each of their faces mutilated by gunshots , and M. D. Spenser goes into heavy detail regarding the injuries to say the least. The farmhouse was an incredibly creepy setting with an amazing atmosphere which I loved, even the first half of the book was pretty creepy due to the foggy atmosphere.
Despite all the great things about this book, I have one problem: the first 60 pages before our main characters arrive at the farmhouse are a little bland and some parts feel like filler. They pretty much consist of the protagonists following their group and getting lost due to the heavy fog, however there are some cool moments during this half of the book.
This is one of my favourite Shivers books and I would highly recommend it.
I have been wanting to read The Forgotten Farmhouse for years, the first time I saw the cover art I knew I had to read it, and luckily I found a copy recently. The reason this book captured my attention is because I love farm books, I love the spooky atmosphere they have. However what surprised me is that the first half of the book has nothing to do with farms and is actually set in the mountains where the two main protagonists are horse trekking, but they eventually get separated from their guide and stumble upon the farmhouse mentioned in the title.
I was surprised with how dark this book was, I know that Shivers is generally an extreme series compared to Goosebumps but this book took it the next level. I will try to not spoil much but it contains scenes with a whole family with each of their faces mutilated by gunshots , and M. D. Spenser goes into heavy detail regarding the injuries to say the least. The farmhouse was an incredibly creepy setting with an amazing atmosphere which I loved, even the first half of the book was pretty creepy due to the foggy atmosphere.
Despite all the great things about this book, I have one problem: the first 60 pages before our main characters arrive at the farmhouse are a little bland and some parts feel like filler. They pretty much consist of the protagonists following their group and getting lost due to the heavy fog, however there are some cool moments during this half of the book.
This is one of my favourite Shivers books and I would highly recommend it.
July 20, 2023
I recently received The Forgotten Farmhouse from a seller in a Facebook group.He cut me a good deal on the book and even insisted that I read it soon as it's his favorite book.I haven't talked to him yet about this but before I get into the review I'll give a few excuses for why I possibly may not have liked this book
- I was tired.
- I had a lot on my mind.
- I clearly wanted to read something else midway through.
- This book was about horses .I don't really like horses.
Now here is where the actual review begins.Nico and his sister Ana love horseback riding.They are going horseback riding through some caddle ranch thing like real pioneers.As they begin to travel their tour guide ends up losing them in the woods and the two kids stop to help a girl who is not as experienced as Nico and Ana.After the girl gets ahead they see this mist rising up so thick they can't see anything.They end up letting the horses lead the way and they notice the two horses they got paired with are not the same horses from the beginning.These horses are white and bigger.The horses lead them to a farmhouse.Nico goes to the front door and is interrupted with a blast and out comes our villains.Im not going to reveal what they are, because it's actually pretty cool and really gory.Oh one also carries a shotgun.This book was honestly infuriating.The first half of this book is horse riding,getting lost and explaining horse riding rules.Our protagonist even explains that the horse riding explanation is important for later.No it's not.The villains don't appear until around page 80 and the farmhouse is maybe page 70.This is a 124 page book.So basically this was 50 pages of filler.So yea.To make a long story short this wasn't one of my favorites.I did think the villains were pretty scary.But there was no atmosphere or tention.So when they do pop up your left with everything falling flat.We do get an explanation about who the villains are on the last page and that should've happened way earlier.I give The Forgotten Farmhouse a two out of five stars.
- I was tired.
- I had a lot on my mind.
- I clearly wanted to read something else midway through.
- This book was about horses .I don't really like horses.
Now here is where the actual review begins.Nico and his sister Ana love horseback riding.They are going horseback riding through some caddle ranch thing like real pioneers.As they begin to travel their tour guide ends up losing them in the woods and the two kids stop to help a girl who is not as experienced as Nico and Ana.After the girl gets ahead they see this mist rising up so thick they can't see anything.They end up letting the horses lead the way and they notice the two horses they got paired with are not the same horses from the beginning.These horses are white and bigger.The horses lead them to a farmhouse.Nico goes to the front door and is interrupted with a blast and out comes our villains.Im not going to reveal what they are, because it's actually pretty cool and really gory.Oh one also carries a shotgun.This book was honestly infuriating.The first half of this book is horse riding,getting lost and explaining horse riding rules.Our protagonist even explains that the horse riding explanation is important for later.No it's not.The villains don't appear until around page 80 and the farmhouse is maybe page 70.This is a 124 page book.So basically this was 50 pages of filler.So yea.To make a long story short this wasn't one of my favorites.I did think the villains were pretty scary.But there was no atmosphere or tention.So when they do pop up your left with everything falling flat.We do get an explanation about who the villains are on the last page and that should've happened way earlier.I give The Forgotten Farmhouse a two out of five stars.
July 11, 2026
2.5 - 3 stars
A guided trail ride gone wrong; siblings Nico and Ana find themselves separated from their group. They stumble upon a farmhouse with a dark past.
There was quite a bit of filler with lots of repetitive fog talk and I would’ve liked to have more haunted farmhouse action. I will say that the characters were at least likable in this installment.
A guided trail ride gone wrong; siblings Nico and Ana find themselves separated from their group. They stumble upon a farmhouse with a dark past.
There was quite a bit of filler with lots of repetitive fog talk and I would’ve liked to have more haunted farmhouse action. I will say that the characters were at least likable in this installment.
June 30, 2026
The best in this series
January 29, 2023
It is time for another ripoff round, which I am starting a bit early because I have the room around here and man do I want some good reads. Shivers is up first and of my options I randomized, I went with this. I read a couple reviews so I knew what to expect and had been wanting to read it.
Now I have and boy is it something. Set up is simple; 13 year old (!) Nico and his sister Ana are summer vacation to the Catskill mountains and are riding horses in some horse trek adventure. They tend up getting lost because of their dumb guide and end up in some fog. Eventually they end up at a farm house with some ghosts out for revenge.
This really sums up what the Shivers is like and how MD Spenser operates. He does have some good ideas and knows how to push the dark-ness, sometimes way too much arguably. But as a writer, he tends to not be very good and the stories tend to be weak with too much build up.
This has all of that and then some. The start is pretty rough. There are so many 2 page chapters, heck a few are even 0ne page for no reason. The way sentences and chapters are structured and paced is all off for the first quarter. It's still there in the rest but it is calmed down. I mentioned with Thing in Room 601 that it ends a lot of chapters by going "but oh boy things sure did happen later!" and does that a lot too.
It's hard to describe but the start was annoying to read. The story itself is simple which is fine but even for that, nothing is explained that much. It feels like a 20 page short story stretched out. But when it gets going, it improves.
The kids were born in Columbia and came to America later, meaning we have protagonists that are not from the US and are non-white. Can't believe it was this series that did it. Nico is nothing but Ana is likable with her being the smarter one and they do get along.
There is some creepy bits with the fog and all that. Then we get the house and shit gets real. These ghosts were murdered and are in the same state they were left in. I won't say it all as it's basically this book has but man it gets dark. The descriptions here are super gory and detailed. it makes the darkest one so far, hands down.
This does put it in the same problem as Camp Massacre where it's a bit unsure who it's for as the writing is often too immature for adults but the events get too grisly for kids. I love how dark and gets, some of this stuff belongs in a real horror book. But I can see some think it goes a bit far.
Still, the stuff from when they get to the houses onward is mostly decent. It takes a while, very fireworks factory but when we get there, it gets cooking. There isn't much deeper here, we get all the real backstory on the last page. There was a chance to go deeper on how this ghost family got killed and all that but nah. There is sympathy for sure but they don't go into it.
So as a story, it's not that good with a lot of wonky writing and pacing with a weak plot. But as horror, it works with creepy bits and some good gore when we get there. It's more consistent in the back half even as it has flaws. It's a hard time to rate as it has a lot of the best and worst stuff in the series.
This is the 10th one I'm covering and it figures it would go to the one that sums how the series has been for me so far. I can see others having it lower and it started that way but it;'s able to Decent but it's a low one. Still, it's certainly not forgettable with the horrors it contains. Ending is kind of rushed but feels more complete than some others we've seen. There's that.
I'll keep reading to see where the series goes from here but this 10th one did certainly just sum it all up.
That's it for this one. Next we go to a series that has fared better with me, Strange Matter, with a book I went out of my way to get for myself. See ya then.
Now I have and boy is it something. Set up is simple; 13 year old (!) Nico and his sister Ana are summer vacation to the Catskill mountains and are riding horses in some horse trek adventure. They tend up getting lost because of their dumb guide and end up in some fog. Eventually they end up at a farm house with some ghosts out for revenge.
This really sums up what the Shivers is like and how MD Spenser operates. He does have some good ideas and knows how to push the dark-ness, sometimes way too much arguably. But as a writer, he tends to not be very good and the stories tend to be weak with too much build up.
This has all of that and then some. The start is pretty rough. There are so many 2 page chapters, heck a few are even 0ne page for no reason. The way sentences and chapters are structured and paced is all off for the first quarter. It's still there in the rest but it is calmed down. I mentioned with Thing in Room 601 that it ends a lot of chapters by going "but oh boy things sure did happen later!" and does that a lot too.
It's hard to describe but the start was annoying to read. The story itself is simple which is fine but even for that, nothing is explained that much. It feels like a 20 page short story stretched out. But when it gets going, it improves.
The kids were born in Columbia and came to America later, meaning we have protagonists that are not from the US and are non-white. Can't believe it was this series that did it. Nico is nothing but Ana is likable with her being the smarter one and they do get along.
There is some creepy bits with the fog and all that. Then we get the house and shit gets real. These ghosts were murdered and are in the same state they were left in. I won't say it all as it's basically this book has but man it gets dark. The descriptions here are super gory and detailed. it makes the darkest one so far, hands down.
This does put it in the same problem as Camp Massacre where it's a bit unsure who it's for as the writing is often too immature for adults but the events get too grisly for kids. I love how dark and gets, some of this stuff belongs in a real horror book. But I can see some think it goes a bit far.
Still, the stuff from when they get to the houses onward is mostly decent. It takes a while, very fireworks factory but when we get there, it gets cooking. There isn't much deeper here, we get all the real backstory on the last page. There was a chance to go deeper on how this ghost family got killed and all that but nah. There is sympathy for sure but they don't go into it.
So as a story, it's not that good with a lot of wonky writing and pacing with a weak plot. But as horror, it works with creepy bits and some good gore when we get there. It's more consistent in the back half even as it has flaws. It's a hard time to rate as it has a lot of the best and worst stuff in the series.
This is the 10th one I'm covering and it figures it would go to the one that sums how the series has been for me so far. I can see others having it lower and it started that way but it;'s able to Decent but it's a low one. Still, it's certainly not forgettable with the horrors it contains. Ending is kind of rushed but feels more complete than some others we've seen. There's that.
I'll keep reading to see where the series goes from here but this 10th one did certainly just sum it all up.
That's it for this one. Next we go to a series that has fared better with me, Strange Matter, with a book I went out of my way to get for myself. See ya then.
February 6, 2009
I read this book awhile ago, so I do not remember much about it but I know it was a good book. I love Shivers books and this was one of the really good ones. It has a twist which I love. Anyways that’s about all for now.
Peace Out,
Bookworm
Peace Out,
Bookworm
Read
October 16, 2015It is awesome. the two children description to the fram is really spooky. BTW, loved the book :)
November 22, 2023
The book is stupidity dumb. Don't recommend it. Read every Shivers book, and this is one of the worst
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews