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Tombstones #1
Dances with Werewolves
Becoming a heroine after stopping a killer, Holly Brand learns that the killer was actually a werewolf, and when her newfound respect wins her the nomination for Midwinter Dance Queen, a second werewolf plots to attack. Original.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
46 people want to read
About the author
John Peel
422 books166 followersJohn Peel is the author of Doctor Who books and comic strips. Notably, he wrote the first original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, to launch the Virgin New Adventures line. In the early 1990s he was commissioned by Target Books to write novelisations of several key Terry Nation Dalek stories of the 1960s after the rights were finally worked out. He later wrote several more original Daleks novels.
He has the distinction of being one of only three authors credited on a Target novelisation who had not either written a story for the TV series or been a part of the production team (the others were Nigel Robinson and Alison Bingeman).
Outside of Doctor Who, Peel has also written novels for the Star Trek franchise. Under the pseudonym "John Vincent", he wrote novelisations based upon episodes of the 1990s TV series James Bond Jr..
He has the distinction of being one of only three authors credited on a Target novelisation who had not either written a story for the TV series or been a part of the production team (the others were Nigel Robinson and Alison Bingeman).
Outside of Doctor Who, Peel has also written novels for the Star Trek franchise. Under the pseudonym "John Vincent", he wrote novelisations based upon episodes of the 1990s TV series James Bond Jr..
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 8, 2022
Oh the Tombstones series...
Only two books ever written by author John Peel and I was lucky to get my hands on this one. I have had no luck with finding the last book, The Last Drop, and if I don't I will be sadly disappointed.
This was still early in the YA horror boom and I don't see why it didn't continue.
The premise of the collective series seemed intriguingly simple: find a random tombstone in a cemetery and tell the tale of the poor unfortunate soul in the grave by focusing on other characters responsible and/or connected.
Karen Symanski, 17, murdered by the Hinsdale Slasher. The third and final victim because her friend Holly Brand figured out who the killer was...what he was...
Graham Tracy was about to kill another one of her friends, her best friend Zakiya Washburn, when Holly showed up with her aunt, Police Chief Debra Dorn to arrest him.
Her theory was wild and debunked by everyone until the two other woman saw it with their own eyes...Graham Tracy turned into a werewolf. Holly was prepared with a pure silver hat pin belonging to her mother and stabbed the creature through the heart.
Chief Dorn tells the girls to go with the cover story that Graham was just a wacko who liked to slice people up with knives instead of claws and teeth. Even then Holly is seen as a heroine and Zak the victim saved from a grisly end...they are the most popular news in town.
Football star Blake Riley nominates Holly to be queen of the upcoming dance for her heroism and decides to be her date, setting up his friend Rob with Zak. Despite saving somebody's life, blonde and usually Miss Popularity Gina Modean is furious and decides she'll pay Holly back.
It's not all fun for Holly even once the reporters stop hounding her. Blake is using her for publicity and now someone is sending Holly threatening notes...written in blood.
IT'S NOT OVER YET.
It's not really a mystery you get a pretty good spoiler midway through the book but also a twist. It's not clever by any means you can spot it easily but the execution is still amazingly done. The climax is thrilling and the ending is a good teaser of what is to come or rather what we could have gotten...
So far John Peel's writing style in these YA horror/thriller outings are fantastic and if you are lucky to come across this book then Dances With Werewolves will not disappoint...a highly recommended read worth adding to your collection.
Only two books ever written by author John Peel and I was lucky to get my hands on this one. I have had no luck with finding the last book, The Last Drop, and if I don't I will be sadly disappointed.
This was still early in the YA horror boom and I don't see why it didn't continue.
The premise of the collective series seemed intriguingly simple: find a random tombstone in a cemetery and tell the tale of the poor unfortunate soul in the grave by focusing on other characters responsible and/or connected.
Karen Symanski, 17, murdered by the Hinsdale Slasher. The third and final victim because her friend Holly Brand figured out who the killer was...what he was...
Graham Tracy was about to kill another one of her friends, her best friend Zakiya Washburn, when Holly showed up with her aunt, Police Chief Debra Dorn to arrest him.
Her theory was wild and debunked by everyone until the two other woman saw it with their own eyes...Graham Tracy turned into a werewolf. Holly was prepared with a pure silver hat pin belonging to her mother and stabbed the creature through the heart.
Chief Dorn tells the girls to go with the cover story that Graham was just a wacko who liked to slice people up with knives instead of claws and teeth. Even then Holly is seen as a heroine and Zak the victim saved from a grisly end...they are the most popular news in town.
Football star Blake Riley nominates Holly to be queen of the upcoming dance for her heroism and decides to be her date, setting up his friend Rob with Zak. Despite saving somebody's life, blonde and usually Miss Popularity Gina Modean is furious and decides she'll pay Holly back.
It's not all fun for Holly even once the reporters stop hounding her. Blake is using her for publicity and now someone is sending Holly threatening notes...written in blood.
IT'S NOT OVER YET.
It's not really a mystery you get a pretty good spoiler midway through the book but also a twist. It's not clever by any means you can spot it easily but the execution is still amazingly done. The climax is thrilling and the ending is a good teaser of what is to come or rather what we could have gotten...
So far John Peel's writing style in these YA horror/thriller outings are fantastic and if you are lucky to come across this book then Dances With Werewolves will not disappoint...a highly recommended read worth adding to your collection.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 28, 2025
2.5⭐️
Very corny writing, and made me feel like I was reading a Disney channel movie. So you let your daughter who is being threatened for her life to go to the dance? The prologue and epilogue were the best parts of this story. They both did the job of setting the mood for the story.
The characters were either plain or in cause of our MC a Mary sue like nature.
The first chapter, where we confront Graham at the start felt like bad acting. Could this guy have been even more of a EdgeLord?
Very corny writing, and made me feel like I was reading a Disney channel movie. So you let your daughter who is being threatened for her life to go to the dance? The prologue and epilogue were the best parts of this story. They both did the job of setting the mood for the story.
The characters were either plain or in cause of our MC a Mary sue like nature.
The first chapter, where we confront Graham at the start felt like bad acting. Could this guy have been even more of a EdgeLord?
July 20, 2022
What a dud. Amazing title and cover but that’s about it.
All this build-up to the dance and then nothing even happens.
Needed more Gina/werewolf moments because our protag has zero personality.
Disappointed that Gina didn’t even get to fully wolf out at the dance, and the reveal was predictable but very anticlimactic. Could’ve been so much better.
All this build-up to the dance and then nothing even happens.
Needed more Gina/werewolf moments because our protag has zero personality.
Disappointed that Gina didn’t even get to fully wolf out at the dance, and the reveal was predictable but very anticlimactic. Could’ve been so much better.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2020
This was a decent book. Overall I think the premise - a young girl dealing with the aftermath of a ya horror novel- was more interesting than the execution. That said, the execution wasn't bad. It's still a fun read. If you really like the genre I'd totally recommend this book.
January 8, 2011
Holly Brand saves her friend Zakiya from a fellow classmate that just happens to be a werewolf. When the media discovers what happens, Holly's and Zakiya's popularity soars. Holly is aked to the Midwinter Dance by one of the most popular guys. Gina, the queen bee, isn't too thrilled and says whatever necessary to knock Holly down a peg or two. Also, Holly starts to get messages saying "It's not over yet" and other unsightly things occur.
It's pretty obvious what will happen in the end, but I loved the book anyway. It's a real quick read. Fans of R.L. Stine's Fear Street would enjoy this book.
It's pretty obvious what will happen in the end, but I loved the book anyway. It's a real quick read. Fans of R.L. Stine's Fear Street would enjoy this book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews