It's on to the village of Calumet for book fifteen of the Michigan Chillers series, and Johnathan Rand has a couple of surprises for his loyal fans. Eleven-year-old Mikayla doesn't mind exploring the woods around Calumet with her eight-year-old brother Calvin; she'd rather commit to spending extra with him than be blamed when Calvin causes trouble at home. One summer day the siblings explore new territory, a trail leading to the Calumet copper mines that went defunct decades ago. Calvin wants to see the ghost town, but he and Mikayla have no way of knowing the danger that lurks beneath their feet in the abandoned mines.
The mines were sealed up long ago, but Mikayla and her brother know better than to venture inside if they found an open one. The tunnels could cave in at any time. What the two kids don't anticipate is the ground surrounding a sealed entrance crumbling under their weight, plunging them into a labyrinth of pitch-black tunnels twenty feet underground. They're too far outside the main village for anyone to hear them scream for help, and waiting for a search party could take weeks or longer. Wandering through the many miles of dark mines is their best hope, guided by the mini flashlight Calvin thought to bring. Being lost with almost no light is bad, but the situation is about to worsen.
From the bowels of the vestigial mining complex an orange glow approaches. It's a monster, roughly fashioned from copper. Vaguely human-shaped, the silent creature stalks Mikayla and Calvin through the winding tunnels, prompting them to hop inside an old mining cart for faster escape. Other copper creatures just like the first one join in pursuit, but Mikayla and Calvin don't learn what's going on until they meet Mr. Jarmo, a man well-acquainted with the copper creatures and the hidden threat they've posed for generations. Locking them inside the mines and escorting Mikayla and Calvin safely out are Mr. Jarmo's priorities, but will eluding the copper creatures be as simple as taking the nearest exit tunnel, or are there perils that Mikayla and Calvin have yet to perceive?
Calumet Copper Creatures skirts the edge of believability, but my favorite parts are the extras meant for Michigan Chillers devotees. Page 69 features the obligatory veiled reference to another Johnathan Rand book, this time Idaho Ice Beast from the American Chillers series. But only near the end do things get interesting, where on pages 172-175 it is implied that Mikayla and Calvin come face to face with Mr. Rand himself. That caught me by surprise. Even better is the very end (pages 175-177), where the characters usually meet the kid from the next Michigan Chiller. This time, they meet Sandy and Tim Johnson, the kids from the first Michigan Chiller (Mayhem on Mackinac Island), now adults. Their conversation is poignant, the new kids meeting the first ones Johnathan Rand ever led on an adventure. They share a connection because of their supernatural experiences. I love it, and this ending is why I consider Calumet Copper Creatures one of the best Michigan Chillers. If you follow the series, do yourself a favor and track down a copy of this book.