Terror Stalks Traverse City

Michigan Chillers #2

by Johnathan Rand

A would-be magician finds out there is some REAL magic in the world...all packed in a little wand. A wand that's been lost...with magical creatures creating havoc!

Genres: Horror, Childrens, Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction

201 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2000

About the author

Christopher Wright is the author of dozens of horror fiction books for children and young adults. He writes under the pseudonyms Johnathan Rand and Christopher Knight. Almost all of Wright's books (save American Chillers) take place in his home state of Michigan.

Reviews

[Jason Harlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The legendary Harris Lentz recently bought a ginormous collection of Jonathan Rand's books and this was one of the many he gave to me. This was my second time reading a book from this author (the first being The Terrible Boys of Tennessee, which I enjoyed) and my first time reading a Michigan Chillers book. I didn't hate this by any means but this was way too reminiscent of the Bone Chillers books, where kids find themselves in some form of peril throughout the story but nothing actually really happens. You could legit skip like every other chapter and not really feel like you missed much. I originally wanted to give this a 2/5 due to a serious lack of Christmas vibes but I'll give this a 3/5 instead, since the book lives up to its epic cover art and I put a lot of stock in the endings, which this one's was very fun. Recommended for young readers but that's probably about it.

[Wolverinefactor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most surprising thing is that it jumps into the action fairly quickly and was just a fun read.

-1 Star for spelling Pokémon wrong...

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Johnathan Rand introduces terror to Traverse City, Michigan, and aren't young readers of the city (or anywhere, really) glad for it. Continuing to hop around the map of Michigan while picking up the story thread where it left off at the end of Mayhem on Mackinac Island, we follow the misadventures of Sandy Johnson's friend Matt Sorenson as he unwittingly releases a herd of mischievous elves, a practical-joker snowman, and a gigantic snow monster on his hometown of Traverse City at Christmastime.

An early Christmas gift from his grandparents seems like a good turn that can't go wrong for Matt and his little sister Kimmy. Matt's present is a high-grade magic set, packaged with a dozen or so convincing illusions and a traditional hat, cape, and wand to lend ambience to the act. But when Matt starts waving the wand around without consulting the instruction manual first, trouble quickly swallows up Traverse City. Each careless wave of his wand has brought to life a character drawn by Matt on a poster in his room, which wouldn't be so calamitous had he not drawn an evil snow monster in addition to elves and a snowman. Now a wild-eyed beast is traipsing the town, smashing Christmas decorations and other private property. It's only a matter of time before the rampaging monster attracts major attention, and if it's traced to Matt, he'll be in bigger trouble than he can imagine.

His one chance? The magic wand he still tightly clutches. If it had the power to bring his drawings to life, maybe it also has what it takes to set everything back to normal before disaster strikes in irreversible fashion. But stalking the snow monster Matt created won't be easy, not while simultaneously trying to keep any neighbors from seeing the destruction his monster is causing to and around their houses. The elves and snowman shouldn't be too hard to send back where they came from, but it will take a lot of luck and determination if Matt has a prayer of winning his battle with the snow monster. Will Traverse City ever be the same again?

There are plenty of unanswered questions floating around at the end of Terror Stalks Traverse City. Why did Matt's grandparents give him a magic kit that works real magic? Did they know what it could do? How did they get their hands on it? Who made it work real magic in the first place, and what was their agenda? Surely Matt isn't the only kid to be given this particular magic set. Who arranged for sorcery to be put in the hands of unsuspecting kids, and what would be gained by it? These are just a few of the puzzlers that are never definitively answered in the story, but I don't mind too much. Peradventure the narrative addresses all these questions as satisfactorily as possible on page eighty-one: "Some things are just too weird to try and understand." Readers are used to getting an answer to every question they might ask, but it may be more realistic for a scary story to end with the characters remaining in the dark on some points. I can respect that. I love the reference on page seventy-nine to Yukon Cornelius and his battle with the Bumble snow monster from 1964's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer television Christmas special. The word search at the end of Terror Stalks Traverse City is a good touch, though the word "Matt" doesn't appear in it as it's supposed to. I would give this book one and a half stars, and while the break point for rounding up or down is very close, I tentatively decided to round up because the story is a fun diversion. I like Johnathan Rand's Michigan Chillers, and if you're willing to overlook a lot of eccentric punctuation, I believe you'll like them, too. Why not pick up Mayhem on Mackinac Island and give the series a shot?

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good kid book - Glenn and I both enjoyed it. This was our first read in the Michigan Chillers series and we'll definitely read more.

[Kenneth BLANCK · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOW THIS ONE!!! oh boy, this one not really scarie, but in a way it makes me LAUGH at how awsome the story line is! READ IT!!!!! you will know what i mean!

[Alejandro Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jonathan Rand’s second ‘Chiller ever put out so happened to be a Christmas centered story, whilst also being the weakest of its respective run (that I’ve read so far): Michigan Chillers. Just take the plot of the Goosebumps flicks and center it around Christmas, and you’ve got this book. It’s fun (per usual) and the Christmas vibes really help this one stay afloat. It doesn’t waste time with the monsters to egregious extents, whereas I thought it was gonna be running around the entire book chasing random Christmas characters—which is kind of what we got, but kind of not. It’s well-paced and simple, and I enjoyed this one and some of the ideas this one came with. But, as to why this one is the weakest of the Michigan Chillers run (so far, again), well, there’s a lot of useless exposition, mostly with random adult character being brought up to never appear again. The wizard shit near the end also hindered the story I feel; it felt a bit random and it resulted in a lot of the book feeling nullified. There’s no explanation as to why the grandparents of the main gave him the magic kit—which was, indeed, magic. There could’ve been a cool inclusion kind of like Halloweentown where the grandparents are magic-wielders, but instead they never even show up. The book’s biggest fault outside of pointless exposition was the intro: it’s practically non-existent. The book takes about two chapters to give you the tiniest bit of lore, then dumps us into the chaos. I like stories that don’t waste time but this one could’ve used some more buildup; it was jarring, to say the most. Overall, 6.5/10. An enjoyable holiday read that has many flaws. Terror indeed stalked Traverse City (HE SAID THE THING!).

[Hayden W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really lie this book it was really good. it wasn't very scarily but it was really easy to read I got it done in 2 days. so if your a person that doesn't read very fast I would suggest this book. This book inspired me to write my own book like this one but in Berrien springs because I have never seen a book that has been placed in Berrien Springs.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another terrific book from Johnathan Rand! They're mainly available from his bookstore in Indian River, Michigan.

[Max Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Rand is a chad. He has rats write books on an assembly line and he gets paid millions for it.

[Patrice · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing, story and characters are not great, though the mechanic linking the books in the series is interesting. Not as bad as the first one though.

[Mx.Lucey · Rating 5 out of 5]

a fun christmas adventure full of magic and action perfect for many ages!!

[Allyson Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest out of the whole michigan chillers series this is probably my favorite one alot happened in this book for being so small!

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Rand is a talented author who writes chilling but not quite terrifying novels. I enjoyed this book when I read it because of the twists and turns. He knows how to keep the reader eager to see what happens next!

[Jarrett]

This book was good but i didn't read it very fast. This kid gets a magic kit and he used a spell on a piece of paper. That paper ended up coming apart and everything on that paper went outside and knocked down all the Christmas decorations. I would recommend this book to people who like mysteries.

[Haley Decarlo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terror Stalks Traverse City

The horror book by Johnathan Rand is a great read, especially for kids. It's exciting and entertaining at the same time. This is an easy read and around the sixth or seventh grade level. It's a fantasy book that kids love.

Terror Stalks Traverse City keeps you hanging after each chapter. Once you start you won't be able to stop. The main characters Matt and John get stuck in some big situations where they have to become problem solvers. There life is at risk in many situations.

Read this book to find out how they'll do in this world of crazy adventures.

[Saffron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first Michigan Chillers book I read. It was probably one of my favorites as well. There are a ton of books by Johnathan Rand and each one is completely different. None of his books are alike. Each one has a different kind of Monster, Ghoul or Mythical creature. He makes it sound like anything can happen. In his novels, that is true.

[Diane Wachter · Rating 3 out of 5]

PB-B @ 1999, 5/00. Michigan Chillers Series, Juvenile Book. Matt accidentally makes his poster come alive with a magic kit Christmas gift from his grandparents. Now he and friend John must find a way to send the terrible snow monster back into the poster before it destroys Traverse City. A fun Juvenile book.

[RDB · Rating 5 out of 5]

john gets a new magic kit and he is pretty amazed but he should have read the manual because there is a snowman,reindeer,elves,and a snow beast on the loose. He has to find a way to stop them before Traverse city is a ghost town.

[JacobT · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was pretty cumb I have to say, but it did have nice suspense

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reread this book because I love it so much! It is about a young boy who gets a magicain ket and accidently turns a snowman into a monster! thsi takes place in traverse city in North Michigan!

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an adult, I'm not the target audience. My 9-year old is enjoying this series, however, and that's what matters most!

[Lyndsay M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grades: 3-5

[Brendon Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was a good book and it was a little scary but it was a awesome book to me.

[Trish Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

i had to read it its my home town

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm from Traverse City, so I had to read this!!

[Ais Eddy]

Nothing- I never finished it!!! :)

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book I recommend it.