Stay Out of Fort Dread

Scareville #9

by John Ward

Keegan and his friends are determined to become the next big thing in live streaming.

But chasing views can lead you somewhere you should never go.

When they discover that their favorite urban exploring team—the LAF Crew—is planning a livestream inside the abandoned military compound known as Fort Dradd, they can’t believe their luck. Locals call it Fort Dread for a reason. No one knows what really happened there. Whether the stories were fact or fiction.

They tune in to watch the stream.

At first, it’s just empty halls and peeling paint, but then they watched on in horror as something came after the LAF Crew. Now Keegan and his friends have a forget what they saw…or go to Fort Dread themselves and uncover the truth.

But some legends don’t want to be exposed. And some places were meant to stay abandoned.

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Where Stories Come Alive!

Genres: Horror, Middle Grade

150 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 26, 2026

Reviews

[A.D. Aro]

Another fun and spooky entry in the Scareville series!

[Don Anelli]

For the most part, this one comes off as yet another great effort in the series. The fun central storyline, involving the group of kids watching along to a content creator and his team livestreaming their way through the abandoned military compound in their town as a way to support their hometown, but learn that some of the stories told about it are true, and forcing them to have to go to the facility and see what's going on, sets everything in motion rather nicely. The group is fun and likeable, and the throughline of watching the exploration of the facility through the livestream before having to go themselves makes for a chilling storyline that can still play well with the kid-friendly starting point of what's going on in the building. As well, the two-part storyline where the first half is the group watching along to the group's livestream exploring the facility and then going there themselves, separates this incredibly well and provides the book with a solid change-of-pace.

What makes all of this even more enjoyable is the style of writing here that tends to explore several different styles throughout here. The first half, focusing on the group watching the livestream of the bunker exploration, where the livestreaming group goes through the area looking at the condition it's been left in and encountering the creature still roaming around, leaves this with a strong found-footage vibe as the events of the group's stream are told in a great, immersive manner. The second half, where the group explores the bunker to figure out what happens, manages to generate some highly effective moments of the group exploring the bunker and being caught up in the atmosphere of the situation before turning to more frenetic ideas about their battle against the creature inside. Some of the scenes do have a bit of recognizable restraint by keeping the target audience in mind, so it never strays further than what it could've, but beyond that, there's little here to dislike.

5/5

[Brittney Sohar]

Had me on the edge of my seat. I hope that we return to Fort Dread in a future Scareville book.

[Elizabeth]

My review for Stay Out of Fort Dread

I absolutely loved it! This one made my spine tingle so many times. I really hope this one gets a sequel. This is a must read series! I can’t wait for the next book!

[Angel Medina]

Another great installment in the Scareville series by John Ward. This one involves a group of boys breaking into a military facility after watching their favorite content creators go missing after trying to explore Fort Dread. Let's just say some things are meant to be left alone. The suspense in this one is great, even for a middle grade horror. All I can say is that I hope John doesn't stop writing this series. I'm sure he won't though, hehe.

[Erica Fields]

I could not put this book down! Another great Scareville book and I think this is my favorite! This kept me on the eadge of my chair with my heart racing!

[Jesse Bollinger]

This was a very good middle grade horror novel. It is my first in this series, but it won’t be my last. I enjoyed the characters and there were some extremely creepy scenes in the book. Fort dread was actually terrifying. I liked the books take on zombies as well. The best thing about this book to me was the ending. It was a lot darker than I thought it would be. Let’s just say that it doesn’t end with ice cream and roses.

[Kurt Hohmann]

I've picked up a few middle-grade horror stories so far this summer, and based on what I'm seeing, I'm hooked. Middle grade was...er...a few years back for me, but a story like Stay Out of Fort Dread pulls me right back.

John Ward's got his thumb right on the pulse of the kids in this story; from faulty logic to fart jokes, these characters felt and sounded real. Add to that the shroud of mystery surrounding the not-so-abandoned base that's well within range of a kid on a bike, the lure of fast fame via a web channel, and well-crafted parents who are not utter fools—but perhaps a little too trusting—and the seeds of adventure are sown.

The horror elements are real; these are not light-hearted monsters exposed Scooby-Doo style at the end by those meddling kids; these are horrifying creatures capable of wreaking real harm. Things go dark quickly, and they stay dark in a fashion I wasn't expecting for this genre.

All in all, a horrifically fun ride.

Full disclosure - I received an ARC of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Scott Anderson]

Love this Series, this is by far my favorite of the series!

Spoiler free:
I was immediately pulled into the story from the beginning of the book, the descriptive writing style of each scene made me feel like I was there along with the kids on their adventure. 
 
There was an overall  feeling of dread that kept mounting throughout the book that kept me turning the pages, i had to keep putting the book down as I was flying through the story and did not want it to end.

If i had to choose one word to sum up the book and it's ending it would be .... Whoa!

[Dominick Russo]

This was my first read in the Scareville Series and after finishing it I’m sure I’ll be reading the rest! It was a slow build up that led to a sense of dread and finally taking off into a fast paced conclusion! However, by the time I read the final page, I was left wanting more of the story. There was some unresolved storylines that I was left wanting to know, I wanted to turn the page and keep reading. Would’ve liked to see a bit more horror a little sooner in the story but, the character building kept me interested. On to the next Scareville book!

[Blair]

Another super spooky Scareville book! I loved the found footage aspect a lot. John's descriptions really put you into the scenes and Fort Dread had me feeling all kinds of claustrophobic. I was so stressed out for these kids! And that ending?! WHAT?!

[Andrea]

This was a really fun middle grade book. I loved the premise of it right from the start and the author executed it brilliantly. The characters were really good, the plot was entertaining and kept the reader engaged throughout. The suspense and spookiness combined into a solid four star read.