The bestselling You’re Invited to a Creepover middle grade series comes to graphic novels with this second book about neighbors who may be more than they appear.
Emily Hunter loves hanging out with her new neighbors. From their decked-out rec room to their almost-professional guitar playing, Drew and Vicky Strig are super cool.
Since Drew and Vicky are homeschooled, Emily’s other friends haven’t gotten to know them yet. So Emily comes up with a plan for everyone to meet—a big party and sleepover at her house! But as Emily gets ready for the party, she begins to wonder about Drew and Vicky. They won’t let Emily into certain rooms in their house. And a wolf howls on their lawn every night. Is it only Emily’s overactive imagination or are the new neighbors more than just a little strange?
Creepy full-color graphic panels tell the story with the same horror as the original novel! This terrifying tale is a level 4 on the Creep-o-Meter.
Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words? A. Reading, writing, and scaring up new ideas!
Q. What is your motto or maxim? A. There are mysteries everywhere . . . you just have to know where to look.
Q. How would you describe perfect happiness? A. Sitting with my cat on my lap and reading a book I just can't put down.
Q. What’s your greatest fear? A. Flowers and teddy bears :)
Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be? A. At some very old and very haunted place. Transylvania or the Tower of London, anyone?
Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be? A. Psychic powers
Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be? A. A black cat
Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero? A. Nancy Drew
Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain? A. The Wicked Witch of the West
Q. What’s your fantasy profession? A. Ghost hunter
The second book in the You’re Invited to a Creepover and this time someone should not be invited in the house!
I remembered this one, for strange reasons, just a bit more than the previous graphic novel. No clue how that works. It definitely didn’t impact my reading fun though! Because it was terrific to see the story be breathed in new life with the graphic novel treatment.
In this one we meet a girl named Emily who has been bonding with two kids the street over. They live in a ruin of a house, but apparently the house is still somehow liveable as our MC meets her friends there all the time. For some reason the novel stayed with me better because I knew right away what was going on. Did it ruin the story? Oh no. Not at all. If anything, I was curious if I would find some new details. Something overlooked the first time. There were indeed some things. I loved that. The graphic novel certainly brought the story more to life and added even more fun details. Emily was a pretty OK MC, though I wished she had opened her eyes a bit more. I guess all the fun clouded her eyes. XD I don’t blame her. If my new friends had all those awesome things? I may just be clouded as well. I loved that Emily also had other friends and was trying to get the two groups to meet! That is a pretty sweet thing of her to do. That she told both sides fun stories, or how fun x and y were.
The sleepover was just so cool, and boy, I wish my sleepovers had been that fun. Then again, I don’t live in the US. I guess for all the fun sleepovers you have to be in the US. So many people seem to have big basements or rec rooms or whatever else.
So yeah, I knew right away what Drew and Vicky were and I wish I could step in the book to tell our MC that. To warn her. To tell her to watch out. To not dig deeper. Then again, I am not sure if there was any way to help Emily.
That was a pretty sneaky way btw. I hadn’t expected that one to be able to be something they could do, but dang. That makes things so much more dangerous.
The ending? I loved that! How it made it seem like x had happened but then boom. There is something else. It was so well done. Though also made me sad. I mean, I knew what we saw a few pages ago, but still!
I do think it is hilarious about the cover. I didn’t even notice it the first time, but now I do and I have some questions. I won’t spoil anything, but I am sure other readers also may have a few questions.
All in all, this was a terrific and wonderful part in the series. I have to say that I loved it even more than when I read it years ago as a novel. Back then I wasn’t sure if the story fitted with the series (as this was my very first step into the world) but then I started reading the series and I think it does fit. Plus, the graphic novel treatment works so well! I would recommend it!
It was fun to read Graphic novel, I haven’t read one since I was a kid. I was read as part of a summer reading challenge. I picked the right one I enjoyed it.
I JUST LOVED IT like I love a good spooky graphic novel and the way it ended with her getting bitten and then they just keep it going 😱 maybe O just like vampire books but this was great 😊
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Emily doesn't have a lot of friends, but she enjoys hanging out with neighbors Drew and Vicky. They are home schooled and don't get out much, so haven't visited her home, but she spends a lot of time at their house, although she has never met their parents. The house is run down in the extreme, but they have a great rec room with games where they spend a lot of time. Emily's parents are concerned that they haven't met the parents either, and allow Emily to have a party so that her friends from school can met Drew and Vicky. There are lots of creepy things going on in the neighborhood that seem to center around the siblings, but whenever Emily points them out, her friends are happy to investigate, and what seems like a creepy killer wolf often ends up being racoons or owls. It is a little concerning that when Emily visits the house during the day to try to talk to Drew and Vicky's parents, she finds no one home, a tape recorder with the parents' voices, and three coffins just under the floorboards. Never mind, let's have a sleepover anyway. It goes well, but Emily doesn't feel comfortable inviting Drew and Vicky into her house. Do they manage to come in anyway, and what does this mean for Emily's future?
I don't think that it's too much of a spoiler to say that this is a good twist on a vampire tale, and also the reason that I hesitated to invite my school staff to my house for dinner on open house night-- if I issued a blanket invitation and someone was a vampire, had I just invited them in? Gives one pause, does it not? This is a great vampire book for readers who aren't quite ready for the length or emotional complexity of Twilight or similar weighty vampire tomes, and a rather chilling read even though the series does have a little bit of goofiness to it.
The illustrations are appropriately dark, and Drew and Vicky's house is so creepy and run down that I just wanted to tell Emily to run away! Her parents want the house to be fixed up, but this is cleary more run down than anything should be in suburbia!
There is a new R.L. Stine series of Just Beyond horror graphic novels that have some similarities to the Creepover series; I read one of these where 1950s horror movie monsters were set on the loose, and this seems in keeping with the somewhat scary but somewhat cheesy feel to this story. Hand these to readers who enjoyed Terry's Graveyard Shakes, Sedita's Pathfinders, or Steinkellner's The Okay Witch.
Classic thriller from the "old school" of mystery and middle reader thriller/mystery/horror. Ending has a predictable but interesting twist. Do not have to read series in order (or at least from book one and two this feels to be the case)