REVIEW: The Spooky Chronicles: The Crooked Man by: Kevin Ranson
Kevin Ranson’s The Spooky Chronicles is told like a fairy tale with a minimal use of character dialogue. The main character, Spooky, as his friends called but is known to his family as Spencer, is the little dead boy who continued to grow up. The story starts with the introduction of Spooky at age six where he is diagnosed with a tumor that eventually kills him. Or does it? Still alive (?) without a beating heart makes Spooky one of the living dead but not necessarily a zombie as he still retains his memories and higher brain functions. The cost of all this is the death of his mother who took his place. Although the father has no idea why his son is still alive, he deals with it and life, for the most part, moves on.
With this touch of death and his initial meeting with the Crooked Man, Spooky develops a form of second sight that allows him to see the auras of those around him. With time and practice, he is able to read the color of the aura and understand what they mean. While this helps him in the school yard and somewhat in the outside world, he is still very much alone and unique in the world. Time goes by as it has a way of doing and soon the reader is immersed in Spooky’s life in middle school as a sixth grader. He once again sees the Crooked Man only this time in a daydream not a near death experience. This gives Spooky an additional insight into the world around him as he now has the ability to see evil incarnate.
Of course this scares the hell out of his classmates.
The story moves along as Spooky makes friends with strange people who guide him along his chosen path in life and his conflict with the Crooked Man.
Ranson’s writing is very much a modern fairy tale and somewhat of a proverb. Here we have a living dead child who grows up to protect mankind from the unseen evil that surrounds us daily yet is only visible to one that has literally touched death and returned. His story leads us into the supernatural and paranormal, into school libraries with dark shelves and mystical books. The reader is taken into the back room of magic shops to talk with wizened old magicians and all the way into hospital morgue. Along the way Spooky develops his powers more and more to match those of the evil forces he is pitted against.
The Spooky Chronicles is an incredible read with never a lag in the storyline. The plot is intriguing and not full of clichés or stereotypes. What stands out is the lack of dialogue. This lack does not detract from the storyline at all but actually at times provides an incredible enhancement to the overall feel of the novella.
The ending leaves open plenty of room for a sequel or maybe the start of a series featuring Spooky. As with all fairy tales, there is a somewhat happy ending and a hidden message that good will always triumph over evil. Not a horrifically violent book or an edge of your seat with suspense. This novella, in my opinion, is written with a young adult audience in mind more than the adult reader. However, as an adult or so I’ve been told that I am a few times, I did enjoy reading it.
