The Collectors, a more personal side of scares, spooks for middle school

There is a lot of room in the spooky tent of middle school reading. Each corner or section will have its own specific bent with some going for the gore, others playing it for laughs, a couple emoting their way to the unknown, and some combining all of the elements. Fright Watch is a series of books by Lorien Lawrence that takes its time in weaving the scares together. The Collectors is the second book in the series and tells a ghostly tale that’s woven on top of some very human elements. It’s a case where the story of how the best friends, who most certainly don’t have a crush on one another, Quinn and Mike deal with the happenings on their street.

The Collectors picks up very soon after the first book in the series, The Stitchers, has ended. Quinn and Mike had an integral role in defeating The Oldies the previous summer and are eager to welcome some new neighbors. Alas, their new neighbors are quickly nicknamed the Ladies in White. It’s a good thing that there’s nothing creepy about controlling; pale-faced women who only wear vintage white dresses and run an interior design business.  

Actually, early on in the book, Quinn quickly realizes that one of the Ladies in White is translucent. That point is such a key part in the first act of The Collectors that it’s the blurb featured on the back cover. There is no mystery about ghosts being there, it’s the fact that nobody believes her, not even her fellow Scooby-Gang member, Mike. The two of them run together and have a relationship that will be easy for middle school readers to identify with.

All of this is fun and games until one of Quinn’s friends starts to spend far too much time with the Ladies in White. Lex is thrilled to get an internship at a real interior decorator’s office. However, her normally cheery, outgoing self with a vivid sense of fashion is quickly changed into a pale, solemn girl who probably listens to Fiona Apple.

Quinn now goes about researching the ladies, looking for any information about why they’re here or what they’re after; all the while trying to wrangle school, a competitive track team, and dealing with the grief of her father’s death.  The Collectors is a spectral mystery that fans of Goosebumps will enjoy. The story is less campy and much more grounded in realism, but still has enough chills and well-paced creeps to make it credibly scary for that age.

The book builds on the story so much that there are only a handful of ‘action’ sequences. Most of The Collectors builds on the story between Quinn and Mike, as well as the mystery behind the ladies and why they’re there. Personally, I would’ve liked to have seen more action or scary sequences, but that would’ve cheapened the age-appropriate dread that the book creates. I’ve never been too patient, I admit that. However, middle school readers who want to dig into a spooky, ambient book that’s crafted with a healthy measure of reality will really enjoy The Collectors.

Fright Watch: The Collectors, the second book in the Fright Watch book series is by Lorien Lawrence and available on Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Books.

There are affiliate links in this post.

There are affiliate links in this post.