Shadow House: The Gathering by Dan Poblocki

Author: Dan Poblocki
Publisher: Scholastic
Date of publication: August 2016

Some houses are more than just haunted... they're hungry. 

Dash, Dylan, Poppy, Marcus, and Azumi don't know this at first. They each think they've been summoned to Shadow House for innocent reasons. But there's nothing innocent about Shadow House. 

Something within its walls is wickedly wrong. Nothing -- and nobody -- can be trusted. Hallways move. Doors vanish. Ghosts appear. Children disappear.

And the way out?

That's disappeared, too...

Enter Shadow House... if you dare.

I had noticed Shadow House: The Gathering on the shelves while volunteering at my son's book fair and the cover had always intrigued me. When I saw the audio-book available, I decided to give it a chance.  The story follows five tweens who each get a mysterious letter inviting them to this house.  Each child thinks he or she is there for a different reason.  They quickly begin to realize that something evil has brought them there and has trapped them in the house.

The book ended up being a pretty creepy read. However, it ends with a lot of the story unresolved.  I'm still not totally clear on what is going on with the kids trapped in the house.  I did call one of the twists early on and if you pay attention, you will be able to as well. The characters were a bit forgettable.  I would have like to see more development on that front before all of the action started. This is the first in a trilogy (I believe). Hopefully the next one will answer some of my questions.  For the middle grade set who love spooky stories, I think this will be a hit.