Nyx Book Reviews

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Review: Professor Gargoyle by Charles Gilman

Title: Professor Gargoyle
Author: Charles Gilman
Series: Tales from Lovecraft Middle School #1
Rating: 3/5 Stars

168 pages
Published September 25th 2012 by Quirk Books
Review copy received from the publisher

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Quirk publishes extremely aesthetically pleasing books, and PG is no exception. It looks and it feels amazing – such high quality for a MG book.

Professor Gargoyle is the story of Robert Arthur, who starts at a new school that just recently has been built. At first it seems just like any school, but within the first day strange things start happening; rats appear in lockers, thingy gets lost in the high-tech library and winds up in an ancient attic. And on op of that all there is something wrong with the chemistry teacher…

I loved that Professor Gargoyle combines both a feel of gothic horror and contemporary technologies. The school is all new and shiny, yet it still feels spooky. It was nice to see a horror kind of story play out at something else than an old mansion.

The story of Professor Gargoyle was very enjoyable, but at times the writing felt slightly stilted or overly formal. It didn’t,t flow effortlessly just yet. It might just be a first book in the series kind of thing, and I hope Gilman’s writing improves in the second book of the series, The Slither Sisters.

It takes a little while to get things going and to introduce all of characters. Once the adventure really takes off, Professor Gargoyle is suspenseful and imaginative just as it should be. It suffers a from being the first book in the series, but I have high hopes for the sequel. Recommended for lovers of horror/adventure MG books.

Blurb

Every volume in the Lovecraft Middle School series is fully illustrated and features an original lenticular portrait on the cover. Display them on bookshelves—and then watch the cover characters morph into monsters as you pass by!

In Professor Gargoyle, we’re introduced to 11-year-old Robert Arthur and the strange world of Lovecraft Middle School. It’s a brand-new state-of-the-art facility—so why do so many creepy things keep happening? Why is the science teacher acting so strangely? And where are all the rats coming from? 

As Robert explores with his new friends Glenn and Carina, he discovers that the school may be a portal to another world.

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