This review first appeared in Booklist on July 1, 2025.
Hazel “Zel” Gold longs to see ghosts. Along with her friends and fellow aficionados of the weird, Theo and Lucien, she forms the Creepy Club, a group dedicated to exploring the lurid and eerie corners of their small Maryland town in search of anything remotely paranormal. One day, ominous posters appear around town, heralding the arrival of the Ghost Show, a mysterious traveling attraction that claims to feature real ghosts. The Creepy Club jumps at the chance to finally witness some supernatural spectacle, only to find the show spearheaded by the imposing and enigmatic Everest Nocturama Mancer, a self-professed ghost catcher who plans to exploit the town’s tragic, haunted history for his own ghastly purposes. It’s up to Zel and her friends to save not only their bereaved community but also the suffering spirits ensnared in Mancer’s grasp. Ocker conjures a magnificently macabre and gleefully grotesque tale that’s as much a celebration of the odd and the peculiar as it is a thoughtful and affecting meditation on mortality, grief, and the painful process of letting go.
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