Room of Shadows

Book excerpt: Nominee: 2018 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award Finalist—Best Juvenile Edgar Allan Poe's greatest stories are coming to life, and it's not a good thing. There's something odd about the house David Cray and his mom moved into following his parents’ split. Sure, it’s old and battered and a little off-kilter, but that’s not all. With so many nooks and crannies, it seems like the walls were built to keep things hidden—or maybe from getting out. David’s suspicions are confirmed when he uncovers a secret room that looks like it hasn’t been touched in ages. Inside, an ancient desk and carving of a raven beckon to him. Suddenly, disaster seems to follow him everywhere, and he starts to notice connections between the terrible events happening around him and the stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Has David unleashed a dark force by opening the room? Or has the room awakened something in David that he doesn’t recognize?