A boy moves to a Halloween-themed town only to realize there may be more to the tourist trap than meets the eye in this middle grade novel of “thrills and chills in a gloriously goofy setting” ( Kirkus Reviews ) perfect for fans of The Last Kids on Earth and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library ! When Caleb’s mom decides they are moving to her childhood home in Wisconsin, Caleb is not thrilled. Moving schools, states, and time zones would be bad enough, but Mom’s hometown is Samhain, a small and ridiculously kitschy place where every day is Halloween. Caleb is not a fan of Halloween when it only happens once a year, so Halloween-obsessed Samhain is really not the place for him. How is he supposed to cope with kids wearing costumes to school every single day ? And how about the fact that the mayor is so committed to the bit that City Hall is only open from sundown to sunup to accommodate his so-called vampirism? Sure enough, Caleb becomes an outcast at school for refusing to play along with the spooky tradition like the other sixth graders. Luckily, he manages to find a friend in fellow misfit Tai, and just in time, because things are getting weird in Samhain…or make that weird er . But there’s no way the mayor is an actual vampire, and their teacher absolutely cannot really be a werewolf—right? Caleb discovers Samhain is so much stranger than he ever could have imagined. As one of the only people who realizes what’s happening, can he save a town that doesn’t want saving? "Thrills and chills in a gloriously goofy setting." ― -- Kirkus Reviews "Surrounded by witchy neighbors, werewolf teachers, and other things that go bump in the night, Caleb must navigate feelings of grief and isolation; levying hijinks balance weightier themes of loss and adjusting to a new normal." ― Publishers Weekly Christine Virnig is a fan of books, candy, spooky stories, poop jokes, and coffee…in no particular order. A former physician, Christine now spends her days writing books, reading books, and working at a library where she is surrounded by books. Christine lives in southern Wisconsin with her husband, two daughters, a ridiculous number of dust bunnies, and one incredibly lazy cat. You can visit her on the web at ChristineVirnig.com. Chapter 1: Making an Impression 1 Making an Impression Skeletons blanketed the school. They scaled the brick walls. Peeked into windows. Hung off the roof. One even stood on top of the building, its arms raised high as though declaring itself king of the mountain. But it wasn’t these ten-foot-tall monstrosities that set my heart racing. It was the swarming mass of ninjas and vampires and superheroes that carpeted the school’s front steps. Perhaps Mom had been right. Maybe I should have worn a costume. My T-shirt and shorts were as out of place here as a fart in a perfume factory. More than anything, I wanted to run. To hide. To sprout a pair of wings and fly away. Instead, I gave myself a quick pep talk as I weaved through the students, pushed open the heavy front door, and forced my feet to step inside. Where everything—the walls, the lockers, even the floor—was a revolting shade of pumpkin orange. The only things that weren’t orange were the massive black bats dangling from the ceiling and the thick spiderwebs colonizing every corner. The school office was right inside the door, exactly where Mom said it would be, and I gladly turned away from the nightmare of orange to peer inside the room. The Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz was there, standing behind a long counter. A long orange counter. She smiled and motioned me inside with a bony green finger. “You must be Caleb Fisher, our newest sixth grader! Welcome to Samhain Intermediate School. I’m Ms. Heks, the school secretary.” As I crossed the room, Ms. Heks’s forehead creased. And creased. And creased some more. Soon she was half witch, half Klingon. “Is something wrong?” I asked. Had I spilled orange juice down my shirt? Left my fly open? Grown a third eye? “Nothing is wrong, exactly, but didn’t your mom tell you to dress up?” Duh. Of course that’s what was wrong. My outfit. The witch would undoubtedly have been happier if I had grown a third eye. “She told me, but…” My voice trailed off. I probably shouldn’t admit I’d burst out laughing when Mom suggested the idea. “I didn’t listen. At my old school nobody past the fourth grade ever wore a costume to school.” And even then it was only on Halloween. Not on September 8, the stinking first day of school. “You’ll soon learn that things are a little different here in Samhain, Caleb.” A little different? Talk about an understatement! My old neighborhood in Los Angeles hadn’t looked as though a pumpkin-vomiting giant had spewed over every porch, step, and lawn in town. The green space in front of the bank hadn’t been peppered with crumbling, moss-covered tombstones. The dentist’s office didn’t have a flashy advertiseme