بستان التفاح المخيف

Shivers #7

by M.D. Spenser, Ahmed Khaled Towfik (Translator), أحمد خالد توفيق (Translator)

سمح لـ ( دانييل ) وأختـه الصغيرة ( سارة ) بأن يتغيبا عن المدرسة فى إجازة مدتها أسبوعان ، وبينمـا هما يستمتعان بالمناظر الجميلة قال لهمـا الأب إن هناك شائعات حول كون أيكة التفاح والمعصرة المحلية مسكونتين بالأشباح ، هنا تحدث أشياء مفزعة ، ويبدأ ( دانييل ) و( سارة ) فى الاعتقاد بأن القصة أكثر من مجرد إشاعة ، والأسوأ أنهما من كل هـذا أن ( سارة ) ستصير جزءًا من وصفة صلصة التفاح المخيفة

Genres: Horror, Childrens, Middle Grade, Horror Thriller, Mystery

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

M.D. Spenser is a children's author, journalist and music critic. Born in the United States, he lives now in the UK.

"The Enchanted Attic," Book 1 of his popular SHIVERS series of novels for children, was republished as an e-book in August 2011. It is available at amazone.com, Barnes & Noble, Sony and iBookstory. Book 2, "A Ghastly Shade of Green," and Book 3, "Ghost Writer," followed shortly afterwards.


The rest of the 36-book series will be published as ebooks over time.

Also, an internet petition is circulating asking that the entire 36-book series be republished in paperback: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/md...

Reviews

[دعاء ممدوح · Rating 2 out of 5]

قصة رعب بنهاية غير منطقية
تقرر عائلة قضاء عطلة وفي الطريق يتوقف الجميع عند معصرة للتفاح تقدم عصير يشتهر بجودته، وتتردد عنه حكايات عن شبح طفلان ماتا هناك
في اليوم التالي يتوجه الأخ وأخته إلى هناك لشراء بعض التفاح والعصير والكعك، تقع أحداث غريبة، يوشكا على الموت، وفي لحظة جنون يقررا المغامرة والذهاب ليلا إلى المعصرة
الحبكة كانت تسير بشكل جيد، لكن يبدو أن الكاتب اراد أن يضع خاتمة قوية لكنه افسد العمل، خاتمة غريبة لا تخضع للمنطق، فكيف ترى العائلة الطفلان طوال الوقت طالما كانوا اشباح، فصول الرواية أيضاً مرتبة بشكل مستفز، ليس من المعقول أن الفصل لا يستغرق أحيانا أكثر من صفحة ونصف، وينتهي فجأة بجملة قوية مصطنعة كي تحفز القارئ على المتابعة لكنها في الحقيقة تشتت تركيزه، واعتقد أن ذلك عيب المترجم الذى اراد اختصار العمل فخرج بتلك الصورة الغريبة

[Stephanie Gillespie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite book when I was 10, its a lot different reading it now. Not as scary , but still enjoyable :)

[Alejandro Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Awful Apple Orchard is a borderline awful book. I’m not gonna caramel coat it: this book is basically Shivers’ Camp Cold Lake it seems, as most folk glaze this thing for one scene which (whilst yeah, brutal) is only five pages of the book and also heavily flawed in itself. This is a train wreck, but the few positives I have here are the setting (it’s unique so I guess SOME points for that) and the relationship between the main two siblings, which was heart warming even at that very end. However, that’s it. I could sit here all day writing away about this book’s flaws so I’m gonna lay them out pretty briefly (as much as I possibly can make them short and bitter). The horror throughout the first 100 pages is mostly just extremely non-scary things involving apples; the first gun fired (in plot terms) involves a worm, and if you have two brain cells, you could make a valid deduction about how worms can disappear pretty quickly.. genuinely braindead; useless exposition about the vacation beinf postponed; dumbass tractor operator dragging the story on a few pages with weak foreshadowing; the villain dips from the story for no reason towards the end; worst ghost mechanics I’ve ever read (the car scene irritates me); the characters in general draw some really dumb conclusions; the final twenty pages randomly decrease the pace to reach the 120 page count; the villain never gets an actual explanation, motive, or reason to target the main kids—how well written, M.D.; and now the moment you’ve been waiting for… the ending. Good gore, that’s it. It’s utterly useless and only there to add a twist since M.D. couldn’t figure out a motive for the ghost(s) even though it was LITERALLY foreshadowed at one point. And it also makes little sense in hindsight, with interactions between the kids’ and their folks happening after the fact… that doesn’t make sense for shit. And my main takeaway (not a negative) is that, fellas reading this, the ending is just meh. Just because it’s really dark for a kids’ book doesn’t excuse the flawed writing to get there, in my opinion, and the flaws that came with it. Overall, 3/10. It’s not the worst thing ever but pretty damn bad. New worst Shivers; don’t let people overhype this because the ending is brutal, because even if it were great, the book is still 97% a mess beforehand. The Truly Awful Apple Orchard.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've heard alot of good things about The Awful Appel Orchard from the Shivers series.I've heard the ending was dark and I kinda knew what the ending would be thanks to somebody on Goodreads.The story follows two siblings,Daniel and Sara.They are going on summer vacation in the middle of October.The reason for this is because Daniel almost dies by getting ran over by a car on his bike but he survives.He is injured though, so now he has to catch up on the vacation.The family ends up going to this apple orchard with a apple mill that makes cider.The dad tells the kids this ghost story about this mill,where these two kids get trapped inside the apple crusher and get killed and now they haunt the place.Shortly after getting there they hear something hit the side of the car.It turns out to be an apple.The kids go exploring a bit and they go out to get different apple things.Sara bites into an apple and Screams and sees that there is a worm in it.Daniel notices this too,but when the apple gets thrown to the ground the worm is gone.They notice when they get home the car is filled to the brim with apples.They begin to notice no matter what they see,nobody else seems to notice.They think this is the Ghost doing this and they think standing up to it will help them.They have to go out agian to the mill for more apples and Sarah ends up getting caught in the machine,while Daniel is away.He grabs her and pulls her off.This is where the climax happens,so I am going to stop there.The ending is where the best part of this book is.It gets pretty graphic.There are things I'd never thought I'd read in a book like this.The rest of this book was just ok.It was very repetitive and it had just enough to keep me from thinking it was boring.I give The Awful Apple Orchard a three out of five stars.

[TAJ ALGADDAFI | تاج القذافي · Rating 5 out of 5]

رائعة وغير متوقعة ، خمسه من خمسه

[Kristin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just awful. Made no sense especially the ending. They were ghosts the whole time yet the parents could still see them? There was a lot left unexplained.

[Asmaa reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow..that was really unexpected !

[Mai Hamed · Rating 2 out of 5]

النهاية عبيطة

[Wolverinefactor · Rating 2 out of 5]

In true Shivers fashion the back description explains the first 90 pages so all your left with is the big climax.

This ending made zero sense. I literally had to re-read the last 10 pages in hope of seeing the answer but nope it doesn’t make sense at all.

Thankfully I’m almost done with the pile I grabbed for dirt cheap but I won’t be looking for the books I didn’t get cause these aren’t good at all.

Ps: it got an extra star for the gore at the end which Goosebumps never had.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was totally boring until the last chapter. That was a surprise yet it didn’t make the most sense either. How can there parents still see them? And then it never really gave an explanation for all the weird things that happened, at least not a good one. So the only thing that saved this book was its’ ending.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a good Shivers book.
Shivers is sorta like goosebumps, but different. I recommend it to people
that love horror and a good suspense novel. Also it is a very quick read,
so you dont have to put it down (I know i didn't)
Also it does not matter if you read number 14 before 1, they are all seperate
stories. I reccommend it to horror lovers!

[Azuma-chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't get it, everything was going well until the ending got confused. What happened?! Are they the dead kids the parents were talking about?! And how come the parent see them if they're dead?!? It's confusing, so 2.5 stars.

[Owen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book was just boring, just like all the other books poorly written. It's not a good book, but if you like apples, go check the book out.

[Dianna M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Awful Apple Orchard is a book that takes place in fall, which made it a perfect read for spooky season! The story is about two siblings Daniel and Sara going with their parents on vacation (in October) to a cabin that is near an old and apparently rumoured to be “very haunted” apple orchard. Little do they know that soon the kids would themselves be tormented by whatever being (or beings) that are haunting this place. ( which I should point out, I would have liked to have known more about the background story of the apple orchard and to have been given more explication of certain things that were not made clear… and also of who was actually haunting them which that was never really said, only hinted.)

To continue.. soon their trip to the orchard becomes pretty dark to say the least….and they are haunted and followed by whatever evil thing is there…in different and kind of random ways. (One of them being a bit silly…having to do with invisible apples.) From beginning to end the book did have to do a lot with the apple orchard and apples which I appreciated that it stayed true to the title…since the orchard was a big part (well the main part of the story) since most of the story’s setting happened in the orchard itself and just a bit at the cabin( not somewhere else random like some books do..that have nothing or little to do with the actual title.) So yes, It was quite literal. Maybe more than I expected.
Overall I liked the mood of fall and the description of the apple orchard. This book was very detailed about the setting and of a very certain scene (maybe a bit too much) for younger audiences … I think if I would have read this as a kid I would have been kinda traumatized. To be a kid’s book I think it is scary (well more morbid than scary actually) and quite gory even. Maybe too gory. It did give me shivers in the end so even if it was not as exciting as it would, it did have scenes that were pretty creepy and one that was quite shocking . So I guess it wasn’t as bad as some people think it is.
It was a pretty fast and entertaining read from the beginning to end… I also want to add that the characters were very like-able and it’s nice how strong their sibling bond was. It was super sweet just how much Daniel cared for and always protected his little sister and so did she. It shows the love they had for each other, so that was sad too…and quite meaningful. So with that reason alone, I think my score for this book will be a bit higher. But not as high since.. without trying to give too many spoilers I will say that I didn’t like the ending, I actually really disliked it. It ruined the book for me (it didn’t make sense at all, I was overall shocked because it really wasn’t necessary to end the story in the way it did for these characters.

To end this review, I will say that I myself have never been to an apple orchard so if I do one day…I will definitely remember this book and will maybe be slightly scared haha so with that being said, I think I will give this book 3 out of 5 stars! (Or Apples haha)
🍎🍏🍎

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first time reading a Shivers book since sometime in the late 90s. Im continuing my rereading of all things YA/middle grade horror from the 90s and Library Macabre was recommended this to read and after he read it, he then recommended it on his Youtube channel. Coincidentally, this is the only Shivers book i currently own so i happily pulled it out of my collection and easily read within a few hours.
The books just dive right into the story bc they were intended for a young audience, so this one is no different and gets right to it. It was an okay read, unfortunately the most gruesome part of the story doesnt happen until the very end and there was a lot of filler leading up to it.
I am excited read through this series.

[Chris Hay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the 2nd Shivers book I've read (or in this case, listened to an audio reading). Didn't like this one as much. You can see where the story is going, but it's both ridiculous and kind of stale. It is a bit creepy, but I felt like the concept wasn't explored well. A ghost can trick you into seeing things that are not there, that no one else can see... that's a lot of potential. Instead we are given an invisible car, invisible apples, and apple-related food appearing as blood.

And then the end was both transgressive and just silly. It's meant to be funny but I'm too serious, I thought it was just gross.

I enjoyed the setting though (quaint vacation vibes!) and some of it was genuinely somewhat creepy, so two stars for that. Still interested to check out more of this series!

[Adam Reagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The siblings aren’t very interesting characters, nor is the writing style anything special. But it’s still a very entertaining read. Holy shit this is BRUTAL for a middle grade read… that ending left me in shock. I think I’m starting to prefer MD Spenser’s books over RL Stine’s at least in terms of their horror which do not play it safe in the slightest. I’m starting to realize why these may not be getting reprinted and it’s a shame. I look forward to reading it to my future kid and them being just as freaked out as I was.

[Adam Sherif · Rating 4 out of 5]

مش عارف بس دي رواية عجيبة جداً
هي خطيرة خطيرة خطيرة لو انت عايز حاجه تفصل بيها من روايات كبيرة او تخرج من ريدينج بلوك ، لكن كا حاجه مستقلة لا صراحة.
قيمتها اربعة علشان حبيت اجوائها و حبيت السبب الي الرواية دي معمولة علشانه و هي انها تعملك قصة حلوة و خفيفة كدا تسيبلك مساحة للتفكير مع نهايتها و علي قد ما كان في حاجات كتير متشرحتش و مش مفهومة بس ستيل انا انبسطت بشكل ما.
هي كدا كدا ادب طفولي جدا و شئ موجه لفئة اصغر كتير بس انا حبيت اني ارجع اقرأ حاجه تفكرني بالكتب الي كنت بقرأها زمان علي قد ما النهاية سوداوية جداً بس استمتعت صراحة مش هنكر

[BRANDON · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fucking weird, okay. I had super fond memories about it because it was set at an apple orchard in the rural countryside in the fall. It is probably the most autumnal book I've ever read. Still fucking weird. The progression of the haunting is just kind of strange, the brutal description of the kids finding their own mangled bodies came out of left field, and all these years later I'm still not sure exactly what the hell happened.

[Jess reads more · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this famly holiday in New England story.

A young boy and his sister are seemingly terrorised by ghosts after visiting the apple orchard whilst on holiday with their family.

You really do get the sense of Autumn and the eerieness of sunset as the two venture off to see why the ghost wont leave them alone..

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better entries in the series. This time we have a couple of kids on vacation and the isolated aspect really shines through because of it. Honestly, 80% of the book is pretty by the numbers but the ending makes it all worth it. I don't want to spoil it but it's easily one of the darkest I've ever read in a YA book. Just go into it blind. 3.5 stars rounded up.

[ad_astras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, these blurbs don’t do the stories justice. They’re very Goosebumps-esque, but I remember these books terrifying me way more than even RL Stine could as a kid. How can you make an orchard creepy, you ask? You got it. Add in a haunted cider mill. Horrific for an 8 year old.

[CC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was prompted to read this after watching a Youtube video talking about 90s books that were next level. This was a very creepy story when you consider the age level this story is intended for. Nice build to the end.

[elias · Rating 5 out of 5]

love this one more

[Chelsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5, for all the nostalgia.

[Daniel Livori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great scary story

[Jairo_rocker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, but the ending was confusing until I figured they were the ghosts. But how did the parents see them? Where they ghosts too?

[Micky Parise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good book by M.D. Spenser. Recommend highly.

[Izzie Driftwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good middle grade creeper, dark but not so gruesome I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending to my Goosebumps fan students for a little something different and darker.

[Louise · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's an attempt at a plot here, but it makes no sense whatsoever.