The TALE OF THE THREE WISHES ARE YOU AFRAID OF TH

Are You Afraid of the Dark? #13

by John Peel

Dreaming of becoming a hero, Duncan is granted three wishes by the mysterious owner of the comic book store and wishes to become a superhero, but his new powers prove more than he can handle. Original.

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1997

About the author

John Peel is the author of Doctor Who books and comic strips. Notably, he wrote the first original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, to launch the Virgin New Adventures line. In the early 1990s he was commissioned by Target Books to write novelisations of several key Terry Nation Dalek stories of the 1960s after the rights were finally worked out. He later wrote several more original Daleks novels.

He has the distinction of being one of only three authors credited on a Target novelisation who had not either written a story for the TV series or been a part of the production team (the others were Nigel Robinson and Alison Bingeman).

Outside of Doctor Who, Peel has also written novels for the Star Trek franchise. Under the pseudonym "John Vincent", he wrote novelisations based upon episodes of the 1990s TV series James Bond Jr..

Reviews

[Jason Harlow]

The story follows a kid named Duncan Evans whose father was a firefighter who was killed rescuing a family. He meets his idol (who happens to own the comic book shop on Main Street in his small town) and eventually is granted three wishes by a strange creature. I wanted to give this 2/5 stars due to the main character’s complete stupidity and the action sequences being lame, predictable and boring, but for the most part this was a pretty fun read. Despite being your typical "kid makes wishes and things go awry" story, there were some redeeming qualities (including a cool prologue and epilogue from The Midnight Society's Frank!), and for that reason, 3 stars seems fair. I'll be reading more from this series, but hopefully the others are less sci-fi and less silly.

[Dianna M.]

I can finally say that I have read my very first ever Are You Afraid of the Dark? book! It was a bit of a bittersweet experience…but Iet me tell you, that I’m so glad to say I finally did it! I hadn’t read anything since last year. I had initially planned to read this book in January haha so yeah… let’s say it took me a while to get to it haha (reading block’s are not fun) but hey…I’m SO back to reading now (and this book was a nice short book and a perfect way to kickstart my new reading year! I’m ready! and yes it’s only up from here on out!
I’m glad I decided to go ahead and read this specific book because it really didn’t completely disappoint. It is right on theme too haha because lately (well…since the start of the year actually haha) I have been wishing on a lot of things. So yeah, It was the perfect book to get back to reading.

With that being said … (about the book…) I do have to admit, that the first half of the book was not as enjoyable as the last half. Initially, I really wanted/expected it to be more spooky and like for it to have a little more of that Are You Afraid of the Dark? T.V show feel to it. It was way more sci-fi than I expected (and very comic book related.) I like comic books so that was not something I was annoyed by, it was actually quite fun. (All the superhero sequences with monsters were cool.) But I do see how some people might not find this book as entertaining as me.

Let’s just say this is not your every average genie who grants you three wishes kind of book, it has its own original twist, and that is something I appreciated. I liked the fact that it was different. Also, I want to point out that the epilogue and the prologue narrated by The Midnight Society’s member
Frank were both some of my personal top favorite parts of this book! ( now THAT is what made it feel like the show for me. ) I would have loved to see more of that. (Or maybe for them to have been a bit longer.) Nonetheless, it was not all bad, actually towards the end my mind completely changed as I kept reading more and more. The ending really brought it all together for me ( I just really loved the ending.) It was really sweet! and at that point, I honestly didn’t care if it was not really scary. There is a specific scene where Duncan (the main character) has to pass through something personally very challenging for him, but during that moment he feels he is being motivated by someone very important to him. I don’t want to get too much into spoiler territory here, but I do have to say that, that part pulled at my heartstrings a bit and I have to admit that my eyes got a bit watery (I was close to shed a tear.) Something I totally wasn’t expecting when I started reading it. That was my absolute favorite scene in the whole book!

Yes, overall this was not a very scary or creepy (kind of dark like the show for example ) book but it had heart and that is what I liked. I liked the fact it had a strong message and a nice moral of the story. There was lots of character development and the main character learned something very important. I really liked the main character’s constant inner monologue and descriptive thoughts. (Showed all his inner turmoil).This book really dives into some more sad and serious topics like for example grief.

Also, the surrounding characters were really nice and helped with that struggle. The supporting character which is the main character’s friend (Sarah) was extremely selfless and supportive! She was overall my favorite character!

This is a book that really shows you the true meaning of friendship and teaches us that friendships are very powerful when you have your favorite people there with you along the way to help you out in the hardest times. That is personally the kind of friendship that I strive for, the kind of supportive friend I would like to be, just like how Sarah is to Duncan. (And viseversa)
because looking at their sweet friendship, that really made me realize I shouldn’t take my friendships for granted and that I will always be there for my friends, no matter what. Sometimes we might say/do things that hurt the people we care about the most, but it’s never too late to learn from our mistakes and change that in us. That we can face our fears and we can make things right and grow as friends…and especially overall as better people. Don’t let those moments define your friendship and just be there, because no matter what, the bond and real care and support we have for each other will forever stay the same. At the end no matter what happened, we will always have each other’s back. I know I do, and will always care. Friendships are magical like that and truly one of a kind! And hard to come by …but when they do, that is truly like a wish come true! It’s real life magic (one of life wonders) and the best part is that you don’t have to find a genie (in this case a Renfrew to wish for it.)

This book most importantly showed the power we all have inside ourselves to face our fears head-on, even if it means that we have to put ourselves out there, even if it means putting ourselves in harms way, if it’s means to protect someone else from harm. To be unselfish and to be brave, that is what this book teaches us. That we all, within ourselves have the power to make even our biggest “unrealistic”dreams and wishes a reality, because we all have that power in us..to make the impossible…possible. (And like I said, we don’t need a magic genie or Renfrew for that. ) you are already a hero to someone.

I have to say, that The Tale of the Three Wishes altogether is a very nice and sweet book. There is some creepy creatures in the book like Renfrew and there is one scene that is described a bit with “gore” so I guess you could say it has very mild “spooky” scene. But like I said, the ending made up for the lack of it, (scary scenes). I’m just very glad I gave this book a chance and didn’t stop reading it …like how I wanted at first. With that being said, since the beginning and middle part were my least favorite, for that reason and that reason only, the rating for this book will have to be a bit lower. BUT combined with the good ending I liked, it is only fair that my final rating that I’ll be giving this book is a total of 3.5 out of 5 stars! ⭐️

P.s I do recommend this book, especially if you like comics! Honestly, after reading this book, I can’t wait to get my hands on more Are You Afraid of the Dark? books! I’m so interested in reading more, to see how different they all will be.(to rank them all) I will definitely be planning to do so, hopefully some time in the near future!
This was such a nice start to my Are You Afraid of the Dark? book reading journey! 😃 I’m so ready for more! let’s go! 💖

[Lacy Lovelace]

I thought this would be a genie story but it definitely had a surprising twist which helps explain the cover. Frank told this story and I thought it could be one that he tell although Gary is one that dealt more with magic but Frank would be more of the other elements (aliens; superheroes).

It wasn’t a bad story- definitely not one of my favorites but still a good one. Duncan loves comics and one day he meets the writer for his favorite one, The Midnight Avenger! The dude even owns the comic book store off the square. One day, he shows Duncan this alien thing called Renfrew, who will grant him 3 wishes (think of an alien mixed with a dinosaur and dragon).He has to write his wish in a checkbook and they will be granted!

Duncan has this whole hero complex because his sister and brother are gifted and better at life than him plus his dad was a firefighter, who died in a fire. So, you know he’s gonna go there and he does. Unfortunately, he gets in too deep and will need the help of his bestie before it’s too late!

[Dan Mingo]

My 8 year old son checked this out from the library and I was not paying much attention. Thankfully he asked if he could read it. So, an angry boy, who is a nobody, whose dad is dead, makes a deal with some demon like thing to grant him wishes to get what he wants and to become somebody. No thanks. No 8 year old needs this in his head.

[Alex]

This one was a lot of fun, and would have made a great TV episode!

[Lelouch]

I really like the "wishes" trope. I read this book 15-20 years ago, and I reread it many times. I was trying to find this book at the house, but I couldn't find it. Instead I found "Tale of the Ghost Riders", but I thought I'd write up my review for this book anyway. To this day I still remember quite a lot of the plot. part of what made this story stand out for me was how the author *didn't* screw up the guy's wishes. He gave the protagonist exactly what he wanted without ruining him. Instead, they came with a price.

Book Summary:
Duncan loves his comic books, one superhero in particular. One day he's at the comic book shop when he realizes the writer of his favourite comics actually owns the store. The guy is very friendly and invites him to the back. The writer offers to give Duncan three wishes, and introduces duncan to some inhuman creature. (I think his name was renfrew, but I could be wrong.) The creature gives duncan a checkbook with 3 special checks. The writer tells him to take his time and making sure he gets what he wants. Renfrew says Duncan could wish for a million dollars, but then he'd have to deal with the IRS. maybe he could try asking for earning a million dollars through a brilliant invention. But Duncan isn't interested in money.

Duncan doesn't need much time at all to ask for his first wish: He wants to be a hero. On his bike ride, an old woman screams out for help since her chihuahua is drowning in the river. Without thinking, Duncan jumps into the river and rescues the dog. Exhausted, he's even on the news for being a hero and he loves it. What can Duncan ask for his second wish? He almost writes that he wants to be a hero every day, but it was exhausting. Then it comes to him: He wants to be a superhero.

Renfrew already knows he's going to turn Duncan into his favourite superhero. It's revealed that the writer had previously wished to be a successful writer, but he didn't ask to be a talented writer. So he's getting ideas for his stories from the kids getting wishes. Duncan gets some signal and realizes he can turn into his favourite superhero. He has to fight some comic book villains to save the world.

Eventually he comes across an old guy who warns him off. Originally the comic book store owner ran him off and called him a crazy homeless guy. Duncan's neighbor (heather?) finds his magic checks and warns him. As a kid I didn't understand it, but the neighbor explains he's going to owe something to the bank if he uses checks. Duncan racks his brain to figure out what he might owe. He thinks back to the old guy, and together they track him down. They learn he also was offered wishes, particularly becoming the high school football star. But after he used his three wishes, renfrew wanted payment. renfrew fed off his life and aged him 70 years. Duncan hasn't used his 3 wishes, but the kid/old guy guesses he'll be impatient and maybe ask for 40 years instead.

Ending:
Duncan uses his last wish to make renfrew pay for all the wishes himself. Renfrew cannot renege on the deal, and the only punishment he can get is from his homeworld. Before he leaves, he feeds off the comic book store owner.