Sasquatch Island

Spine Shivers

by J.A. Darke, Brandon Terrell, Neil Evans (Illustrations)

Pine Island is a remote getaway for campers and hikers. So when Darius and the rest of the Wilderness Warriors show up for a late summer trip, the area is practically empty. The group sets off into the woods, but they soon experience eerie sounds and strange sightings, as if they're being tracked by something that is not quite animal, but not quite human. When they wake one morning to find their guide's tent empty, the Wilderness Warriors discover their terrifying journey is only just beginning.

Genres: Horror, Middle Grade

116 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2018

About the author

Pseudonym for authors Eric Stevens and Brandon Terrell.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few other Spine Shivers books borrow from folklore and legend—Do Not Watch and The Creature in the Crystal among them—but Sasquatch Island features a myth with a unique place in the American psyche. Does Bigfoot exist in a wooded region of the United States, or is he an entertaining fiction? This book offers an answer, if you choose to believe. Darius Robinson doesn't love the outdoors, but he signed up for the Wilderness Warriors at school to bolster his résumé of extracurriculars. Now he's committed to a camping trip on Pine Island, an area of thick forest on Lake Michigan. The other Wilderness Warriors are Alec Parnell—the group know-it-all—Jasmine Medina—who loves to photograph nature—and Sammi Horton, whose dad leads the expedition. They will hike across Pine Island for three days, spending nights at a series of cabins. Darius isn't enthused, but the others look forward to the adventure.

There's no obvious reason for fear until the Wilderness Warriors hear a scream while eating lunch up in an abandoned fire tower. Afraid of heights, Sammi stayed on the ground, and by the time the others reach her she's trembling in terror. A hulking monster of an animal is in the woods, though she only heard its movements. Ellis and Ben Malone, mother and son caretakers of Pine Island, told Mr. Horton there are no bears, but what else could Sammi have heard? That night, Jasmine shows the other Wilderness Warriors an article in a book she borrowed from Ellis Malone's ranger station. Years ago a visitor on Pine Island claimed to encounter a Sasquatch, and was nearly killed. Mr. Horton scoffs, but the atmosphere is tense among the young Wilderness Warriors. Something in the trees by the tower scared Sammi.

Darius awakens after a restless night to find the campsite a mess. Mr. Horton thinks a bear must have smelled food and ransacked their supplies to get it. Undaunted, Mr. Horton leads the kids back onto the dark, woodsy trail, but the day ahead is filled with bad omens. Jasmine falls down a rocky hillside, severely lacerating her knee. Darius discovers a shredded backpack in the weeds; the name "Henderson" is on it, suggesting the pack belongs to a married couple the Wilderness Warriors met at the ranger station. When Jasmine claims that a blurry image on her camera shows an enraged Sasquatch, Mr. Horton declares an end to the camping trip. The Wilderness Warriors are relieved, but the next morning things take a grim turn: Mr. Horton's tent is empty. Could there truly be a Sasquatch who killed Mr. and Mrs. Henderson and may have finished off Mr. Horton too? The dawning day morphs into a hellscape for the Wilderness Warriors as they flee a hidden tormenter stalking them through the woods. Devastated though Sammi is by her father's disappearance, going on a search for him is impossible at the moment; the mad dash back to the ranger station will require every ounce of adrenaline the Wilderness Warriors can muster. Will they survive to report their alleged confrontation with the Sasquatch?

Scarier and more fast-paced than most Spine Shivers books, Sasquatch Island has perhaps the most surprising ending in the series. It's arguably the best work of Brandon Terrell (writing as J.A. Darke), the sort of twist ending a quality horror movie would incorporate. I'm not sure the logic holds up perfectly, but at least the attempt is made at innovation, and that puts Sasquatch Island above most books in this series. Reflecting on Spine Shivers as a whole, the first four books—Attack of the Mud Creatures, The Grin in the Dark, The Screaming Bridge, and Tech Fury—are terminally flawed, but three of the next four represent a surge in quality: Do Not Watch, The Creature in the Crystal, and Sasquatch Island are comparable to some of the better books in R.L. Stine's original Goosebumps series, and part of me wants to rate them each two and a half stars. If you like good junior horror novels, you might want to get your hands on these three. I'm glad I persevered with the Spine Shivers series long enough to read Sasquatch Island.

[Robbie Myles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, adventure horror from the twisted mind of J.A. Darke. These books are loads of fun and fall under the Goosebumps throwback umbrella. This particular one wasn't my favorite in the series, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, as it's a super quick read and the ending is very twisty. Four stars from me! Go check it out if you enjoy Goosebumpsy type books.

[Maxim D · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a group of these hikers called the “Wilderness Warriors” and they settle on this island . They follow this ranger they find on the island. They find this ranger station and climb up it later they make camp. But a scream emerges from the silence of the night. By the time they get to the sound they see a fury figure in the distance. The campers wake up the next morning and find their campsite messed up thinking it was a bear; they look through the trail camera, and find a blurry figure of what they think is a sasquatch.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a good one...👍🏻