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The Calusari: A Novelization

(The X-Files: Young Adult #1)

Garth Nix (Goodreads Author),

Cliff Nielsen

3.31 · Rating details · 181 ratings · 21 reviews

First Charlie's little brother is killed by an oncoming train. Then his father dies in a bizarre accident. Both times, Charlie is present - watching. Is it just an eerie coincidence? Mulder and Scully don't think so. Neither does Charlie's grandmother. Believing that Charlie caused the horrors,she calls in the Calusari to cleanse his soul. But is Charlie truly evil? Or is ...more

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Mass Market Paperback, 112 pages

Published May 30th 1997 by HarperEntertainment (first published 1997)

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Lists with This Book

Beyond Mulder and Scully by Andy Mangels

The Unofficial X-Files Companion by Ngaire E. Genge

X-Files Related Books

79 books — 8 voters

Best Covers by Cliff Nielsen

112 books — 6 voters

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Average rating 3.31 ·

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· 181 ratings · 21 reviews

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Jun 26, 2019 Mark rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2019, novelisation, tv-series

If there is any doubt about it, I am really a great fan of the X-Files tv show and each summer I do enjoy a season of so of their adventures while on vacation. When I came across this little booklet aimed at the young adult market I decided to pick it up also because it one of the better monster of the week episodes of season 2, especially episode 21.

I was somewhat disappointed as the book is the story but all the mood that the tv show put into the story was certainly not put into the tale. It ...more

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Feb 07, 2015 Stephen Arvidson rated it liked it

Shelves: x-files, young-adult, fiction, novelizations

"Neither innocence nor vigilance may be protection against the howling heart of evil" — Mulder (p.100).

Old-world superstitions and the existence of Evil is explored in The Calusari, a young-adult adaptation of The X-Files episode of same name, a tepid novelization that more or less captures the creepiness of the 1994 teleplay. When a two-year old boy is inexplicably led to his death, a photograph of the incident yields evidence of supernatural goings-on that piques Agent Mulder's curiosity, prom "Neither innocence nor vigilance may be protection against the howling heart of evil" — Mulder (p.100).

Old-world superstitions and the existence of Evil is explored in The Calusari, a young-adult adaptation of The X-Files episode of same name, a tepid novelization that more or less captures the creepiness of the 1994 teleplay. When a two-year old boy is inexplicably led to his death, a photograph of the incident yields evidence of supernatural goings-on that piques Agent Mulder's curiosity, prompting he and Agent Scully to investigate. When another unexplained death in the family occurs, the grandmother of the remaining child seeks to cleanse the boy's spirit with the aid of a mysterious sect of Romanian ritualists, the eponymous Calusari.

While I never found this episode all that memorable, the book itself does a satisfactory job of maintaining the mystery throughout its 100-page run. The reader is unsure what to make of Charlie, the sullen boy with an air of darkness enveloping him, or his superstitious grandmother's seemingly injurious treatment of him. Scully's theory of Munchausen by proxy as a cause of the familial woes is reasonable, unlike some of her other bull-headed rationalizations (i.e. her "mountain-lion" explanation in "Shapes"). To the book’s credit, the story never slackens, nor does the suspense waver. The novella is well-plotted, moderately tense, and possesses an ominous atmosphere that's laced with dark, sectarian undertones—though it doesn’t quite delve as deeply into the Eastern European religion and folklore that older readers like myself would’ve appreciated. I wished the author had devoted another page or two to the exorcism scene, in order to give the book’s climax a proper treatment. On the plus side, though, the family drama is quite compelling and fleshed out adequately enough to keep young readers interested; the mother’s fear came across palpable and genuine.

One minor yet interesting character worth mentioning is Dr. Charles "Chuck" Burk(s), who makes his first appearance in this story, assisting our favorite FBI agents with his technical expertise and knowledge of bizarre phenomena. A renounced hippie, Chuck is delightfully quirky in his present-day doctoral position; he's a fun character. It's a shame his appearance in this story is so brief. Interested readers can also find him in Regeneration, Book #14 of this YA series.

To put it mildly, The Calusari is a far cry from William Blatty’s The Exorcist. What we have here, at best, is a solid adaptation of a mediocre episode. While the book isn’t without its flaws, its eerie ambiance and creepy Cliff Nielsen cover may give younger readers the chills. ...more

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Mar 19, 2017 Spencer Borup rated it it was ok

I picked this up as a fan of Garth Nix, who has adapted well-known tales quite successfully before—Hellboy, Sherlock Holmes, Merlin, Rapunzel, etc.—but two things became clear pretty soon into THE CALUSARI: 1) this is based on someone else's teleplay, which limits Nix's usual creative freedoms; and 2) Nix clearly took this gig some 20 years ago as a paycheck. Incredibly cliché, stereotypical, derivative, and vanilla in all aspects. ...more

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Jan 05, 2020 Jeffrey DiFazio rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019-20-reading-challenge

This book stuck out to me because I was nearing the end of december and did not know what to read because after 10 pages of every book I tried to read I would get bored. This is a very short book but also was pretty good because first of all i am into demons and paranormal activity like this book. This book was 120 pages and was a quick read for me to get through this month. Next month i will try and read two of the books #2 and #3 for January.

The Calusari starts off with a family at a park. Tw This book stuck out to me because I was nearing the end of december and did not know what to read because after 10 pages of every book I tried to read I would get bored. This is a very short book but also was pretty good because first of all i am into demons and paranormal activity like this book. This book was 120 pages and was a quick read for me to get through this month. Next month i will try and read two of the books #2 and #3 for January.

The Calusari starts off with a family at a park. Two little boys named charlie and Teddy, Charlie is a year or two older than Teddy. Teddy is taken to the bathroom with his mom and put so he can't get out. His mom checks on him while going to the bathroom twice and then as soon as she gets out he is gone. She comes out of the bathroom looking for teddy right away and notices he is trying to go for the balloon but then notices that the balloon is going into the train tracks where the train goes by every 15 min for the little kids. The train kills teddy. Charlie watched the whole thing happen. FbI agents see this and when looked at again there is a figure holding the balloon leading Teddy towards the train. Soon they figure out that Charlie is possessed by a demon after his Father and Grandmother are killed while Charlie is present. Charlie almost kills his mother as well but he is stopped before he could do so.

For a small book it was pretty good but the bad thing about reading a small book is that no one really gets to know the characters and see what they feel and get their sense of personality. Also it was very easy to figure out what was going to happen next, very predictable. I would say that would be the only two bad things about this book.

The book had a lot of good things about it too. It had a lot of action and had a very good plot line. I really liked how they started out the book with Teddy dying right away because it shows thats the least of the action in the book. I am really into action type books like this because you will never get bored or tired of reading. ...more

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Nov 09, 2017 IanH rated it really liked it

Shelves: sophomore-reading-challenge

It's a very short story to why I chose this book. I was strapped for time. To elaborate on that I had tried to read two books already, and neither captured my interest all that much. As I realized that It was nearing the end of October, and I was not even close to finishing a book, I searched Ms.Hughes's library for the shortest book I could find. My eyes found the X-Files series, which I had never read before, but I thought I would try it out, besides, the book is very short, so my experience w ...more

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Sep 13, 2019 Tea rated it liked it · review of another edition

Season 2 episode 21

A child is killed at a park Mulder sees a photo and believes the child is being lead in to the train tracks by an invisible force.
After talking to the family scully comes to her own conclusions. As the Russian grandmother is convinced the remaining child Charlie is evil and beings returning to the old methods and traditions to rescue the child’s souls.

I didn’t really get in to this book. The show is better. More atmosphere and feeling than the book.
I wonder if the writers ...more

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Jul 26, 2020 Laura rated it it was amazing

Si lo que buscas es un poco de miedo en tu vida sin que el libro de tantas vueltas para llegar a ese punto, este es ese libro.
Todo se pone a punto desde la página 1, incluso antes de que inicie la historia, no se anda con medias tintas, sin tantas vueltas va a lo que va y lo hace bien. Creo que me ha impactado más por que la historia trata sobre niños y no cualquier tema, no, sobre niños poseidos, y creo que es ahí donde me ha impactado más. Es una historia corta con apenas 110 páginas, pero es ...more

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Sep 18, 2018 Alan rated it liked it

Rating 3

not bad adaptation of the television episode. no extra details added to the story from what i can remember. I think it would have worked better as a short/novella length story published in a collection of stories rather than as an individual book.

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Sep 06, 2018 Mako rated it liked it

Una amiga interrumpió mí lectura para prestarme este libro, cuando lo comencé estaba fascinada porque wOW ES DE LOS EXPEDIENTES X, la fan que llevo adentro resurgió. Pero no termino siendo la graan cosa o mis expectativas lo arruinaron, sin embargo es bueno y muy entretenido, así que es un 3.5

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Aug 01, 2019 Flosse07 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Eine wirklich gut geschriebene Story war diese Kurzgeschichte.

Spannend vom Anfang bis zum Ende, unerwartete Entwicklungen und das Quäntchen Akte X-Thema durfte natürlich auch nicht fehlen. Eine kurzweilige Leseunterhaltung für mich, die 4 Sterne von mir verdient hat.

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Jan 03, 2018 Eduardo Cruz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Papitas sabor sobrenatural.

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Jun 03, 2019 Eulchen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Eine nette kleine Geschichte aus der AkteX-Reihe. Hat sich gut weglesen lassen.

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Mar 26, 2020 Casandra added it · review of another edition

Este libro es exactamente igual al capítulo, que bonito

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Jan 10, 2014 Kez rated it it was amazing

God, I remember being in middle school reading these, and the librarian let me take them out because she knew I was fascinated by the books and I was capable of reading them even though my teacher thought I wasn't. The x files books were only accessible to the year 7s who were also the top reading group, I was stuck at second to highest even though i loved reading and I think i was year 6. She let me though :) I never looked back. X files, the show that made fandoms what they are today! ...more

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Jan 12, 2009 Unapologetic_Bookaholic rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of the TV show the X files

Shelves: young-adult, science-fiction

3.5 of 5

The Calusari (English version) was a well written version of the often creepy TV show the x files. If you love the show and have about half the time to spare. Pick the the series.

This story centers around the haunting of a family. A little boy who's parents Romanian roots are both a blessing and a curse. ...more

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Jan 30, 2011 Indah Threez Lestari rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: indonesian, movie-tv-tie-in, i-lost-it

124th - 2011

Ini salah satu episode X-Files di Season 2.

Entah bagaimana caranya Dana Scully merasionalisasi semua kasus yang di luar nalar, meskipun telah menyaksikan dengan mata kepalanya sendiri.

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Jun 26, 2007 Leanne rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: español

#10 - Materia Oscura

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Jul 15, 2009 Guillermo Blanco rated it really liked it

A nice short read that follows x-files. Didn't drag on in one part of the book too long. Overall a nice relaxing read. ...more

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Feb 07, 2016 Katie rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi

Good reminiscing of one of my favorite X-Files episodes!

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Dec 11, 2015 Megan rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015-series-read-along-november-dec, december-2015, new-to-me-authors-2015, read-in-2015, tower-teams-iv

I've never seen X Files, but I thought this story was interesting and a little creepy/scary. This book makes me want to watch the show. ...more

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Jun 05, 2013 Luis rated it liked it

Pretty standard but enjoyable tale of Mulder and Scully with a bit more of the religious supernatural than is usual in an X-Files story.

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About Garth Nix

Garth Nix

11,930 followers

Garth Nix was born in 1963 in Melbourne, Australia, to the sound of the Salvation Army band outside playing 'Hail the Conquering Hero Comes' or possibly 'Roll Out the Barrel'. Garth left Melbourne at an early age for Canberra (the federal capital) and stayed there till he was nineteen, when he left to drive around the UK in a beat-up Austin with a boot full of books and a Silver-Reed typewriter.

De ...more