The Mystery of Darkhill School: a scary mystery book for kids 9-12

by C.J. Loughty

If you like scary stories, you’ll love The Mystery of Darkhill A terrifying tale of revenge.Bella Gubbins has just moved to a new home in a new town. She’s not happy about this. And she’s about to be even less happy when she finds out that the school she’ll be attending is haunted by an old man who stalks the corridors. Who is he? What does he want? And why is he intent on terrifying some of the kids? The tip, tap of his walking stick announces his arrival. You can run. You can hide. But there’s no getting away from the master.DO NOT end up in detention ...(reading 8 years and up - ideal for children, teens and adults who LOVE a good scare!)

Genres: Horror

142 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 18, 2021

Reviews

[GEETASHREE CHATTERJEE · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mystery of Darkhill School is my first C J Loughty. Though its a mystery book for kids, yet it is immensely enjoyable and interestingly comparable to any adult read, especially because of the flow of language and beauty of expressions. As the name suggests, the School plays a very important role in the narrative and has a character of its own. The book does not carry lengthy descriptions of the premise but reader can easily visualize its formidable austerity, its crooked façade, its winding cold corridors, its creaky doors and windows and shadowy haunts, where the students forever feel watched over by some unknown entity hobbling in the dark passages, the tip tapping of his walking stick announcing his imminent approach. Bella, a new entrant to the school, dislikes the building at first sight. Her brother, Josh, ridicules her whenever she shares experiences which are beyond credulity. The teachers ignore whenever children gossip about being spooked. Dawn, the school bully, learns the hard way not to disbelieve the existence of the invisible. Above all, Mr. Curshaw, the school Head Master, is quite sure that there are other methods of "special punishment" for wayward students who are beyond sincere advice and severe admonition.

The Mystery of Darkhill School is a must read for all kids, young adults and their parents because being scared and spooked is not enough. There can also be a noble mission behind hair raising hauntings.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book was written for the audience of the youth, I found this book a quick read as it only took me 2 days. The storyline was simple and pretty easy to predict. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that this book was written as one loooooonngggggg paragraph. There were no chapters.

[Deborah Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ghostly Schoolmaster

Another good short story by CJ Loughty. I liked it almost as much as "Into the Dark". Give this one a try if you like a little scary.

[Anvi (warner's version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okayish, not scary at all imo. But yeah, shouldn't have expected so much from a children's novel 😂 3.2 ⭐

[Justin Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review on The Mystery of Darkhill School is a 5 star. There is a lot of connection people could have from the book to real life. When you start in a new school there are a lot of people. The way you have a feeling good or bad about the school relates to people's real life story. Also sometimes people bully you for various reason some people can relate .You can still fix friendships with people you hate friendships with someone you hate could happen and the books show that.The end where she felt like she is still being watch and the tap tapping noise from the climax in was just a very good way to show how she will have to live with the memories and no one will believe it.I also like how the mystery have been solved but there nothing to do other than to embrace it.It show that sometime you can't fix the problem but do the best to adapt to it. I rate it a 5 star due to how it relates to others lives and how the story ended.

[Katie Adamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG!!! The ending did it really have to end on so much suspense i want to know the punishment for bellas brother as well as what happened to dawn and there needs to be another book to conclude this one throughout the whole book i was gasping and saying OMG but never did i expect the book to go like that definitely in future would i read it again and obviously recommend it to those that like mystery books plus it was quite easy ( for me ) to read 5 stars for definite 😱🤯😆

[Grace Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mystery of dark hill school takes you through big dreams to detentions at school! But what might Bella and her new friend sally find at her new school. A ghost haunting the corridors? Nahh. Teachers that know about it but pretend not to? … what will she find?

[Lyle Smith]

A fun quick read.

A quick read. Not to feel it complex. I recommend to all ages. Hoping for a sequel.
A good message.

[Roxi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm, a tricky review this one. For anyone kind enough to read my reviews, not just like the post, you're probably aware that a new girl, starting at a supposedly haunted school is my cup of tea. The book was advertised for readers aged 8-15, and even though I'm a lot older than the recommended age, I love reading books for all ages.
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However, I feel the age limit for this book was accurate. If I had read this book at the age of say 11 or 12, then I'd be confident my review would be dramatically different.
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The story line was basic, but solid:A family move to a new area, kids start a new school that is supposedly haunted, new girl is targeted by the school bully, who later becomes her friend (sort of).
As a base line, the above is solid. What I struggled with, was how basic the writing style was, again, it's for younger readers, but a bit more attention to detail would have been nice. Again, had I been younger, I'd probably have been reading past my bed time, scaring myself silly. Another thing I would have loved to have added, would have been chapters. Even though the story takes place over three days, chapters would have been a good idea, rather than one long narrative.
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Lastly, I feel the story could have been filled up with more description and direction, and extended. This could have been a small trilogy of books, and I think that would have really worked.
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After reading all of the above, if it still sounds like your jam, then go for it. It's not a bad book, just a bit slow going for me, though I did enjoy it.
If you're uming and ah-ing whether to buy, I'd say hold off for now, read your TBR pile first, before adding this to the pile.
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[Amit Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice scary story for sure.

Story is amazing. I'm not a book reader but still this story kept me hooked to it and I finished this story as I like reading horror sometimes. The story in the end could have been better. Also the story felt a little slow to me especially in the mid part. Overall it's definitely a nice one and I was continuously imagining all the characters, screenplay everything in my mind which was the most exciting and thrilling thing.

[Mauniera Samel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being a fan of R. L. Stine from childhood, I recently had a strong craving to read something scary targetted towards pre-teens/teens, and oh boy was I thoroughly disappointed! Look, this book is fairly average. Maybe I went in with the wrong level of expectations! That's all I have to say. I'll stick to reading or even re-reading Goosebumps each time I crave this genre in the future.

[Claire Cobb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, short but fun read. I needed a palette cleanser and this did the job. A good story with a bit of eerie atmosphere vibes from the master. Liked the characters of Bella and Sally and the little twist with Josh at the end. I'm glad Dawn got what was coming to her.

[Jacob Lazenby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A genuinely fun read. I liked certain plot points and the ending was pure gold. This is a fantastic read.

[Selva · Rating 5 out of 5]

For people who love a good scare and mystery will love. I thought the book will carry on but it. I miss it

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect amount of spookieness for a audience of 9+

[Swara kashyap♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think for kids aged 9-10 would enjoy it

[Stacey]

Shared by student

[Sophie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a 1.5⭐️. Ew just nah. The plot twist was horrible the moral was to like LiStEn To YoUr TeAcHeRs like no I will not tHaNk YoU vErY MuCH.

[Dhanya]

It's a really scary yet interesting story. It's a suitable story for 10 to 12 years.it has a good message that bullying results in a very bad punishment.

[Aaden · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing book😁