Unearthly Asylum

The Joy of Spooking #2

by P.J. Bracegirdle

Joy Wells is fascinated by the strange noises coming from the old Spooking Asylum. She knows all about the famous legends that surround the place, and is certain that she is hearing the guns of long-dead soldiers. But what if something more contemporary—and truly ghastly—is going on?

When Joy’s pet frog, Fizz, gets away, Joy travels through the town’s old sewers looking for him, only to emerge above ground—inside the locked gates of the asylum. There, she uncovers a trail of greed and madness guaranteed to thrill her horror-loving heart!

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Mystery, Paranormal, Horror, Young Adult

298 pages, Hardcover

First published July 26, 2010

About the author

Born in Montreal, P. J. Bracegirdle has done everything from keeping the stage door of a haunted old Scottish theater to pushing laundry carts along dark tunnels under an insane asylum. His last job involved pretending to write thick manuals nobody really read for products few people ever used.

"Becoming an author was my life's work," says PJB, "if, that is, a life's work can consist of staring off into space instead of attending to whatever menial task is expected of you.",

PJB now writes books for children, which is much more fun than writing for adults, he says. "Adults have an amazing capacity to suck the joy out of such noble pursuits as Reading and Writing until they resemble their favorite pastimes: Working and Suffering."

Not surprisingly, PJB recommends long spells of staring into space to others wishing to follow in his footsteps. "If you wait long enough and stare with sufficient blankness, things come into sharp focus that are completely invisible to others. Some are beautiful and moving, others are frightening and terrible. Happily, these are the very same things you need to write down as an author. Which is very convenient, I might add."

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book two in P.J. Bracegirdle's Joy of Spooking trilogy adopts a fresh look—silhouette cover art by David Frankland rather than a soft-toned painting by Nicoletta Ceccoli—but the story has much the same thrust as Fiendish Deeds. Thanks to Joy Wells alerting the Federal Imperiled Species Protection Agency, the bog of Spooking—a geographic feature of the eerie, old-fashioned town where Joy lives—is saved. Mayor Mungo MacBrayne and his assistant, Octavio Phipps, had planned to fill in the bog and build a waterpark in its place, but now Phipps must find another idea to secure his financial and political future. MacBrayne is mayor of Darlington, a modern suburb that entirely surrounds the small town of Spooking, which has been a thorn in Darlington's side for years. Phipps and the mayor want to build on Spooking's large sections of empty land to bring further prosperity to Darlington. The Misty Mermaid Water Park would have made a lot of money; does Phipps have a Plan B to replace it?

"Never let your dignity stand in the way of survival."

—Phipps, Unearthly Asylum, P. 288

In Fiendish Deeds, Joy successfully preserved the bog and the monster supposedly residing in it, the "Bog Fiend." She first heard of the monster in the writings of Ethan Alvin Peugeot, a horror author who Joy believes wrote all his stories about Spooking, even if no one—including the E.A. Peugeot Society—thinks she's right. In addition to the bog, Peugeot wrote of a mental asylum whose doctors conducted horrific medical experiments, and Joy wonders if old Spooking Asylum might be the place. No patients ever seem to arrive or depart, but the facility is still active. What's going on there? Phipps might be in position to find out soon. His latest municipal renovation project is to grab ownership of the asylum and turn it into a luxury resort, but first he has to inspect the place. With Mayor MacBrayne's blessing, Phipps begins the process, but finds himself stonewalled by asylum administrators. What are they hiding within those fortresslike walls? As Phipps implements a plan to sneak a spy inside the place, Joy and her eight-year-old little brother Byron have their own reason to breach the asylum: her pet frog, Fizz, is lost, and somehow ended up on the wrong side of the asylum walls. Do Joy and Byron have the courage to break in and rescue him? Joy, Byron, and Phipps—who is anything but a friend of the two kids after the bog debacle—are forced to team up when they discover the menace at work in Spooking Asylum. The doctors possess a secret that would change healthcare forever, and will stop at nothing to prevent it from leaking to the public. Will Joy, Byron, and their unlikely ally escape to proclaim the truth, or become the newest victims in a chilling tradition of medical malfeasance at Spooking Asylum?

"Because in the end, it doesn't matter how sane you are if the whole world still thinks you're crazy."

—Phipps, P. 275

Unearthly Asylum is a noticeable improvement over Fiendish Deeds. The writing is more engaging—almost exciting at times—and the story had potential. There are numerous subplots, probably too many for the book to support. What is the truth of Phipps's contentious history with his father, and the supernatural curse on their family? Who is Poppy, a local girl who always lingers at the park and seems sad and friendless? What is the full story behind the people running the asylum, and how do they fit in with E.A. Peugeot's harrowing narrative account that Joy believes was based on Spooking Asylum? Had these story threads been integrated well, this might be an excellent novel, but little clarity is achieved by the last page. As a result, Unearthly Asylum feels muddled and uninspired, and I can't convince myself to round my one-and-a-half-star rating to two. One book remains in the Joy of Spooking trilogy, Sinister Scenes, and I have real hope it might be a decent conclusion. I see possibility in Joy's interaction with Louden Primrose, a boy from Darlington who doesn't look down on her for living in Spooking. The series could still be a nice work of literary art if the ending is good, and I'm eager to see if that's the case. What remains to learn about Phipps, Spooking, and E.A. Peugeot?

[Jill Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joy 2: funnier, scarier, and harder to put down!

Reading Unearthly Asylum, the second book in Bracegirdle's Joy of Spooking trilogy is a bit like watching The Return of the Jedi, in terms of that surprising jolt you get of "wait, is this actually *cooler* than the first one?" Characters have grown, conflicts are mounting, the central Asylum is a mix of mysterious and terrifying, and good and evil aren't as clear cut as they were the first time around. Oh, and it's funny, too.

[Kat Heckenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have fallen completely in love with this series. Joy Wells is exactly the kind of main character I adore. Quirky, smart, dark and brooding, but not angsty for no reason. She loves her little brother, her whole family, her house in the tiny, misunderstood town of Spooking.

Each book has some mystery, adventure, humor, and a bit of gruesome. The characters are unique and original. The pacing is just right, with great writing (although, in this book the author did overuse a particular sentence structure that actually began to bug me--but that is nitpicking).

In Unearthly Asylum, one of my favorite things was getting into the head of Mr. Phipps. I find it interesting that the author created such a sympathetic villain...or, is he a villain? Hm.

Anyway, I'm buying the next (and final, from what I've seen ) book right now.


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book 1

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[abbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

while this definitely got a lot more interesting in the last half the first part could’ve been better. but then again maybe i shouldn’t have started in the middle of the series.

while i might’ve enjoyed this more if i was 8 years younger, i can definitely see the vision it has a very storyteller voice to it.

i am curious to see what happens in the last book of the trilogy however i do not think i am intrigued quite enough for that…

read this purely to get closer to reading all the books i own

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good But was very hard to get through l liked the people and it is very creepy if you like ghosts you will like it I like how it is between two points of view but I think they should shorten it I for 10+

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this one better than the first one, and I am looking forward to seeing how everything plays out/comes together in the end.

[Bethany Ainsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sequel that felt like a chore to get through. It's not the book, it's me. I'm not the type to read kid-lit.

The book felt a little bit slow paced and took maybe the last sixty pages to finally get to the climax. I get that you need to build up to it.

Maybe it's me and I shouldn't be reading kid-lit.

I can't tell if I like the book or not. After I finished reading it, I just felt 'eh' no 'that was awesome' thoughts. No rushing to read the last and finale book.

I blame Zac Efron for singing, "I want my own dream, so bad I'm going to scream" in my ear, because yeah. I blame the fact that watching the Scream music video on High School Musical 3 was more entertaining then the book at the moment. Going back to watch the 3:03 mark on the video and seeing Zac be a "Rope Stripper" was interesting.

I blame myself for not being interested in kid-lit. I blame the fact that I figured out Poppy was...a ghost way before the actual revealing.

Damn, that wasn't revealing at once I figured it out.

I wished Poppy was a human, because it would've made things interesting, but I blame the Sibling Team trope that has to conquer all.

The mystery, although I'm not sure if it's considered a mystery, kept me reading/I don't want to waste money on giving up and not touch the last book.

I blame the fact that I don't want waste money.

I hate Mr. Phipps, he involuntarily killed his friend, Felix and outright allowed blood sucking leeches kill his other friend Vince, no matter if Vince was a 'psychopath.'

I don't feel sympathy over the fact that he lost his childhood 'love.'

I don't like how Joy and Bryon can't outright tell their parents what's going on, which is why I put this under 'adults are useless' because they may be parenting, their kids don't allow them to help.

I guess that's why this is marketing to kids because who would want parents to get in on your adventures and telling you not to do something that's obviously dangerous but exciting?

I can imagine something like this happening:

Kid Hero (aka KH): Mom! You're killing my buzz!

Mom: I am your mother! I will kill your buzz anytime that I want to! Be home by midnight!

KH: (groans while his friends laugh) Shut up. I can't lie to my parents.

Mom: I expect you to do the dishes tomorrow once you wake up. Just because you're off solving crimes doesn't mean that you can skip out on your chores. Take the extra key. (closes the front door and locks it)

KH's obligatory best friend who he secretly hates: Don't forget to make up your bed while you're at it.

KH: Shut up. Just shut up you idiot.


Anyway that wouldn't be a bad thing.

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unearthly Asylum, the second book in the Joy of Spooking series, is even better than the first volume. In this latest paranormal adventure, Joy's beloved pet bullfrog, Fizz, has become trapped in Spooking's mental asylum and must be saved from impending doom. This book had twice the humor and scares of the previous title and left me anxious to read the next book on the series. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy paranormal fiction with a dash of humor.

[Deniz · Rating 4 out of 5]

None of the descriptions quite convey the essence of these stories, which is sinister, mysterious and fun all at once. They're probably marketed as Middle Grade, but they're just the sort of books I loved back in my MG days and *still* love - where the author doesn't talk down to the young reader, and doesn't sugar coat mystery or history.

[Alexandra Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming, spooky series. Joy and Byron Wells are my favorite siblings in children's literature since The Baudelaires.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just found out that there are only 3 books in this series, that makes me sad. I wish it would go on forever, I love these books

[Allison Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I completely enjoyed the author's language. It was not really spooky, but fun to read.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic fun spooky read. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved it like the first one!! just great storytelling for any age...