Creepy Creations: A special World Book Day story from the funny, spooky sci-fi series Dread Wood. Perfect for readers 8+ who love Goosebumps!

by Jennifer Killick

The brand new World Book Day adventure and must-read middle-grade novel from the author of super-spooky Crater Lake. Perfect for 9+ fans of R.L.Stine’s Goosebumps.

“Deliciously scary and hilarious comedy-horror, perfectly pitched for eight-plus.”

The Guardian on Dread Wood

Dread Wood High is a school like no other! Angelo and his friends are used to battling horrifying creatures at school – giant spiders that fire poison darts, brain biting worms that burrow into your flesh and vampire birds that drink your blood! These terrifying beasts were brought to life by crazed caretakers-slash scientists, the Latchitts And they aren’t finished yet . . .

In this exclusive World Book Day story, Angelo and the
rest of Club Loser must venture deep into the tunnels underneath Dread Wood High to rescue their favourite teacher, Mr Canton. But more hideous creations live in the Latchitts’ old laboratories . . . and they’re hungry! Can Club Loser stop these creatures from escaping into the world and make it out in one piece? Read it and see, if you dare!

An epic, pulse-racing, sci-fi adventure, perfect for readers aged 8+.

For more edge-of-your-seat adventures check out the whole

Dread Wood series – Dread Wood, Fear Ground, Flock Horror, Deadly Deep and Fright Bite.

Genres: Middle Grade, Horror

112 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 15, 2024

Reviews

[Jade Ratley · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.00 on CAWPILE

[Fredrika · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

A nice little extra short story that was longer than I thought, which I’m not complaining about! Fast paced, creepy and funny as always. A nice addition to the series.

[Sifa Poulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

CREEPY CREATIONS is a World Book Day special short story full of thrills and nostalgia as Club Loser battle through abandoned tunnels to find their teacher.

I loved how CREEPY CREATIONS brings the series back to its origins with an adventure in the school itself, and through tunnels that were key to DREAD WOOD. There are some new monsters introduced but also the return of older ones, which was a really nice mix. It's a nice way to bring new readers into the series while also providing lots of fun "I remember that!" moments for existing readers.

Being a world book day book, this is quite short, so showcases the author's skill at getting horror into a short page count where there isn't the option to have a slow build over many chapters. Instead, it's packed in using "gleeches", as Gus would put it (cliches that make you happy when they are used because you enjoy anticipating their use.)

There's great use of the unknown here with things in the dark that can't be seen at first, just felt or heard. Knowing what else has come up in the series so far makes the anticipation of the reveal even stronger because you know it's going to be horrifying.

There's also plenty of fun moments with Club Loser, showcasing how far they've come since the start of the series - and how capable they are. They are pros at dealing with these creatures by now, with time to joke and see to practical matters like food as they go.

I am assuming this entry takes place after FRIGHT BITE due to publication date. It definitely occurs after DEADLY DEEP, as there are references to the first four books of the series. My assumption is that FRIGHT BITE isn't referenced in order to protect some of the major spoilers in that book for readers who might be discovering the series through this short.

[Tim Roast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dread Wood: Creepy Creations is a fun horror book featuring four school friends Angelo, Hallie, Gus and Naira, and their funny camaraderie. The book begins with them representing the school for an open evening.

“Welcome to Dread Wood High. If you’ve ever wanted to be chased around the grounds by evil maniacs in clown masks while parasitic worms chew on your brain, then this is the school for you.”

But their teacher Mr Canton – “As much as Mr Canton is painful levels cringe, we would never change him” – goes missing.

“There must be hundreds of reasonable explanations for Mr Canton not coming back, and most of them won’t involve anything awful.” “You sure about that?”

“Can Club Loser make it through the spooky school basement, defeat some seriously creepy creatures, rescue their favourite teacher AND make it out alive?”

Funny book with adventure and horror and a little bit of gore and being a WBD book it represents excellent value for money (costing just £1 or a WBD book token). 4-stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Book Jester · Rating 2 out of 5]

My son chose this as his free World Book Day gift on his class trip to Waterstones which I initially thought seemed like an exciting choice. As it turned out this little story is part of a series and since we haven't read any of the others in the Dread Wood collection, I couldn't feel any connection to the characters or the setting - there were lots of references to things which must've happened in the other books which really started to annoy me. It was also not a particularly enjoyable book to read out loud (lots of 'blah, blah', said Gus. And then 'blah, blah', said Hallie).

Thankfully it was a very short book which I was glad to finish. I don't think I'll be encouraging my son to read any of the other books in the series.

[Mrs Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

All this book does is show how amazing the author is. I love how much has been packed in. Never ending shocks, twists and just a bit of cheeky humour thrown in. It was also great getting to see some of the creatures used before, while adding in some amazing new ones. Love the author. Love the series.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice introduction to the series for anyone who has not read it before. It does seem it was written to be as a stand alone as there was a bit of repetition of what we already know of the series.
Some things didn't make complete sense to me but probably digging too deep and still enjoyed it anyway.

[Alice magical library · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this World Book Day book. It was a bit confusing, but I think that was because I haven’t read any of the Dread Wood series. It was quite short, but it did feel like a long read. I think that the characters had a crazy and wild adventure, so I will definitely be reading the Dread Wood series!

[Haley Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant introduction to horror for young readers! Killick has the skill to create suspense, but in a way that invites you to read more, instead of being too scared to continue.

The addition of one of the teens having a stoma was a stroke of genius! Although the mention was subtle, it was enough to make me remember the inclusion.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is just brilliant, and this is an excellent addition. Terrifying creatures, some familiar faces and a missing Mr C. These poor kids have been through more than enough, but through it all they’ve worked together and fought ALL the creatures! I really hope there’s more to come!

[Vonprice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mini adventure for children of 10+ published for world book day 2024. You can read my review here: http://vsviewfromthebookshelves.home....

[Shannon Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea this was linked to a series when I picked it up. Even though I'd never read the main series or heard of it, I enjoyed it. I definitely feel taking a look into the rest of this universe would be a brilliant adventure.

[Mr. shepherd]

So I start reading dreadwood book 6 months after book 5. N knew of thus but thought was separate thing. Apparently not Theres a brief mention of this in terror tower Dread wood book 6. A head up been nice cos its technically canon. Therefore dreadwood 5.1

[Bookgirl888 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another creepy story from a brilliant horror author. Full of suspense and tension and more animals that don't behave as expected.

[Bethany Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now, this is what a World Book Day book should be like. It's a perfect length and entertaining.

[Bethany Tuxworth_Dagless · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the terrifying twists

[Lex Smi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a good book, and I would like to read more of the dread book series but it was a very short book and i could’ve finished it in a day.

[Max Greeves · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[donna craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick easy story to read in-between longer books good for young adult

[Robyn Drummond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was trying to find something to fill the void of goosebumps and point horror and I must say it wasn’t half bad.

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Next up is Dreadwood: Creepy Creations which I gave Star rating, 4.5 stars! This is a novella set in the Dreadwood series. I haven’t read books 3 or 4 yet, but it seems we don’t miss out much if you don’t read those. In this one things will get creepy. Be prepared for another lullaby to get creepified and not be the same as before poop hit the fan. I mean, this gets CREEPY. And I have so many questions in regards to the school and HOW NO ONE NOTICED. We are going into the deeper, darker, scarier bits of the school. Yes, there are still scary places to discover. Say hello to the basement. Yes. Basement. With scary rooms, laboratories, and new horrors that are HUNGRY. Oh, and some old “friends”. It got really spooky and scary! So many teeth. I loved seeing our characters again and I love how close they have gotten. Gus is still one of my favourites. And there are so many references to series and shows and I loved it! They gave me some moments to laugh and some air between all the scary things that our group of kids go through.

The one thing that stands out to me, with book 1 I was like, yeah, the Latchitts are crazy. But now after this I just don’t get why they are constantly targeting these kids? It gets a bit weird.

But all in all, this was a really good novella with plenty of horrors.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/