When 11-year-old twins Charlie and Lacey travel to England to learn about the inheritance left to them by their reclusive great-uncle, they have no idea it will involve ghosts and a potentially fatal curse. (Perhaps they’ve never watched an episode of Scooby-Doo.) Being the oldest male in the family line, Charlie discovers that he’s been passed “the midnight curse,” which will cause him to shrivel up and die if he doesn’t spend each night sleeping in a tub of water – that is, unless he can gather the courage to break the spell by facing a malevolent spirit hiding in the attic. Ruh roh!

Thrills and laughs are carefully balanced in the fourth comic horror novel from L.M. Falcone. While the story leads young readers into the dark world of curses, ghosts, and spells, it leavens the scares with cheap gags, slapstick jokes, and potty humour. And although the gothic cast of characters may seem frightful, the chills in this book lean toward spine-tingling and creepy rather than horrifying and gruesome. Take, for instance, a scene in which Lacey sees two old rocking chairs moving back and forth at the same time … without anyone sitting in them. Things are frequently not what they seem, and the story reminds readers to be careful  about whom they trust.

Falcone creates a sense of urgency by ending most chapters with a suspenseful scene. Charlie and Lacey are in a frantic race against time to remove the curse, and young readers will find it almost impossible not to read just one more chapter before bed.

Despite this consistent high energy, the novel’s ending is much too sudden and clean-cut, cheapening the initial complexities of the plot. A story that features many thrilling twists and turns deserves more than three pages of resolution. Falcone clearly has a talent for suspense, but the weak ending will diminish The Midnight Curse’s impact on readers.