Meddling kids

Was this a good horror book? Eh, not really. Was it a good mystery book? Nah. Action/thriller? Kinda..

But boy was it a whole lot of fun. Taking the Scooby Doo themes, turning them on their head, and making a "gritty adult" satire out of them ended up working perfectly for me. If you take any moment to critically think about the mystery elements of this book, it falls apart. But I don't think you're supposed to scrutinize this the way you might a Stuart Turton book. Its just supposed to be fun, and it was! I found the characters to be wonderful and charming, if a bit of a caricature of themselves. The story was engaging but a bit all over the place. But who cares. At the end of the day, I just liked it.

My notes: anaulin.org/blog/book-notes-meddling-kids/

Amusing enough at the start, but by the end the humour started to get a bit old.

DNF at 63%. It's a fun idea and I want to like it, but the writing style wore me down.

Strong start, but it didn't stick the landing. The final act was weak and rife with tactless tropes.

It's like that night when you maybe did a little too much of that jingle jangle and ended up watching a Scooby Do marathon. The dreams that came later were dark and twisted and somehow inhabited by necromancers and those who must not be named.

For those of us who grew up with the stars aligned correctly, this will be a barrel roll of fun. Playful riffs on the pop culture of your youth.

Do you like Scooby-Doo? Of course you do, it's a classic TV show. But we all know it was missing something: Necromancy. Fortunately, Edgar Cantero's Meddling Kids corrects that obvious oversight. Negotiating the fine line between self-indulgent ironic/meta spoof/homage and straight horror-comedy, Meddling Kids is an absolute blast to read.

This Scooby-Doo-meets-Lovecraft tale reads more like a screenplay, but its cinematic action and bizarre humor will please fans of John Dies at the End and Cabin in the Woods, leaving readers craving a sequel like a Scooby Snack.