The Devouring / by Simon Holt.

Title :

The Devouring

Author:

Holt, Simon.

Format:

Books

Summary:

The existence of Vours, supernatural creatures who feast on fear and attack on the eve of the winter solstice, becomes a terrifying reality for fifteen-year-old Reggie when she begins to suspect that her timid younger brother might be one of their victims.

Language:

English

Audience:

HL 670 Lexile.

ISBN - ISSN:

9780316035736

0316035734

Physical Description:

231 pages ; 22 cm.

Subject:

Fear -- Fiction.

Brothers and sisters -- Fiction.

Supernatural -- Fiction.

Fear -- Juvenile fiction.

Brothers and sisters -- Juvenile fiction.

Series:

First Title value, for Searching:

The Devouring / by Simon Holt.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Audience	Home Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Central	Teen/Young Adult	Open Stacks Fiction	Open Stacks Teen Book	HOLT	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

"When dark creeps in and eats the light,
Bury your fears on Sorry Night.
For in the winter's blackest hours,
Comes the feasting of the Vours,
No one can see it, the life they stole,
Your body's here but not your soul..."

THE VOURS: Evil, demonic beings that inhabit human bodies on Sorry Night, the darkest hours of the winter solstice.

When Reggie reads about the Vours in a mysterious old journal, she assumes they are just the musings of an anonymous lunatic. But when her little brother, Henry, begins to act strangely, it's clear that these creatures exist beyond a madwoman's imagination, and Reggie finds out what happens when fears come to life.

To save the people she loves, Reggie must learn to survive in a world of nightmares. Can she devour her own fears before they devour her?

The Devouring is an engrossing tale of terror that will have you wondering: what if your worst fears became your living nightmare?

Author Notes

Simon Holt's writing career began with a horror fanzine in high school, the publishing of which overheated the school's photocopier. Undaunted by after-school detention, he's continued writing ever since. Holt supported himself as a hotel night clerk and a handbag salesman before becoming a full-time novelist. A comic book collector and amateur musician, he makes his home in Chicago.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 7 Up-Comparable to books by R. L. Stine and Stephen King, The Devouring will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Reggie is a horror fanatic. When she finds a journal in a box of used books at the bookstore where she works, she "borrows" it. It tells of the Vours, black smokelike beings that possess humans who can't conquer their fear on Sorry Night (the eve of the winter solstice). Reggie and her friend Aaron attempt to make the Vours materialize but instead they possess her little brother. In a fight to the death, Reggie joins the battle of humanity against the Vours. This story contains classic elements of the genre: a horrific monster, fusion (where two different entities are fused into one), and the process of discovery. The book has some graphic content, blood, and gore, which only add to the chills. A must-have for horror fans.-June H. Keuhn, Corning East High School, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

"When the dark creeps in and eats the light, / Bury your fears on Sorry Night," begins this creepy tale that reads like A Nightmare on Elm Street with a dollop of demonic possession. Reggie Halloway, a mousy girl and avid horror fan, discovers a strange journal while working at an occult bookstore. Upon investigation, she learns about the Vours, horrific demons who feed on fear and take over the body, morphing its host into a cold, cruel creature. When, as a prank, Reggie and her friend Aaron attempt to summon a Vour, things go horribly awry and a Vour takes over the body of her little brother, Henry. Reggie then must battle the Vours to try to get her brother's soul back into his body. In this introductory volume, cinematic in its scope, Holt borrows conventions from many horror films, including a Stygian carnival complete with killer clowns and dreams in which injuries can manifest themselves in the real world. A scary yarn spun at breakneck speed, perfect for those chilly winter nights. (Horror. 14 & up) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.