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Title: Children of the Hill

Author Jennifer McMahon

Score (1 to 6): 6

The monsters are real. That's a line I never wanted to hear as a kid, and even now. "Children of the Hill" by Jennifer McMahon, however, makes the story come alive between the pages as I read. It all begins in 1978 in a Vermont clinic where psychiatrist Dr. Helen Hilder (aka Grandma) is caring for her grandchildren, Violet and Eric. She taught them how to care for their pets, giving them the love and care they needed. One day, Dr. Hylder brings in a strange girl named Iris. A silent, strange child. Despite her differences, Iris is welcomed into Violet and Eric's secret club. They chase strange animals and describe them in a book. Thus Iris, from a withdrawn child, begins to become more and more self-confident. The children begin to have fun together, and gather at the house in the woods to prepare for the next wonder animal hunt.

Everything told so far in the story of the book is a wonderful story, and most people will say they don't see anything scary, on the contrary. It's a story about a child who was trapped inside himself but found friends and came out of his shell. Sounds great, but this book holds a lot more awesome stuff than the generalized. Scary, but awesome.

Gradually, in between games and monster hunts, we are transported to the not-so-distant year of 2019. Or as they say in the movies, "present day". Lizzie Shelley is a podcast host. She comes across a story about a girl kidnapped in a town near Vermont. Rumor has it that a mysterious being is behind the disappearance. Locals tell of mysteries. Lizzie gets on the case, but the more she finds out, the more it becomes clear that maybe the monsters are real. That in the woods of Vermont, something is indeed hiding among the shadows, and it's only a matter of time before we find out what it is. "Children of the Hill is a book inspired by Mary Shelley's masterpiece Frankenstein. The queen of scary stories, Jennifer McMahon, explores the mysteries of childhood and the evils perpetrated by the monsters in our midst.