Review: On The Day I Died by Candace Fleming

Published: November 2014

Pages: 208

Synopsis: “You over there –

come a little closer.

Closer still; there’s no need to be shy.

We have tales of terrors beyond your wildest nightmares; stories of monsters, madness, the dark and the dangerous. The dead have voices, and we need to be heard.

Settle down, sit tight.

We’re going to be here all night.”

Rating: **

When Mike encounters a ghost on his way home one evening he finds himself in a graveyard where an assortment of teenagers have been buried over the years. Each chapter of the book is then the death story of a particular teenager. This was an interesting way of setting out a book and although not scary, I don't think it would have worked using any other genre. There were a good mix of time frames from 1870 to 2012 and it was interesting to see how the author adapted her writing style (particularly dialogue) for each time period. This was most evident in the 2012 death story as there were many references to modern culture and modern way of life.

The main reason for the lack of stars was because this wasn’t scary, which seemed to me to have been the main purpose of the book. But it was well written and a quick read, possibly as a bridge between the likes of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps and more adult horror novels.