Myk: horror for children?
Scotland, mountains, an old, gloomy castle and Johnny – a teenager who sees, hears and feels a lot. The protagonist, however, does not feel so well in the house that has been owned by his family for over nine hundred years. While his classmate Russell Moore envies him living in the mansion, Johnny regrets that he cannot live peacefully without paranormal phenomena. And yes, I forgot about the most important thing – haunted by a Scottish castle: he is haunted by various ghosts, which are a nuisance for the title character. Only on the day when he finds a human skull in the nearby quagmire, belonging to Erasmus von Rothenburg and remembering many events from the past, a light appears in the tunnel – this object, a remnant of a human, turns out to be quite communicative and can help the protagonist get rid of dangerous ghosts from his mansion.
A hero with destiny
The John Sinclair series is one of the most widely read in the German-speaking community. The author – Jason Dark – has created over 2,000 novels, with a total circulation of over 250 million copies. While the legendary ghost hunter John Sinclair is remembered as a bright, infallible hero, Johnny is only taking his first steps in the profession. In the novel, you will be surprised not only by the talking skull, but also by the large ouija board with the alphabet, numbers, the words “yes”, “no”, “end”, “thank you”, “I’m leaving”, which is used by the heroes to summon ghosts. Besides there are graves, rest in peace, secrets, Mr. Death, musty smell, crypts, howling phantoms, pentagrams, old books about knights, and even … highlanders and Christopher Columbus! In addition – what is a bit funny – the title character wonders what his (almost) namesake and great idol, the famous ghost buster John Sinclair would do in a given situation! He also reminds the reader that the cult ghost hunter used Buddy’s stick, a whip for demons and a gnostic gem (he recalls, among others, the book Ghostbuster John Sinclair – The Ghostly Swamp Beasts ). Johnny could only dream of such a weapon.
Visually
Johnny Sinclair’s book . Occupation: Ghost hunterhas been enriched with a hard, aesthetically made cover. On the cover we see the title character with a lantern in his hand. In the background there is a city, a castle and bats, which increases the mood of terror. The sticker deserves separate praise – one summarizes the history of Johnny’s family (family portraits, paintings with animals, visualization of the castle), the other is a map showing the places visited by the heroes of the novel. The illustrations, also appearing between the chapters, are the responsibility of Mareikje Vogler (a masterpiece!), And the translation – Urszula Pawlik. The story about Johnny Sinclair is another of the author’s bestsellers (earlier she published stories about the tiny apple witch Petronela from the Apple Orchard), which distinguishes the place of action: Scotland (Blacktooth, Churchmoore, Greyman Castle …).
