An irresistible and bittersweet coming-of-age story in the vein of Stranger Things and Stand by Me about a group of misfit kids who spend an unforgettable summer investigating local ghost stories and urban legends“A celebration of the secret lives of children, both their wonders and their horrors . . . Immensely enjoyable, piercingly clever, and satisfyingly soulful.” -Jason Heller, NPRGrowing up … satisfyingly soulful.” -Jason Heller, NPR
Growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls – a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place – Jake Baker spends most of his time with his uncle Calvin, a kind but eccentric enthusiast of occult artifacts and conspiracy theories. The summer Jake turns twelve, he befriends a pair of siblings new to town, and so Calvin decides to initiate them all into the “Saturday Night Ghost Club.” But as the summer goes on, what begins as a seemingly light-hearted project may ultimately uncover more than any of its members had imagined. With the alternating warmth and sadness of the best coming-of-age stories, The Saturday Night Ghost Club is a note-perfect novel that poignantly examines the haunting mutability of memory and storytelling, as well as the experiences that form the people we become, and establishes Craig Davidson as a remarkable literary talent.
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3.5/5 stars!
We meet Jake as a brain surgeon, talking about memories and how our minds mold and shape them. It’s an excellent framework for a coming of age story, set in Cataract City, (or Niagara Falls to the rest of us.) So let’s get on with it, shall we?
As Jake struggles with school and the inevitable bully he meets brother and sister, Dove and Billy. They all become friends just in time for summer and the stage is set. Enter Uncle C and his weird curiosity shop and his Batphone. From which come calls originating from all over the country about weird and odd sights, happenings, hauntings and so forth. Uncle C and friends set out on Saturday nights to investigate local rumors and legends and everybody has a good time. Until they don’t. What happens during these Saturday night outings? How did things go wrong? You’ll have to read this to see.
I realize that I am one of the few people who didn’t give this book 5 stars. This is why in two words: BOY’S LIFE. It was written by Robert McCammon and it’s my favorite book of all time. I just couldn’t help but compare the two, and BOY’S LIFE always came out ahead. But it’s not just the comparison, it’s the fact that there is a paragraph in this book that even uses some of the same phrases from my favorite quote of all time. That bothered me. It bothered me a lot.
That said, I did enjoy this tale. I found it not only to be nostalgic, as all good coming of age tales are, but I also found it to be poignant and sad. I did enjoy where the story took me, though I did guess, (for the most part), the dark secret that was revealed. I would have liked to have learned more about some of the characters, especially Dove, who had some secrets of her own. But this book was so short, I didn’t feel that I got to know the characters as much as I would have liked.
Perhaps BOY’S LIFE has ruined all coming of age tales for me? Then again, I’m not sure of that, because I have enjoyed a few of them from independent authors lately and they all scored higher than this one for me. Perhaps it was only the similarities between this novel and my favorite book that disallowed me from becoming fully invested? Yeah, that’s the reason I’m going with. Either way, this was a fun, (though poignant), quick read, and I enjoyed it!
Recommended!
*Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
The blurb for this book says that it’s about some kids who spend the summer investigating local urban legends and ghost stories. It mentions the MC’s uncle with whom the MC spends most of his time. And in some places online, the book is compared to Stranger Things. None of these things is accurate. Oh, and you may see the book listed as horror. It’s not.
What really happens is that the summer passes quickly and only 5 local legends are investigated, the MC (Jake) goes long stretches without seeing his Uncle Calvin, and the only comparison that can be made to Stranger Things is that the book is set in the 80s and there are kids who do things.
The very first legend this club investigated was nice and creepy, and I thought it would ramp up from there. Instead, it ramped down. And the characters were limp and/or cliched. The girl felt like such a stereotype, and from the moment she’s introduced, Jake sees her as a goddess…for what reason, I still can’t tell you. Because she’s older, I guess?
Each chapter begins with tales of adult Jake’s life, from stories about his neurosurgeon cases to an account of his son being born. The reception of these parts seems to vary widely from reviewer to reviewer. I could have done without them, especially the too-descriptive explanations about how a brain looks and feels, and what it’s like to do surgery on one.
The “reveal” wasn’t very exciting, and I found it strange that the previous events didn’t all tie together like it seemed like they should (hard to explain what I mean without spoiling). Also, the book is possibly meant to be YA–it depends on where you look, but the MC is 12, after all–but there is some language and references to adult situations.
So clearly this book was a miss for me. I’m not generally one for horror anyway (and the fact that I read it a few days before Halloween is completely coincidence, as I don’t really do Halloween), but I thought it’d be a fun, intriguing read. Instead, I found myself wondering what the point of it was. And though I generally rate lower than the average book reviewer, this is the first book I’ve ever rated 1 star (I gave 1.5 stars once last year). I hate writing a review like this, and I know that the author put a lot of work into the book (as every author does) and that other people really liked it.
If you want a book you can tear through in an afternoon, this one has a short, standard plot that will fit the bill. It’s an 80s coming-of-age story full of the usual tropes that you’ll enjoy for how familiar it feels.
I loved this book!
Not at all what I expected when I started it but still very good.
/ 5
The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson is told from the viewpoint of adult Jake Baker as he reflects on the year he turned twelve. This is a beautiful coming-of-age novel that managed to do a great job of surprising me with how much I loved it.
Adult Jake is a neurosurgeon so some of the book spoke about the brain, which was incredibly fascinating to me and I hope I gleaned some information. Davidson doesn’t waste any words in this book and considering it is only 206 pages that is something to appreciate. I loved twelve-year-old Jake so much and was entranced by his uncle Calvin. Jake learns a lot in his twelfth year, and by the end of the book there were tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. There ended up being a huge punch to this little book and way more emotion than I was expecting.
For those of you that grew up in the 80s (I wasn’t born until ’86) The Saturday Night Ghost Club will probably feel nostalgic as well. Lots of little tidbits that I am too young to really appreciate, but I know a lot of people will. There is of course, all the usual young angst as well – bullies, young love, etc. which anyone can relate to, including me.
Song/s the book brought to mind: Do You Believe in Magic by The Lovin’ Spoonful
Final Thought I have never read a book by Davidson before, but I immediately purchased three books out under his pen name, Nick Cutter. I know they are horror and nothing like The Saturday Night Ghost Club, but I love the way he tells a story and if he writes those as good as he wrote this, he is going to have a longtime fan in me. Y’all need to read this book ASAP and discover the beauty and sadness that is The Saturday Night Ghost Club.
Nostalgic, heartwarming and scary. I loved this book that was a mix of Stand By Me meets Scooby Doo in the best way possible. A Great read.
The Saturday Night Ghost Club is a quick read that throws heart punches at you one moment and has you laughing the next. Jake reminisces about the summer he turned 12 in Niagara Falls, aka Cataract City, in the 1980’s. It’s a coming of age story that is both magical and sad at the same time. Jake’s Uncle Calvin, aka Uncle C, is a little eccentric. After Jake and him meet Billy, Uncle C decides they should form a Saturday Night Ghost Club. After all, their are ghosts and urban legends in Cataract City. It’s lovely and sad at the same time as Jake comes to learn things he never knew about his Uncle C. Happy Reading
You may think this is YA, but it’s not. YA readers would enjoy it but it has a present-day frame from the perspective of the main character, all grown up, looking back on a strange childhood. It has scary bits but nothing too scary (the urban legends that we all grew up on), and the rest is poignant, insightful, beautifully written and yet an easy read.
This beautiful story has secured a place in my favorite reads of 2018. I cannot recommend it enough.