Book Title: The Haunted House on Hollow Hill
Author: Derek Landy
Series: Skulduggery Pleasant
Date Started: October 7th 2024
Date Completed: October 11th 2024
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Adventure, Action
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Star
Final Rating: Four Stars
Review:
I always marvel at how quickly Derek must write for the main series and these spin-offs to come out in such quick succession. I enjoyed the podcast version of this story a lot, but I find it hard to follow audio-only media so decided to read the books as well (I conveniently drifted off to sleep on the episode the killer was revealed so it made both experiences satisfying).
You can tell that the novel has been written for an audio production, the scenes dance around a little unnaturally for prose - but it's also very creative with the sound landscape and design. Of course that makes the podcast version really interesting, but it's also fun to see the way it weaves into the fabric of the narrative even when written.
These little mystery spin-offs are always fun and realised to the point they don't feel gratuitous. Derek is so good at creating new casts of characters, it feels new every time. I also really enjoyed that Valkyrie and Skulduggery are rarely the protagonists but instead feature in someone else's story. It makes the universe all the bigger and exciting.
Ultimately, The Haunted House on Hollow Hill wasn't my favourite instalment in the Skulduggery series (saga, is it big enough to call a saga yet?) but it was still fun, and actually really cool to see them trying new forms of storytelling for the series that make it all the richer.
