Friday Freak Out: Giving You the Creepiest and the Freakiest

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Synopsis: Monsters are real. Will Henry is the orphan apprentice of a doctor with an unusual specialty: monstrumology, the study of monsters. When a midnight visitor brings them the body of a young girl entwined with the corpse of an Anthropophagus, it is the start of the most mysterious case of Will Henry's life. Anthropophagi are headless monsters whose razor-sharp teeth are int heir stomachs--and they are supposed to be extinct in this part of the world. Now Will and the monstrumologist are in a race against time to put a stop to the plague of monsters before they kill again.

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It sounds as freaky as it is. The Monstrumologist sounded good when I read it for school, but I didn't think that it would be so in depth. It's told in a diary (I would suggest that you read the prologue). I mean that it's based on a diary of the old Will Henry.

The beginning was mild with nothing but telling you the life of Will Henry and how he got to be with Dr. Warthrop. As the book progresses, you learn more of the doctor and more of Will Henry, but it also becomes more descriptive and had be covering my mouth in imaginative disgust as Will Henry explained the kill of the Anthropophagi and some of the things Dr. Warthrop does.

The book is broken up into three Folios, one for each diary that the old Will Henry has. Folio One is explaining Will Henry's life and the finding of the Anthropophagi and how Dr. Warthrop perceives the threat. Folio Two is more about what's going to happen when killing the Anthropophagi and new characters are brought in to show not only the dangers of the Anthropophagi, but also who will help Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop kill them off. And finally, Folio Three is how they kill the Anthropophagi. And oh my goodness, it was descriptive. Yancey describes everything with clarity and doesn't leave a single detail out. Which is good...and bad. It makes everything better for memory, but harsher on your stomach.

I didn't think the end came as a surprise to me, but I did think that Will Henry becomes a lot more brave at the end of this novel.  You see him more as a growing boy with more to discover rather than a young boy who is afraid. But the last chapter, towards the end, I was shocked and you learn how Will Henry comes to live so long.

Over all, this was a good read if you like horror stories. The plot was so cool and I was amazed at how Yancey could come up with this story. It kept me on edge the entire time and I literally thought that I was living in the world of Will Henry. The details were overwhelming at times, especially during the more gruesome parts of the book, but I never thought I was drowning in details. This is an excellent read and is one of the scariest books I have ever read. Also, it's 454 pages long so I recommend that if you want to read a really long book and have time to read a very long book, this would be great for you.

The Cover: Um, did you notice the skulls in the blue sky? They're more prominent in the picture up there, but on the book, they're not that prominent. I was looking on the back, and I saw the sequel, The Curse of the Wendigo, and I saw a wendigo's face, and I thought, Hmm, I wonder if this book has a picture. And it did. Of skulls! That made the book only slightly more creepy. And as you've noticed, I've added alternative covers and I am so glad I have the cover I have. Scary, right?

If you read The Monstrumologist and can't wait for another gruesome adventure with Will Henry, pick up The Curse of the Wendigo, another chilling read.