Really enjoyed this one, a great middlegrade book. Some plot holes in parts but with this being middlegrade this is not too mjuch of a problem. A really fun, spooky read!

4.5 rounded up to 5.

There’s a new craze at Dread Wood High. Flinch is a game of fear. The more you scare your friends, the more points on the app you get. At first it’s fun, but soon fun is replaced by fear. And Angelo and his friends notice that everyone is behaving more and more strangely every day – almost as if something is taking over their brains…
With the fair arriving in town, adrenaline and excitement levels are high. But who are the people behind the super-creepy clown masks? With fights breaking out and Flinch in full force, it’s time for the final showdown at the Fear Ground. Let the REAL games begin!

The next book in the Dread Wood instalment did not disappoint! It was great being back at Dread Wood High with our band of unlikely heroes, anticipating their next face off with the terrifying Latchitts.

Filled with tension, suspense and humour Killick has created another exiting and fun novel that has the right amount of scare-factor; I know that I will never be able to listen to the innocent ‘pop goes the weasel’ nursery rhyme the same again.

Creepy clowns, apoplectic chickens and a whole lot of heart, this book was a fantastic sequel and I just can’t wait to get stuck into book three.

Dread Wood High has a new challenge going around: the game Flinch. Scare your friends and get points on the app. But soon, Angelo and his friends notice that everyone playing the app is behaving more and more strangely…almost as if they are turning into some sort of zombies. And a fair is arriving in town! Circus clowns are everywhere and fear is the name of the game.

Jennifer Killick can certainly write a scary story. Dread Wood: Fear Ground is full of chilling scenes, suspense and events that left me with goosebumps. Clowns are definitely scary, everyone knows that and including them in a game that is designed to make people jump makes them even scarier! Jennifer is so good at writing a story that is simultaneously scary, but entirely appropriate for a younger audience. This will scare adults and children alike, but I’d feel totally comfortable giving these stories to Year 5 and up. Some great edge of your seat moments throughout!

The cast of characters are once more fantastic and realistic - Jennifer has this great way of writing a cast of characters without making any of them seem left out and also, making the children seem just like actual children! I feel like the group have grown up a little since their first adventure and they feel like they’re more able to handle criticism and just seem more morally aware than they did initially. No spoilers here, but some very spooky bad guys are involved and you’ll seriously find yourself rooting for the misfits to win!

A chilling fast paced tale - don’t flinch! 5 out of 5 stars.

FEAR GROUND is another creepy horror story from the queen of MG horror.

If you thought hide and seek could be dull, this book introduces a new version called Flinch that is anything but dull. Everyone is hider and seeker at once, trying to scare others with the creepy addition of the Pop Goes the Weasel song. We open with a tense game of it, and its involvement in the book only gets more sinister as unexplained events happen during it.

The book remains on school property though using it in a very different way, referencing the previous book and keeping some of the themes, but still feeling like it's own thing. A slightly-overused school with leaking taps and scuffed floors? It's both so banal a setting (most of us can see our schools in it) and yet unsettling at the same time. The use of the fair at the end was very good. I loved how apocalyptic it all went, the chaos set against a slightly sketchy, neon-light fairground.

The DREAD WOOD series is, in some places, billed as a comedy-horror series, and that is completely true. It has the right mix of nope-out scares, grossness, and humour. You're flinching and going "nope nope nope" at the various schemes of the villains, but also chuckling at Gus' comments and endless enthusiasm.

I really appreciate this. I have a very low scare bar, particularly with the grosser/body horror side of things (which this series does include. The worms? UGH! *shudders*) Having a mix of comedy and horror here gives you space to be scared but also recover a little before the next sequence, moderating just how tense you can get (and then making the next jump worse than if it had come immediately after the previous.)

I'd forgotten how funny the teacher Mr Canton was with his determined (but not entirely correct) slang usage. There is always one teacher who tries to "speak like the kids" and fails in the most cringey way, and that is Mr Canton. The nice thing is you can see how much he truly cares for the students and I love seeing good teachers in books.

There are at least two more DREAD WOOD books to come, and the next one is out very soon...

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Fear Ground is a clever, exciting and fast paced story. I had not read the first book in the series but it didn’t matter as the references to the first book enable this to standalone and make sense. This is the perfect story for those who enjoy being scared and it will certainly keep you on the edge of your seat, but Killick has pitched it perfectly and it is full of her trademark humour.

I really enjoyed this book. I don't usually read middle grade-ya, it's usually more YA fantasy, so wasn't sure what to expect but it was really good considering the age range it was created for.

A really good goosebumps read. My 7 yo find it a bit grown up at first but soon he got into the story and really enjoy it. I would definitely read more from this author.

I have to admit that I didn’t love this as much as book one, though maybe that was because I wasn’t a huge fan of the narrator. The concept of the flinch app was interesting, but it seemed a little random. It wasn’t really explained how they all got involved in the app int the first place. That being said, it was still a really fun read with the characters that we know and love from DREAD WOOD.

The relationships between the characters was much more established than before and I liked that where we saw them as awkward acquaintances in book one, but now we got to see them as close-knit friends, bonded over everything that happened in DREAD WOOD. Colette is a brilliant addition to their little team, and the fact that they started calling themselves Club Loser? I literally love it. These kids are so smart and creative and I really enjoy the way that they solve problems using each of their strengths.

The bad guys in this whole series really skeeve me out. They give me the creeps so bad and are the perfect level of creepy for a middle-grade book. I can’t wait to read book 3 because I need to see them get their comeuppance. They deserve all of the worst things in the world, I swear.

We had a revisit of biological horror in FEAR GROUND and it was just as awful and gross as in DREAD WOOD (though thankfully there weren’t any more horrible mutant spiders) and the way that the tension builds up throughout the book is incredible. I was so keyed up by the end of the story in a way that I don’t usually get from middle-grade horror. I really do love Jennifer Killick’s writing and I can’t wait to read more.

Another great middle grade horror story from one of my favourite children's authors. It's a perfect follow on from Dread Wood, reuniting a cast of characters that I really loved from the first book. The story has a great pace and has the perfect level of horror, tempered by great dialogue and humour. It was good to see the return of the awful caretakers, genuinely chilling bad guys. What makes this work most are the characters. They all have their own skills, strengths and weaknesses that make this come together so well. Brilliant!

A fantastic sequel to Dread Wood. Angelo and the gang are back and things are just getting stranger. A new game called Flinch has everyone out to scare each other, but who is behind the game and what are their motives?

It was great to revisit the Dread Wood gang for another spooky adventure. It's difficult to say too much without giving things away, so I won't! A great MG read.

An exceptional sequel to Dread Wood and firmly placing Jennifer Killick as the Queen of MG Horror. Her writing is sublime, building the events up and into terrifying scenes of almost cinematic descriptions. I could see her books becoming a series or movie. The characters are always well written, relatable and likeable and her ability to weave their relationships together is exceptional,

The detention gang are back and their friendships firmly cemented after the events that fateful Saturday. The one that ensured a certain song would instill fear in the hearts of readers.

Unfortunately a new game has taken the school by storm and the consequences are dire. Actually, another song will be playing in your mind as you read this scary book. Every time students get a notification on their phone, the game has begun and it is all about scaring those around you before they scare you,

The gang also believe their arch nemesis to be back- the super villains The Luckitts. Not satisfied with their first efforts, the couple are back with new plans to take down those who hurt their granddaughter. Think mind controlling, fair ground freak outs and danger like they have never known before.

Utterly terrifying, read this with the lights on!

The queen of children’s horror strikes again. I don’t know how she does it but everything Jennifer Killick writes is a massive hit.

With a new game sweeping Dead Wood High School, the whole school is on edge. Angelo, Gustav, Hallie and Naira are dragged back into another spine chilling adventure when the games of Flinch seem to be getting out of hand.

When two mysterious clowns turn up in the Dead Wood during a match, the whole group (plus their new friend Colette) begin to unravel the new strange goings on in town. Are there new enemies to face or have their previous foes returned? Can Club Loser solve it before pop goes the weasel?

The characters in Fear Ground feel familiar but also different. They have all come out of the events of Dread Wood with a new look on life, righting the wrongs that landed them in detention that fateful Saturday. With the character of Colette being brought into the fold, the dynamics are changing and the added stress of Flinch just a nursery rhyme away, tensions build and friendships are tested.

Fear Ground was the perfect read to kick start spooky season and of course, Queen Jennifer Killick delivered in truck loads of bone-chilling horror.

Link to publisher
Published by: Farshore, 1st September 2022

Following on from her Alex Sparrow series and Crater Lake and Crater Lake Evolution, Jennifer Killick brings us the second of her Dread Wood books, Fear Ground. Unlike Spooked: The Theatre Ghosts, this very much brings the fear factor from the start so grab a blanket, or a friend, turn the lights on (or off if you're brave enough) and prepare some some hair-raising, spine-chilling action.

When creepy game, Flinch, becomes the new craze at Dread Wood High, everyone is keen to join in the fun, including Angelo and his gang. But soon the fun turns to fear when everyone starts acting strangely. Who are the faces behind the clown masks and what is going to happen at the fair? Things might be about to come to a head...

For me, Jennifer Killick raises the game, and the goosebumps, with every book. Already familiar with the characters and setting, this one hooked me in from page one. It's everything you want in a horror novel; fast-paced, chilling and yet perfectly balanced with teen friendship and banter.

The set-up works really well. Set in the same school with the same characters as book one, the plot is completely different and yet there is a follow-on, which any new readers could latch on to fairly quickly. The fair adds a new dimension and definitely ups the fear-factor making it a brilliant read for Halloween. The writing and dialogue is addictive as always, also making it the perfect for binge reading in one sitting.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Farshore for allowing me a review copy.

I'm well over the target age but I read this book in one setting, found it quite creepy at times, and loved it.
Great atmosphere and characters, a gripping plot.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I am a huge fan of Jennifer Killick, who is one of the best Middle Grade horror writers around and have previously reviewed Crater Lake (book one and two) and the original Dread Wood, all of which I highly recommend. Fear Ground features the same characters who met during Saturday detention in the original Dread Wood and picks up the same story some months later whilst the kids are still in Year Seven (first year of secondary school). Dread Wood is the forest which surrounds their remotely located school and in the first book the children are stalked by the nasty school caretakers who are up to no good. Although it is not apparent at the start, Fear Ground is more connected to Dread Wood than you might originally think and it might have worked better as a standalone mystery rather all the references to the previous book. If anything, it might have worked better if the ‘baddie’ in this book had nothing to do with its predecessor, but that was not the case.

The initial idea of the book was great, there’s a new craze at Dead Wood High concerning a new computer app called ‘Flinch’. The game is connected to fear and making other kids also playing the game jump. At first it’s fun, but soon fun is replaced by fear. But soon the kids notice that everyone is behaving a little bit more strangely every day, almost as if something is possessing them. Adult readers might start thinking of The Demon Headmaster, but what happens is much nastier than hypnotism! Although the visiting fair features prominently on the cover and title, it does not actually play that big a part in the story. Soon Flinch gets very real and excitement turns to fear. I liked the idea of Flinch but thought it might have worked better if disconnected from book one, but ultimately the strongest element of the book was the characters, their banter and the acceptance of Collette to the group. There is lots to enjoy here for young horror fans. AGE RANGE 9/10+

Freaky Smartphone app...check

Creepy clown masks...check

Parasitic critters...check

Hypnotic nursery rhymes on repeat...check!


The Queen of Middle Grade horror has done it again! Jennifer Killick has delivered another compulsive page-turner of a book to be devoured in one sitting. This one will get so under your skin it will have you squirming throughout!

The 'Flinch' app craze has swept through the students of Dread Wood High. The more you scare your friends, the more points on the app you get. At first it's fun, but soon fun is replaced by fear - especially when most rounds seem to start in the eerie Dread Wood, where the teens were forced to defeat killer spiders in the previous instalment of the horror series.

Angelo and the rest of the 'Club Loser' gang notice that everyone is behaving more and more strangely every day - almost as if something is taking over their brains. And then there's the freaky app notification tune, nursery rhyme 'Pop Goes the Weasel...' when the music plays, players are powerless to resist its control.

The teens don't want to believe it but everything points to their old nemesis, creepy caretakers turned mad scientists The Latchitts and this time, they've unleashed parasitic worms into the world - it is so totally gross!

Angelo, Gus, Naira, Hallie and Collette set about to try and find a way to bring the deadly duo down, but once the Latchitts discover they're onto them, Club Loser is in grave danger. They'll stop at nothing until their evil master plan is complete. The gang find themselves in several spine-chilling situations but the chapter in the girls' toilets was so freaky!

Adrenaline and excitement levels reach fever pitch when the fair arrives in town. But with the vast majority of Dread Wood under the control of the app, chaos quickly ensues. Fights break out and the final showdown at the Fear Ground is is an absolute nail-biter of a finale.

Returning to Dread Wood High and being reunited with Angelo and the Club Loser gang felt so good, not to mention the force of nature that is geography teacher Mr Canton. Gus and Mr C are without a doubt my two favourite characters - they are both absolutely hilarious, (if not a little hapless!) Jennifer totally nails the perfect balance of horror and humour and her teen characters are totally on-point.

I cannot wait for book 3!

I didn't realise when I requested this it was second in a series. I read the first one first before this and I'm glad I did its definitely needed to fully understand this one. I really enjoyed both of the books very well written Middle Grade horror looking forward to reading these with my son.

Thank you to Netgalley, Farshore and Jennifer Killick for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest Review

This was great! It really pulled me in, wanting to know more about what would happen in this book and what had happened in the previous book that I now need to read. It's billed as "perfect for fans of Goosebumps", but I enjoyed this far more than any Goosebumps.

The characters are well-drawn and bring a full sense of their personality. The chill factor is quite high, throughout the story, which is just what you need from a Middle Grade horror book. It's all believable enough to really make you think about what could possibly happen, even though it's fiction.

A few less Urban Dictionary words would have got the rating up to 5*. I'm not sure it's possible for someone to say the word "skills" with a z!

A few months have passed since the end of book 1 (Dread Wood) and, although things have been quiet, there is a new game that the students at Dread Wood High are playing: Flinch. The game begins when the app alerts everyone by playing the beginning of Pop Goes the Weasel; it then pauses, at which point all players try to scare others around them in order to make them 'flinch' and claim points before the end of the song rings out. As the days progress, the Angelo and his friends (Club Loser) begin to realise that everyone seems to be behaving more unusually than normal, including Hallie's chicken. With the arrival of the fair at Finches Green, things are hotting up ... but Club Loser also have to face mysterious people in creepy clown masks - who are they? What is going on with the app? And can Club Loser get to the bottom of things before it's too late?
I love Jennifer's books and she rightly deserves her crown as the queen of MG horror so I was very excited to have a NetGalley copy of Fear Ground to enjoy (I also had my teddy to keep me company and began reading the book in day light - yes, I am a coward!). From the very beginning when the game is explained, the book is chilling and it doesn't let up with a round of the game being played in chapter one. I have to say that I would be terrible at playing Flinch, as I couldn't even remain calm whilst reading the book (I jumped at both the door bell and my mobile in the first 30 minutes of reading the book). However, in amongst the nail biting bits, there are funny moments that made me chuckle and I particularly enjoyed Mr Canton's character and his cringeable attempts to be cool - he may just be my favourite character and, despite his failed attempts to be 'down with the kids', his heart is always in the right place and he really looks out for Club Loser.

It was lovely to be back with Angelo, Hallie, Gus and Naria, and also to get to know Colette more. Jennifer is brilliant at creating believable characters with dialogue that feels very real.

Jennifer really has done it again with Fear Ground and readers will delight in both the scare and the humour which are perfectly balanced. This book will make you cringe, it will make you squirm and it will most definitely make you flinch. You have been warned!