Five children spot a flash of light in the sky and head into the woods to investigate. Can they save their town from a deadly invasion...?
Shiver Point: It Came From The Woods is the first book in a new children's series aimed at ages 9-12. I was transported back to my tween and teen years when I devoured Point Horror books and can't wait to share with my own kids in the lead up to Halloween.
Alex is struggling to adjust to his new town. His mum is working long hours and he is lonely as he has made no friends. One night he spots a light streaking through the sky and hopes to find something valuable so his mum can stop working and spend time with him. In the woods he finds 4 other children who have followed the light trail and their friendship offers hims something just as treasured.
Each of the children is unique and a misfit at school. They represent a range of ethnicities and family dynamics. Their strength as a team comes from their unity despite their differences. The dedication to their family, their community and each other drive them to be brave.
The slimy slugs and creepy atmosphere are sinister and without being too scary. As an introduction to the horror genre, this is pretty much perfect. Obviously I am a middle aged woman (42 ?! :( ) so not the intended audience but I can see the appeal for younger audiences and there is a good level of spookiness and unease.
Shiver Point: It Came From The Woods is an entertaining and engaging horror story for children.

A good fun read perfect for ages 9-12!

Reminded me of a goosebumps story, a creepy (I'll never look at slugs the same way again!), eerie, engaging & full of mystery with a good heart (the gang of kids are fab).

I look forward to reading book two!

Loved it. Lovely quick read and I enjoyed all the spooky elements. Can't wait to read the next book in the series. I've also been recommending it to all my friends with kids and will be buying it as presents.

This was so much fun and filled with spooky suspense. It was a middle grade version of Invasion of the Bodysnatchers and I loved it. Dylan casts a band of unlikely heroes set against an alien foe to save their little town of Shiver Point. Filled with great messages about friendship, diversity and belonging this was a fantastic read!

Perfect - children will lap this story up with its spooky sci-fi tales. Thank goodness we are getting some more books to recommend to 'Goosebumps fans'! It is really short too so great for reluctant readers. Recommend to fans of Jennifer Killick.

I'm sure about the children tag but I'm sure this is a hell of great horror with the right level of frightening moments and lovely and well developed characters.
Well written, great world building, a lot of fun.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Shiver point is a brilliant scary (but not too scary) horror story with a dash of science fiction. I myself tend not to read straight out horror stories - as I get scared too easily - however this was just the right amount of fear and thrill for upper KS2.

Alex moved to Shiver Point because of his mum’s work. It definitely wasn’t his choice. He finds making friends difficult and doesn’t want to try incase him and his mum have to move again.

One night a meteorite falls into Howelmoor Forest and Alex goes to investigate. He meets Oli, Sophia, Mo and Riley, children from his class also seeking out the meteorite. Soon strange things begin to happen in the town and the group of unlikely friends try to figure the mystery out. The group work together to save their town.

Dylan builds tension throughout the story wonderfully and takes the reader on a thrilling ride!

One thing I love about middle grade books is the pace. I flew through this book. This is one of those books where I can’t talk about what I loved without going into spoiler territory so I won’t but if you enjoy goosebumps then give this book a try! Can’t wait for the next book

Read with my 12 and 10 year old they enjoyed it. They were glad to read it with Mum in parts as the tension builds. Though it was more of an investigation than actual scary - if that makes sense. I mean nothing EVER happens in Shiver Point!
There was plenty of well placed humour and references to those 'bygone eras' along the way, perfect for me (mum) and for my boys.
Nice characters. Good read. Look forward to the next one.

I was quite excited to read this as the students in my Library love this genre and are screaming out for alternatives to Goosebumps series.

I personally found this a little slow and not the best however I think for a younger audience they would appreciate it more and view it as faster paced.

At time the book does refer to some “Classic” films which I don’t think many of the book’s target audience would be aware of so that is a bit confusing.

The book seemed to centre around Alex, a 12 year old boy but did bring in some other key people however I struggled to form a bond with any of them. Having said that I am likely to read the next book in the series to see if that changes.

Oh this was a fun read, and a bit scary too. I sat on the sofa under a blanket and listened ,and jumped, at every creak in the house. I was almost too scared to sleep. Honestly though it was a good book that I might share with the grandchildren.

I think this story will be popular with fans of Goosebumps.
One night new-kid-in-town Alex sees a bright light in the neighbouring wood and dreaming of finding a valuable meteorite fragment that could be his ticket out of the town, he rushes into the woods. Unfortunately he is not the first kid in the woods that night looking for something similar. More unfortunately it’s not a meteorite that has crashed into the woods but something far more sinister.
This book has a great plot, fast-action (after the initial build-up to get the kids together), and some genuinely creepy moments. I really love body-snatcher stories, and the plot in this book works well. I liked how a group of disparate kids came to work together, although I found the characters a little stereotyped (I did like Oli though). My enjoyment of the book however was marred by some head-hopping and some ‘telling’, particularly in the second half of the book. However I don’t think middle grade readers will mind as much as me, and the horror fans among them are sure to enjoy it.

I've read a lot of childrens horror. I dont know that i can count this among it. It really wasn't scary at all (and i read kids horror because i often find it creepier than adult horror!), the story was very obvious, the aliens reminded me too much of the Yeerks from the Animorphs books (which i love) and there were tons of characters, but none of them really had much to make them stand out. yes they had their 'traits' like the smart kid or the screw up, but it was all very generic, rinse and repeat formula i've seen before.
nothing made this book stand out to me. I made it to the end, but only because it was so short and i wanted to see if maybe there would be a big twist to redeem it, but sadly there wasn't.

This is a really short book at around an hour and a half’s read, however, it packs a lot in!

In short, it’s about a kid who loves to Shiver Point with his mum when she relocates for work. He’s not made friends at school yet and doesn’t want to as he already has friends back home - where he is desperate to go back to. He thinks Shiver Point is boring, but things very quickly show that it’s not at all….and maybe he will make friends whilst trying to work out what on Earth is going on!

Fast paced and loads of fun! I can’t wait for the next book!

My thanks to Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK for the advance copy in exchange for an hour review

Alex isn't happy!  His mum's job was relocated to a new town, miles away from all his friends and she works nights! Even with a name like Shiver Point it's a boring place where nothing ever happens at least that was the case, but now, well things might have just changed and not necessarily for the best!

Investigating what he thinks might be a meteorite plummeting towards nearby Howlmoor Forest sends Alex headfirst into an adventure nothing could have prepared him for, but at least, suddenly, he's no longer alone. Four other pupils at his new school also headed to the forest that night and now they have to work together or Shiver Point might just become everyone's worst nightmare!

Although this is the first Shiver Point novel it didn't read that way. Within just a couple of chapters the main protagonists were familiar and although a little stereotypical in personality were original enough to rise above that. Alex also doesn't dominate the storyline, which is a little obvious in places, but instead serves to help the reader become familiar with the town and its residents at the same time as him.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. I never read scary books as a child but my kids read Goosebumps and I would definitely recommend this to my grandchildren and others aged 10+.

Shiver Point: it Came From The Woods by Gabriel Dylan is the first in a horror series for 9 -12 year olds which follows a group of unlikely friends solving creepy goings on in the town of Shiver Point. Our protagonist Alex is a typical grumpy 12 year old who is annoyed at the world for being made to move town due to his mother’s job. This gave me major Eerie Indiana vibes, a welcome bit of nostalgia that put me in the right mindset for reading a book aimed at kids.

Alex goes to investigate some mysterious happenings in the brilliantly named Howlmoor Forest and so starts our story, we meet the ragtag gang who are thrown together by chance and left with no choice but to become friends and save Shiver Point. Just on the right side of spooky so as not to give nightmares, we are thrown into a world of latchkey kids, graveyard treehouses and a trip to the sewers.

Throughout the short pacy chapters I was impressed with Dylan’s ability use an authentic voice for his characters, their points of reference and language could have come directly from the mouth of my partners 10 year old and there were also some great references to classic movies which may go over the heads of the target audience at the moment but will plant the seeds for budding fans of horror.

It’s this generations Goosebumps and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Shiver Point and would be happy to go back to visit.

Since Alex has been forced to move to Shiver Point because of his mum's work, the pace has only been boring. Anyway, Alex doesn't want to make friends or get too involved in case they have to move again.
Until one night, what looks like a meteorite falls in the nearby woods.

As he goes to investigate, Alex meets four other children - Oli, Sophia, Mo and Riley. Together they discover something much more extraordinary than they ever dreamed, and far more dangerous. They will have to work together to save the town's people from being reduced to slaves... or food!

Gabriel Dylan is truly a master of slowly building up the tension until he reveals the raw, horrifying truth. Shiver Point is a thrilling ride but be prepared to get very scared!

A short fun read about 5 vastly different 12 year olds who come together to find a meteorite, and from there things just get weirder. Despite the odd things happening and the sinister mystery unfolding all around town, these 5 youngsters come together despite their differences, overcoming the strangest slimy issues of what can only be described as alien as well as forming a friendship group willing to fight together for each other and their boring little town

My almost 9 year old daughter needed a bit of encouragement with this one. The opening chapters didn't grip her .When I took over and read a couple of chapters I was transported back to reading kids thrillers 30 years ago. I think the problem may have been my daughter hasnt read a lot of books in this genre before because you kind of have to go back a few decades to find them so for that this opening book in a proposed series is a welcome addition to this reading space.

It took to about a third of the way in for the book to fully captivate my daughter and from that point she raced through it. In her own words- Its just the right amount of scary but I wouldn't read it in bed at nighttime! She also found it quite funny in parts and is looking forward to reading more from Gabriel Dylan ( in daylight hours only)

3 and half stars from her!

It Came From The Woods is a fast moving horror story that will keep readers turning the pages - with the lights firmly on! There's a good mix of thrills, chills and gore with light touches of humour that stop the book from being too scary. It Came From The Woods is a great read and perfect for fans of Goosebumps and Crater Lake.