Trina O'Dell and her brother Dan discover that their father, a retired ventriloquist, has filled their attic with a growing collection of wooden dummies. The siblings soon find Slappy, a sneering puppet with a mind of his own, tucked away in a crate. When Slappy is brought into the house, he begins playing violent pranks on the family’s visiting cousin, Zane. Trina and Dan take the blame for the chaos while the dolls appear to switch positions and whisper behind their backs. The situation escalates when the other dummies in the attic show signs of life, turning their home into a trap of moving wood and glass eyes.
Middle-grade readers who enjoy suspenseful stories with twist endings will find this book fits their interest in supernatural horror. Fans of the genre read this for the tension between ordinary childhood settings and the uncanny movements of inanimate objects. The story provides a controlled sense of dread and a lesson in how sibling cooperation is tested under pressure. Readers finish the book with a lasting suspicion of dolls and a classic example of the unpredictable nature of horror fiction.
- Published
- 1995
- Language
- EN
