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The Beasties is a chilling tale about a brother and sister, Doug, 14, and Colette, 10, who get themselves into a thrilling adventure involving friendship, suspense, and horror.  Their father is a botanist who is beginning the study of a rare fungus called Aceropala, but it is found only in certain forests. Doug's family is forced to move to a mysterious forest so that his father can pursue his studies.  The move isn't too bad for Doug's mother either. She is a painter and she figures that the full impact of nature (they live in a city before the move) will inspire her in some new work.

Doug and his family move into a comfy cabin about the size of a normal house, but he and Colette are anything but comfy there. Doug's crazy friend has warned him about disgusting creatures called "Beasties."  They are extremely ugly with crudely stitched body parts or with missing body parts.

They hide in their underground homes, spooky tunnels, which are found in the area where Doug's family is moving. Doug is convinced that the story about Beasties is totally made up and when he finds out that Colette believes in these tales, he is sure she's just being juvenile and gullible.  But they soon get themselves into serious trouble and realize that crazy doesn't always mean untrue. The Beasties get mad when some loggers cut down parts of their homes and they will severely punish anyone who gets in their way when they try to seek revenge. Will Doug and Colette befriend these animals or be revolted by them?

The Beasties is a great book if you want to be scared out of your wits. I enjoyed the details of certain parts in the book, but during some of the more gruesome parts I think Mr. Sleator described more than I needed to know. I'm sure the Beasties were hard to describe since they are incredibly complex beings and only a great mind could think of such an unusual species of living thing.  I would recommend this book to any sci-fi or horror lovers out there or to anyone interested in biology and nature.

Spring 2002

Doug and Collette rent a deserted house in the woods with their parents. The guy who owns it seems like he wanted to get rid of it.

On their first full day they discover a trapdoor and go in. They walk through, and to their dismay they set off a trap causing some grass and dirt to turn into sharp pointy spikes. While they are trying to reset the trap, they set off another trap causing the trapdoor to close. They meet a weird, ugly, stitched Beastie who shows them the way out and tells them to come back or they’ll never be safe again.

Will Doug and Collette survive? This horror sci-fi is so good that you can’t put it down.

11/8/00

The Beasties is about Doug and Collette, a brother and sister, who are moving into the woods for three months. The story starts with Doug’s friend, Al, who tells the children not to go near the Beasties, no matter what they say.

In the car, on the way to the woods, they notice people missing body parts. When they get to their house, they go out back and find mysterious gifts. The next day, they find a trap door. Read The Beasties to find out about these mysterious creatures.

10/5/00

The Beasties is about a group of creatures that live in underground tunnels behind old houses in the woods. When Doug and Colette stay in the woods, they meet the strange creatures called Beasties. The truth is that the creatures don’t like being called Beasties and prefer "The Family." When trees are chopped down, the Beasties lose limbs. When this happen, the Beasties’ doctors amputate human limbs, then sew them onto the Beasties.

To find out what happens when Doug and Colette meet the Beasties, read The Beasties.

05/01/00