posted on 21 Sep 2023

The Stars Did Wander Darkling by Colin Meloy

U.S. author, Colin Meloy’s new novel The Stars Did Wander Darkling, delivers a splendidly atmospheric and spooky story about the re-emergence of an ancient evil, that will delight young readers (12+) who enjoy a bit of a fright.

Set in the late 1980s, the small coastal town of Seaham in Oregon is about to be visited by three strange, unearthly characters – Wart, Lugg and Toff - who appear to have materialised from the very ground they stand on. It’s clear that these three are not benign visitors but something conjured from a dark place. Their arrival in Seaham, we begin to discover, is not accidental but the result of some excavations and the redevelopment of old property owned by the Langdon family who had effectively founded the town back in the previous century.

Thirteen year-old Archie Coomes lives in Seaham and it just so happens that his father is the engineer in charge of the excavations. Archie’s best friends are Chris, Oliver (who seems to be especially sensitive to the unleashing of the evil atmosphere) and Athena (whose parents are avid environmentalists and are trying to stop the development of the Langdon’s property on the coastal edge). As the story opens, Archie’s father has called a halt to the redevelopment because he’s discovered the ground he’s working on is riddled with caves and unaccounted-for holes that would make the land unsuitable to work on.

But, have they already uncovered and released something evil and elemental?

Gradually it becomes clear that the four friends and the town as a whole are in terrible danger from the arrival of the three strange men. Archie is the first to notice that the some of the adults in the town are starting to behave strangely – there’s a scary encounter in the woods with one of his older women neighbours who has stripped naked and seems to be in the grip of some kind of odd spell. Oliver’s hyper-sensitivity becomes more pronounced and he starts having disturbing visions and black-outs in which a badly mutilated zebra appears to him and seems to offer some kind of guidance.

The youngsters begin to suspect the truth of what’s happening when – with the help of the nerdy video shop owner – they do some research on the past history of the town and discover a complicated story and old photographs that will eventually lead them to the uncomfortable conclusion that the adults aren’t just acting strangely but they are literally not themselves.

I really don’t want to give away any more details of the story because that would be a serious spoiler. The book is a gripping read and the final encounter between the youngsters and the three representatives of elemental evil is genuinely gripping and frightening and the resolution of the story comes with a rush in the final hundred pages. I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll never hear the sound of wood being chopped again without a sense of unease!

The book is available now in paperback from Walker Books and can be obtained from your local independent bookshop – who will be happy to order it for you if its not on their shelves.

 

Terry Potter

September 2023