Babysitting Nightmares: The Twilight Curse is the newest installment of the Babysitting Nightmares series by Kat Shepherd. Each of the four main characters has personality, style, and quirks that make them distinct even though the each book focuses in on one of the girls. Twilight Curse follows Maggie as she enters into her first babysitting gig during the grand re-opening of the Twilight Theater and it's production of Macbeth. It couldn't be a nightmare without a ghost out to sabotage the actress playing Lady Macbeth. I haven't read the other books in this series, but am definitely considering purchasing them for my Middle Grade collection based on this book. It was interesting, well written, and spooky with splashes of typical Middle School drama such as self-esteem, friendship, and following dreams.

Babysitting Nightmares: The Twilight Curse is the third book in a fun spooky middle grade paranormal series. This middle grade book was a fun and wholesome read that entertained both adults and middle readers in my household. The theater setting was a great idea and quite a bit of fun!

Babysitting Nightmares has quickly become one of my new favorite series to recommend to kids who like scary. Kat Shepherd does a phenomenal job of keeping the scare level relevant to middle grade but super scary at the same time. I love how the characters had a bit of a "rift" this time and had to do some friendship problem solving and trust work as well.
Great story, great author, great characters!

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus



When Clio's aunt Kawanna brings the girls into the Twilight Theater in Piper, Oregon, to see it before a production of Macbeth starts to rehearse, Maggie is the most excited. She would love to be in the play, but it doesn't have any young cast members. She's excited to babysit the daughter of Emily, the star, at the theater. Juniper is a well behaved child, and Maggie gets to see some of the play as well as investigate the theater. Built in 1929, the theater has had nothing but bad luck, and never has been able to stay open for long. Kawanna tells the girls they shouldn't say the name of the play in the theater, and the girls wonder if the run of bad luck for the current production has anything to do with them. When Clio, Rebecca and Tanya help Maggie delve into more of the history of the theater when weird things start to happen, they find out that the star, Vivien Vane, was not able to perform opening night because the understudy, Norma Desmond, did some underhanded things. Vivien appears to be haunting the theater with the help of the Night Queen. Can the girls keep the theater safe from evil influences, and bring the spirit of Vane some peace?

Strengths: The theater was an awesome setting, and there are lots of similar venues that are having difficulty, so this was a fun way to introduce younger readers to some interesting cultural history. I loved that Norma Desmond was the name of the actress who was at odds with Vane; that, of course, is not a real person but the name of a character in Sunset Boulevard portrayed by Gloria Swanson! I'm sure the dealings with the Nightmare Realm and the Night Queen would have made a lot more sense had I read the first two books, but this held up very well as a stand alone. Nicely creepy, with murderous ghost as well as babysitting and a play production.
Weaknesses: While I understand why the culturally diverse cast is used, it's sort of a cliche. Clio is African American, Rebecca is Asian (this book didn't specify which country), and Tanya is Latinx. Maggie has red hair; the White character sometimes has blonde hair. Oddly, this ensemble is never used for boys. It's not a bad thing, but it is a little odd.
What I really think: Definitely purchasing the whole set for my readers who like mystery and ghost stories.

My students can't wait for this book to come out! This is another great book in the Babysitting Nightmares series. I teach 4th grade and my reluctant readers absolutely love this series. I can't keep them in my shelf! I know they'll be fighting over this one when I add it to my classroom library.

Babysitting Nightmares is a perfect combination of Babysitter's Club and Ghost Hunters. I hadn't read the previous books in the series, but I didn't find that to be too much of a problem as there were enough references to those events (and from those hints I definitely want to go back and read them). It is always nice to see girls being supportive rather than plotting against one another - especially for this age group of readers. I was a little disappointed with some of Maggie's behavior, first keeping secrets from her friends and then being mad when they didn't immediately believe her, but she did come around pretty quickly. The supernatural/paranormal aspects were darker than I was expecting, so I probably would not recommend this for children who scare easily or have overactive imaginations. The epilogue was great and left me intrigued and excited for the next story in the series.