'Wait Till Helen Comes' by Mary Downing Hahn with art by Meredith Laxton is a graphic novel adaptation of a book with the same name.

Blended families are hard. Molly and Michael know this because their new stepsister Heather gets them in trouble all the time. Things get worse when the family move in to an old church with a graveyard and Heather seems to make friends with a mysterious girl named Helen.

I liked this spooky story and think it would be a good story for pre-teen readers. The book is older, so some of the dialogue can feel a bit dated, but the art is pretty good.

Despite being set in contemporary times, the story has a creepy crawly feel reminiscent of gothic horror.

The book seems like it would be fun for middle schoolers.However, as an adult, I was unable to stop thinking about how unfair it was for Molly and Michael to constantly watch Heather.If I were Molly, I might have simply allowed Helen to harm Heather.

Wait Till Helen Comes may be a good choice for middle schoolers.for grownups?Not really.

Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn is a graphic novel adaptation by Scott Peterson, Meredith Laxton, and Russ Bedgett of what is often considered Mary Downing Hahn's spookiest and most popular tale. Two siblings must save their stepsister from the clutches of a vengeful ghost. When their mom remarries, Molly and her brother, Michael, try to make friends with their new stepsister, Heather. But Heather only wants to make trouble for them. She lies and tattles and misbehaves, and somehow they always get the blame. They know she’s trying to drive a wedge between her father and their mother so she can have her father all to herself—and it seems to be working. Then, Heather starts playing in the graveyard behind their new house. She claims she can talk to a ghost named Helen, and her behavior gets even stranger. Michael doesn't believe in ghosts and thinks their new little sister is just looking for more attention. But Molly isn't so certain, especially when Heather threatens that Helen is going to come for them and make them sorry. It seems as though things can’t get any worse—but they do. When Helen comes.

Wait Till Helen Comes is a graphic novel with some great art, and a faithful retelling of a classic children's horror story. I have never been a big horror fan, but Hahn was one exception even when I was in the target audience, because of the amount of real feelings ands character development that she packed into each story. I could easily put myself in Molly's shoes the first time I read this story, and even now as a parent I could still see pieces of myself in the story. The scary moments are well done, with a nice build up and culmination of action. I also love the way the conclusion includes a wrap up for family dynamics and some look at how things played out in the aftermath. The story is compelling and complete with a satisfying conclusion.

Wait Till Helen Comes is a great adaptation of the novel, with a great balance of creepy and character development.

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me to read the graphic novel Wait Till Helen Comes. In true Mary Downing Hahn fashion this is a ghost story with just the right amount of horror for an intermediate or middle grade audience. As someone who does not enjoy the horror genre I found this book to be perfectly creepy without being scary. The illustrations are beautifully done and help to share the story. This is a great graphic novel to have as part of a classroom library as it is engaging and accessible for a wide range of students.

I haven’t read the original of this one yet but I really enjoyed the graphic novel. I really loved the colors in the illustrations.

They did a really good job making Heather and Dave so unlikable 😅 The story was spooky with a good ending.

Wait Till Helen Comes Review!

Thank you Harpercollins Children’s Books and Netgalley, for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review! Wait Till Helen Comes is out now!

Mary Dawning Haun is the reason I love horror. I started reading her books when I was 10 or 11 and I remember being absolutely obsessed. Wait till Helen Comes was my favorite book of hers, so I knew I had to read the graphic novel!! Wait Till Helen Comes was a 5/5 ⭐️ for me! It was just like I remembered and so very nostalgic. The illustrations were terrifying and I seriously don’t know how I read these as a kid. 😅 This graphic novel was perfect for October, I’m looking forward to reading Took soon!

Synopsis: Molly and her blended family move into a renovated church in the middle of nowhere. They soon discover they live right next to a grave yard and Molly is terrified at this discovery. Heather, her 7 year old step sister supposedly comes in contact with a young ghost and does everything in her power to hurt her step siblings and step mom for stealing her father away.

I thoroughly enjoyed this graphic novel. I do wish that it was releasing in October for "spooky season" but this will be perfect for next year. I really appreciated how easy the story was to follow, the ghost elements, and the character development. I did feel that Heather had almost no redeeming qualities for the entire book and I wish that there would have been some hints at likableness before the *Big Moment* toward the end of the book where things change. Will definitely be adding to my list of graphic novels to recommend for October reads.

I forgot that I had already read this book and it was honestly not worth my time to read the entire graphic novel of it. It is not an outstanding story and the characters are not lovable. The art style was okay but nothing very exciting. There were too many speech bubbles making the text a little difficult to keep up with. I think her writing may still be fun for kids today but it just doesn’t age up well like other middle grade books can.

This is a decent ghost story for young readers, but it's very text-heavy for a graphic novel--It's more like an illustrated story than a graphic novel. The text does a lot of telling rather than showing, and the art is nothing special. There are some holes in some of the plotting and reasoning, and the conflict resolutions and aftermath are a bit pat.

Super creepy visuals for an already haunting story. This book features a younger stepsister who'd love nothing more than to split up their newly blended family. As they move to an old church that has been converted to a house, the children begin to explore the adjacent cemetery, and its resident ghost.

Really well done graphic novel adaptation of a popular ghost story for kids. It is beautifully illustrated and has suspense and a satisfying conclusion that will give kids just enough creeps without being TOO scary.

Spooky plot AND it a graphic novel?! Count me in! I love that some of Mary Downing Hahn's classic ghost stories are being reimagined this way. I recently read the original version of Wait Till Helen Comes and feel this adaptation was spot on.

The only issue I have with both formats of this story is that I can't stand the parents! They are horrible honestly. The story sheds light on some of the household issues right from the start as Molly and Michael's mother and stepfather Dave surprise them and their stepsister Heather with the news they will all be moving. Once they've arrived at the house, more details are revealed about their new home that absolutely should have been disclosed to their children. Throughout the story Dave is rude to everyone but his own daughter. Molly and Michael are blamed for everything and anything regarding their younger sister, yet constantly in charge of babysitting her as well. They have valid concerns and reasons to be upset, but these are always overlooked. It's also hinted that none of the children were ever on board with their parents getting married in the first place which seems quite toxic. Because the gaslighting and ignorance occurs throughout the entire story it can be tough to get through sometimes. I feel like I spent more time being annoyed with the parents than interested in the actual ghostly storyline. I suppose that may have been done on purpose to help the reader understand what Molly and her brother feel, but I'm just not a fan. If there was some genuine character development in the end I'd look past it, but it seems like the character's attitudes only change because Heather finally stops acting so awful.

I do note that I am a 25 year old woman with a background in human development and childcare so I might be overthinking this a little. I'm really curious to hear what children think of the story and if they are bothered by this as well.

Overall it's a decent read if you can look past the intensity of the drama. I do think there are better Mary Downing Hahn books out there though and hope to see Deep and Dark and Dangerous or The Doll in the Garden redone next!

Having not read the novel, I headed into this book ready for every twist and turn Hahn has to offer.
As an adult reader, I would not say the drawing were particularly creepy, but I imagine they would be for a younger audience.

I appreciate the ghostly story that puts the life of a character at risk because of the wrath of the local ghost. I would recommend that anyone who loves Mary Downing Hahn pick up this graphic novel!

I received and ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The parents in these books are always complete jerks and I just want to slap them. That said...this was a pretty good read. Spooky, but not too spooky. And there's a happy ending which is always happy making. I hadn't read the novel of this one before I reading the graphic novel so I think I enjoyed it more than Took for that reason alone.

A solid retelling what is a classic juvenile ghost story. Review soon to be on No Flying, No Tights.

CW:Wait Till Helen Comes depcits child death, fire, toxic relationships

As a child I was big fan of every single Mary Downing Hahn books I read, especially Wait Till Helen Comes. Revisiting the story as an adult and seeing the story come alive in a whole new format was amazing. I loved every moment of reading this book. I think the graphics are beautiful and does a really good job capturing the essence of the original story. The story was not as scary as I remember, but I still think it was pretty creepy. Additionally, I found the parents extremely annoying and toxic. Overall, Wait Till Helen comes the graphic novel is worth checking out this spooky season.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

Spoilers ahead. I will not reveal anything big - most of the review vaguely alludes to plot, structure, and characters.

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I remember this book scaring the bejesus out of me as a kid, and I'm happy to see it reimagined graphically to scare a new generation of readers. The art is well done and I love how unique each character is, and the shifting color palates are utilized to denote tone and emotion well, especially with the blue spectrum. I feel like the story itself is a classic at this point, and Helen should be inducted into the horror Hall of Fame (at least for kids). Story-wise, get ready for insufferable parents who refuse to listen to anyone but each other and the bratty youngest, parentified kids being forced to take on more duties than they should, and one hell of a traumatized stepsister.

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Again, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First off, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advance copy of this graphic novel retelling of Mary Downing Hahn's Wait Till Helen Comes.

While the original story was written and published in the 1980's, this graphic novel retelling does that fantastic job of straddling time--not dated to the point of feeling weird while also not being modernized. There were some points of the story that might feel foreign to today, whether the changing attitudes towards blended family units, parenting styles, or processing trauma, I didn't feel like anything was off--more in that people doing the best they can with what they have and the world they know (to avoid any spoilers it's hard to be specific).

The artwork is clear and hovers that detailed without being cramped style. I felt the color palettes transitioned well with the mood of the story throughout the book.

Overall, if you like classic stories that hover the scary/spooky line without keeping you up at night, I'd recommend it. It's a relatively short read, and I found it overall enjoyable.

I remember loving this book as a kid, and I was excited to see that it had been made into a graphic novel. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that the story held up from when I was kid. I disliked all of the main characters except for Molly, and the parents are the kind that really frustrate me- unnecessarily spoil some kids and practically ignore others. Maybe I identified more with the characters when I was a kid, but as an adult they just annoyed me, and I just wanted it to be over. That being said, aside from how Molly is treated by practically everyone in the book, I enjoyed the scary story behind the dysfunctional family story. The ghost story, and the illustrations, are what saved this graphic novel for me.

This was so good! What a great interpretation of the original spooky story. A highly spooky, creepy, touching, enjoyable read.