Easily one of my favorite spooky middle grades I’ve read this year! An amazing opening that grabs the reader and a story that doesn’t let go. Just the right amount of chills for young readers and a fast paced story make for such a great book! Highly recommend!

THE SKELETON FLUTE is such a fantastic MG novel! It's equal parts creepy and sweet, and is full of mystery, magic, grief, suspense, friendship, and more. Couldn't recommend it more!

The Skeleton Flute is exactly the type of book I used to love reading growing up. It’s a middle-grade horror but not in the cheap “oh, look, a scary jump scare” kind of way. Quite the opposite. Damara Allen’s debut creates its horror aspect by putting our protagonist in an impossible situation he can’t even fully understand let alone find a way out of. The horror aspects of the story were wonderfully complimented with a fantastical twist that was incredibly imaginative. I won’t say what it was exactly because of spoilers but I’ll say that I was happy to see a concept that usually falls flat in other stories executed here in a way that not only elevates the story but also highlights the themes the author wants to discuss.

Speaking of themes, The Skeleton Flute deals with heavy topics that I’m glad to see in the MG space. Themes like divorce, friendship, and allowing ourselves to express our feelings and not be afraid to show our true emotions around the people we love. This was all masterfully shown through our protagonist Sam who is probably one of the most relatable protagonists I’ve read in general and not just in a middle-grade story.


Overall, The Skeleton Flute is an incredible debut by Damara Allen and I definitely recommend it to all readers of all ages.

Believe those Coraline comps! This excellent speculative retelling of the Pied Piper made me feel like I was falling through a wormhole! Sam’s world is rocked when his parents say Dad is moving out. So when a mysterious stranger offers him a flute that will make his greatest desire come true, Sam wishes that his parents will stay together. And they do! They’re happy! They’re going on date nights! They’re not stressed! Only one problem: Sam’s brother and sister have disappeared. And his best friend barely knows him. In trying to undo this horror, Sam learns that he’s not the only person whose world has been turned upside down by the skeleton flute. Soon he and the others whose wishes have gone sideways are investigating the magical object, the mystery man, and what could have happened. Damara Allen’s writing is fantastic, encompassing both Sam’s disbelief and fear as well as his wry, middle grade sense of humor. There was also room in this story for the kids to talk and process their grief over what might have been. I think this is such an important theme in children’s literature when so often we’re pushing kids to get through something, thinking they’ll be better when they’re beyond the pain, without giving them the space and time to sit with their sorrow. I also think many young readers will see themselves in Sam’s struggle with his desire to keep his family together when it isn’t his fault that things are changing nor in his power to keep everyone at home.

Damara Allen has created a fast-paced, creepy tale in The Skeleton Flute. The Pied Piper story is one of the darkest of fairy tales and this new take on the story builds upon that darkness. Sam Windsor has just learned that his parents are separating and a spooky stranger has offered to make his greatest desire come true. All he has to do is play the skeleton flute. When he wakes up after playing the flute his parents are deeply in love but the other changes to his world are more than he bargained for. Now Sam has to find the stranger and try to get his life back. The world-building in this story is top-notch as the eerie alternate world that Sam discovers is brought to life with gruesome creatures that will send chills down your spine.

I could not put this one down. I can’t wait for the next title by this debut author.