Wonderfully written, beautifully paced, and populated by a cast of richly interesting characters, The Night Gardener kept me totally glued to the page. Not to mention the collection of violent deaths and the super-creepy-soul-stealing tree. The idea of a creepy man walking around your house at night, standing over your bed, is sure to give some readers nightmares. He does it by starting with mundane and carefully adding the creepy, ghost elements.īe warned, though, this book is not for the faint of heart. In this case, however, Auxier has crafted a tale that is wholly believable. That's one reason why I typically avoid scary stories - they seem so fake that it's hard for me to buy in to them. This book is terrific! The creepiness builds steadily until the unbelievably dark seems totally plausible. Soon Molly and Kip find themselves enmeshed in an ancient curse that threatens the lives of everyone at the Windsor estate. And the house is visited each evening by a mysterious 'night man' who tends a strange tree. The people living there are pale, with sunken dark eyes.

Molly and Kip are barely surviving when they are offered a job as servants at the supremely creepy, derelict Windsor estate.

'All proper scary stories require a spooky, menacing atmosphere, and Auxier (Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes) delivers the goods with his precise descriptions of the gothic setting and teasing hints of mystery and suspense.' Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books 'Auxier achieves an ideal mix of adventure and horror, offering all of it in elegant, atmospheric language that forces the reader to slow down a bit and revel in both the high-quality plot and the storytelling itself.' 'Storytelling and the secret desires of the heart wind together in this atmospheric novel that doubles as a ghost tale.' 'Lots of creepiness, memorable characters, a worthy message, Auxier’s atmospheric drawings and touches of humor amid the horror make this cautionary tale one readers will not soon forget.' With Auxier’s exquisite command of language, The Night Gardener is a mesmerizing read and a classic in the making.

Soon the children are confronted by a mysterious spectre and an ancient curse that threatens their very lives. But the house and its family are not quite what they seem. The Night Gardener follows two abandoned Irish siblings who travel to work as servants at a creepy, crumbling English manor house. More than just a spooky tale, it’s also a moral fable about human greed and the power of storytelling. A New York Times bestseller, The Night Gardener is a Victorian ghost story with shades of Washington Irving and Henry James.

The night gardener book jonathan auxier