"Haunted Holiday" by Kiersten White

Haunted Holiday (Jan. 23, 2024) by Kiersten White.

<This is the final novel in a pentalogy.>

<Spoilers included if you haven’t read the previous stories.>

The Sinister-Winterbottom twins are trapped in Aunt Saffronia’s spectral house, and Theo and Alexander must figure out how to escape so they can stop Essa and her mean-mustachioed henchman Edgaren’t (a.k.a. Van Helsing), save Wil + their friends and find their parents. Alexander decides to trust his gut and follow clues, which lead them to Siren’s Song Seaside Amusement Park. They find Marina Siren, but she isn’t the trusted adult they were hoping for. They locate their friends, but can’t get them out right away, discovering them in a maze of mirrors, though Wil isn’t amongst them, and neither is Mr. Frank. They are underwhelmed by the speed of a railroad velocipede; Alexander’s grateful it isn’t a velociraptor centipede (that’s fair, for that’d be horrifying to behold). They are appalled when Edgaren’t tries to lure them with churros, for nefarious churros should never be a thing. They are impressed by the giant battle robot, but are then disappointed when it doesn’t have an oven to serve warm chocolate chip cookies. More secrets will come to light, including who Essa is (she’s not a ghost), and mysteries will be solved. After all that, things might finally return to normal, or at least as normal as things can be since discovering you’ve been hanging out with a ghost aunt. And they’re still pretty sure Lucy’s a vampire.

        It’s a standing ovation for the final novel in the Sinister Summer series. If ever she wrote a spinoff series (perhaps beginning with LARPing at Camp [No Longer] Creepy), I’d be all for it before Alexander could shout, “Toilet alligator!” It’s a middle-grade gothic caper delight, brilliant in its comic writing and momentum-filled adventure. With this series, readers find that, behind every potential villain, is a person needing connection. To family and to friends. There’s also a little food for thought: What if sirens aren’t luring sailors to their deaths with their songs to be evil, but are trying to keep them away from hunting their innocent kraken bestie, who’s “just large and very tentacled?”
        Book 1: Wretched Waterpark
        Book 2: Vampiric Vacation
        Book 3: Camp Creepy
        Book 4: Menacing Manor