Don't let the fact that this book has a cartoonish cover fool you. This had some pretty unsettling stuff in it, but was still really accessible for young readers. I wouldn't recommend it for readers under about 10 years old, but kids who like to be creeped out will love this. It took the legend of Mothman from the Point Pleasant, West Virginia disaster and made a whole new story about it. The story follows Josie and her brothers, Fox and Mason, who live in Athens, Ohio. Their father owns an auction house and they get the estate of John Goodrich. This is significant, as he is one of the few survivors of a major mudslide that destroyed a nearby city. He and his wife had tried desperately to warn their neighbors, but were chalked up to being nutty. After the disaster, which also took his wife's life, Mr. Goodrich became something of a hermit. Now, he's dead and Josie and her family have all of his items to auction off, just waiting in their barn. Strange things begin happening. A camera with no film spits out pictures that all feature a very sad man. Voices come through radios that aren't plugged in. It just gets worse after Josie discovers a piece of jewelry, a moth pin, and puts it on. Can she stop a curse before hundreds of people die...possibly herself among them? I think this is a pretty solid story and I really liked the characters. It really makes me want to investigate the history of Mothman myself!
