The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright by Reece Carter

Title: The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright

Author: Reece Carter

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 3^rd October 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 352

Price: $17.99

Synopsis: Danger, darkness and a mysterious legacy unveiled in this magical seaside adventure by the bestselling author of A Girl Called Corpse.

Being a Lightkeeper is Very Serious Business.

Nobody in Elston-Fright believes in magic anymore. Well, nobody except for Flip Little, his nan and his friends: a girl called Corpse, a ghost called Girl and a very large spider called Simon.

But when Simon is spider-napped by ancient weather ghouls called the Poltergusts, Flip and his ghostly companions turn to the last Lightkeeper’s journals for answers. To rescue their friend, they will need to find and return the missing Light to the lighthouse, restoring its lost magic.

Only nothing in Elston-Fright is as it seems. Questions bubble up from the deep. Dark secrets come to light. And pretty soon, Flip and his friends learn that in order to save the future of Elston-Fright, they’ll first need to understand its past.

~*~

Welcome back to Elston-Fright, a coastal town filled with tensions, ghosts, and secret magic. Corpse and her friends, Flip, Girl, and Simon the huntsman spider are back, three weeks after banishing the Witches from Elston-Fright. But now, the Poltergusts are starting to cause havoc around Elston-Fright. But the problem is, nobody believes in magic anymore, apart from Flip Little, his nan, Corpse, Girl, and Simon. As strange weather starts to creep into the town, Flip and his friends are drawn into investigating – especially once Simon is kidnaped by ancient weather ghouls. The friends have many questions – and to answer them, they need to find the last Lightkeeper’s journals so they can restore the missing Light to the lighthouse and bring back the magic.

Except … it’s Elston-Fright, and things aren’t that straightforward. There are questions about the origins of the light, about dark secrets from the past that will change the way everyone understands their world and their memories. This is the second novel in the Elston-Fright series, and it picks up a few weeks after the witches have been banished.  I haven’t had a chance to read the first book yet, but Reece gives enough detail so you can jump into this book and read it without knowing the first book, though I am very much looking forward to reading the first book when I get a chance.

The book is told in two different perspectives – Flip and Corpse, both in first person, and each chapter is headed with the person whose perspective we are in, and this helps the reader to know whose thoughts we are dealing with, whilst also allowing different thing to happen at the same time.  And I found the first person present to be effective as well – it was put together well, and I think it worked well, because we needed to see things from Flip and Corpse’s perspectives. It worked well for a gently spooky book with ghosts and magic, and I do enjoy the gently spooky books. The ones that have just that right level of spook and fright without making you want to check around every corner, though I do enjoy some of those books too. It’s nice to have both so everyone has something they will enjoy.

As a series, I think this has everything. Each book has its own plot, but there is also an ongoing thread involving Corpse, her life, and her family – so far – threaded throughout the series – well, the first two books at least. I’m keen to see where this plot goes in the next book, because I love a good series that gives me a story that can be wrapped up within one book whilst there is an ongoing mystery or plot that slowly reveals itself throughout the books. And I like the different ways authors use ghosts and fantasy characters – there are so many possibilities. Another thing I think this book does well is make these characters Australian – it feels very Australian, as though it could take place somewhere along the Australian coastline. Books that have this sense of Australiana are something I enjoy to read because it shows how diverse Australia is. There are so many stories and possibilities within those stories that I think we will have enough stories for all authors to tell diverse stories – and ghosts certainly make things really interesting. I am looking forward to more of Flip and Corpse’s adventures and hope others enjoy them too.