Urban Legend Hunters: The Dreaded Mr Snipe by Joel McKerrow

Title: Urban Legend Hunters: The Dreaded Mr Snipe

Author: Joel McKerrow

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Larrikin House

Published: 1^st April 2024

Format: Paperback Graphic novel

Pages: 200

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: There is something sinister stirring in the town of Shadow Grove. It’s a problem that requires the talent, training and dedication of professional urban legend (aka monster) hunters. It’s a shame there are none of these in this graphic novel …

Meet Jeremy Jubaya who loves telling tales that make your blood curdle, fearless Samantha
Small who takes no nonsense and Bad Boris, who is, well … anything but bad!

This is not a fairytale. This is a hair-raising, spine-tingling, heart-pounding, hilarious adventure that is sure to scare everyone (except Samantha Small).

Take a seat around the campfire and listen to the terrifying tale of THE DREADED MR SNIPE.
Perfect for readers who love adventure, fun and spooky stories all mashed into one big poetic mystery!

~*~

Welcome to Shadow Grove, a town where sinister things are happening. The local primary school is off on camp, close to the home of a sinister urban legend that has been passed around school children for years. So naturally, the kids are keen to find out what and who is behind the chilling things happening at camp.

So, the main group of friends – Jeremy Jubaya, Samantha Small, and Bad Boris set out to find out the truth about these urban legends. Jeremy loves telling scary stories around the camp fire. Except Samantha – who doesn’t believe in them, and is a no-nonsense kind of girl – a good foil for the urban legend loving Jeremy. These are just stories, right? Think again. The kids know there’s more to things than they know – especially Jeremy. And everyone is scared – except Samantha. She’s practical, determined to prove the boys wrong.

There’s always more to the story, and in this quirky graphic novel with sections of prose throughout is disturbing – but in a way that kids will enjoy, as it explores the tradition of telling ghost stories at camp, making mischief and breaking the rules in the name of adventure and a little bit of danger. The story takes its time to get to Mr Snipe, moving around the periphery as the characters interact and introduce themselves to the characters, establishing them and their interests, and how they operate as a team. It is as much about the friendship and teamwork as it is about the urban legends that form the premise of this novel.

The creepiness in this novel is similar to older books like Goosebumps, yet with a humorous side that gives children a sense of fun and whimsy with their spinechiller. The use of graphic novel sections with prose sections was interesting – it showed that the two techniques can be used together and that they can be a good bridge between graphic novels and prose novels to engage more readers with the same story, if the genre and theme of the story is what they are interested in and like. This is shows that there are many ways to get kids interested in reading, and perhaps the most important thing is that there is a diversity of stories and formats of stories for all ages, so that everyone has access to books that they will enjoy.

This book will definitely appeal to readers who like this sort of thing, and it suits the Larrikin House taking fun seriously stance with their quirky, edgy, and humorous books that entertain and capture an audience seeking books that might be a little different to what they usually find, and who want a few surprises in what they are reading. This book also explores the insecurities that young children can have about themselves and the things that are going on in their lives. I think this book will find its audience, and hope that it does well.