The Spook's Curse by Joseph Delaney (The Wardstone Chronicles: Book 2)

The Spook and his apprentice, Thomas Ward, have travelled to Priestown to defeat the Bane, a powerful, evil creature that lurks in the catacombs of the cathedral and is corrupting the County. As Thomas and his master prepare to battle with the Bane, they soon realize it isn’t their only enemy in Priestown. The Quisitor has arrived, searching the County for those who meddle in the dark – witches, warlocks and spooks! Can Thomas and his master survive the horror that follows…?

The Spook’s Curse is the second book in Joseph Delaney’s The Wardstone Chronicles. The series opener, The Spook’s Apprentice was a sparkling beginning to the series and The Spook’s Curse retains the same high standards.

The Spook’s Curse is the second book in Joseph Delaney’s The Wardstone Chronicles. The series opener, The Spook’s Apprentice was a sparkling beginning to the series and The Spook’s Curse retains the same high standards. The book begins with The Spook unwell and Thomas having to deal with a boggart all by himself for the first time. This is no-ordinary boggart, it is a class one boggart, The Horshaw Ripper, and to make things even more complicated it is sucking the blood and life from The Spook’s brother (a priest whom he has not talked to for over forty years). This opening lets you know that The Spook’s Curse will offer no relief from the spine-tingling events that made the first book standout!

The Spook paused and sighed deeply. ‘I don’t believe in the God they preach about in church,’ he said. ‘I don’t believe in an old man with a white beard. But there’s something watching what we do, and if you live your life right, in your hour of need it’ll stand at your side and lend you its strength. That’s what I believe. Well, come on, lad. We’ve dawdled here long enough and had best be on our way.’

From: The Spook's Curse by Joseph Delaney

The foundations were laid perfectly in The Spook’s Apprentice and Delaney now builds on these to give the major characters even more life. It is the Spook’s history that is explained most in this story; his family, loves and failures are covered and this allows him to become a far more sympathetic character. The locations for the story are both familiar and new; a perfect mixture in my opinion; we have the Spook’s house and Thomas’s farm that we know and are comfortable with and then we are taken to new places like Priestown where most of the story unfolds.

“It was a town of churches, with spires and towers rising above the rows of small terraced houses. Set right on the summit of a hill, near the centre of the town, was the cathedral.”

In every great book there are great villains and The Spook’s Curse gives us two baddies worthy of the name. Witches, or those claimed to be practising witchcraft (or the dark arts), are being rounded up and burnt. The evil man responsible for this is the Quisitor and this was Thomas’s first impression of the man - “I was fascinated by his face. It was almost too handsome to be a man’s, but it was strong at the same time, with a jutting chin and a determined forehead. Then I looked again at the blue eyes and saw the cruelty glaring from them.”. If that was not enough there is then the Bane, a powerful, evil creature that lurks in the catacombs of the cathedral and is corrupting the County. The battle to destroy, once and for all, the Bane is the heart of the story and after Thomas has entered Priestown he come face to face with a representation of the Bane outside the cathedral - “It had an elongated chin that curved upwards almost as far as its long nose, and wicked eyes that seemed to follow me as I walked towards it. Its ears were strange too, and wouldn’t have been out of place on a big dog or even a wolf.”

The scare-factor is still pretty high for a young-adult novel – we have burnings, suicide and “pressings” but nothing that will greatly disturb a young adult (they will in fact love it). I would be very interested to discover how many parallels there are between the content in the Spook’s series and the author’s own life. Was Joseph Delaney’s mother Greek? Did all the colloquial sayings come from his Dad? Sometimes the second book can be a let down but this is not the case here; we are once again treated to a magnificent tale that thankfully is but the second instalment in a five-book series. Many questions are raised here and I can’t wait to read the third book to once again be frightened and to have them answered.

Go out and buy this series now. It does not matter if you’re 8 or 80, male or female; this series is just one of those rare gems that can bridge genres and bring delight to all who enjoy reading.

9/10 A rare gem that will bring delight to all who enjoy reading.