The Ghastly McNastys: Fright in the Night

Two unpleasant pirates are hellbent on seizing a lost treasure for themselves, and they’ve set their sights on the crew of an innocent ship as part of their fiendish plan. Meanwhile, the unlikely heroes of Little Snoring, Hetty, and Tat, are on the hunt for the treasure themselves. Who will find it first, and to what dastardly lengths will the McNastys go to steal the treasure for themselves?

The third entry in The Ghastly McNastys series, Fright in the Night is a ghost story all wrapped up with pirate-y silliness and a great deal of glorious nonsense. This book is goofy in the extreme, but the heroes are plucky and smart, and the narrative itself plays on the reader’s expectations in clever ways. With missing pages, bits of character interaction with the reader, and threats about the sticky glue mentioned throughout the story, Gardner and Asquith ensure that there’s never a dull moment in this quick, satisfying read.

The town of Little Snoring comes to life, populated with the usual cast of goons, miscreants, and coincidentally helpful side characters. Nothing feels like filler, and nothing feels like a waste of the reader’s time. This is silly storytelling done with style.