Hmm....I'm struggling with how to rate this one. It very much reads like the YA read it is....which is totally fine.

The plot was creepy....and cute.....Thelma and Dick Scarry open a hotel on their property....The SCARRY INN, in FRIGHTON Az....its adorably spooky!

The plot was interesting...and although a bit laggy....I didn't mind the slow build.

My issues were with the characters....very one dimensional and flat, with unrealistic dialog and actions.EVERYONE in this book cries over EVERYTHING.... on almost every page someone either has "tears in their eyes", " tears streaming down their face" or is " fighting tears".....this is before any of the horror starts.The main female protagonist...Heidi.....is self centered, entitled and whiney.

Overall, I did enjoy it enough to finish it, and will read the next 2 in the series, as I have those. Hopefully I will like those better since my issues were character related, and I believe there will be a new cast of characters in the next book. ( )

Boring. ( )

Author's guest post at my blog:
https://bookfare.blogspot.com/2021/11/foodfic-please-welcome-shirley-mccann.html

This was a nice, quick read. A group of teenagers traveling through Arizona on Christmas Eve have car trouble. They stop in Frighton, AZ, only to find no mechanics available. The owner of the service station and his wife offer to drop the young people off at the Scarry Inn, about to open for business, owned by family members. The inn owners aren't happy to see the teens at all, but the kids chalk it up to an extravagant practical joke intended to play up the name of the inn and the name of the town. But as the night wears on, the kids find themselves terrified . . . and fairly sure this is no joke. ( )