ALA Booklist

When Eddie's family moves to the village of Gatesweed, former home of the 12-year-old's favorite horror novelist, Nathaniel Olmstead, strange things begin happening. Monsters appear. A mysterious stone statue is discovered. A dark and musty basement must be explored. Why, it's almost as if Olmstead's novels are coming to life (cue the eerie organ music). And then Eddie acquires a new book by the man (who's been missing for 13 years) . . . and it's written in code. What does it mean? What is the Olmstead Curse? Who is the mysterious woman in black? Am I going to tell you? No! It's enough to say that Poblocki's first novel has some nicely Gothic moments to go along with some more exasperating ones (why don't kids ever tell adults the world may be coming to an end?). Fortunately there are enough of the former to keep kids reading far into the night (Wait! What's that sound coming from the attic?).

Horn Book

Eddie's family moves to Gatesweed, former home of his favorite author--as well as the site of the man's disappearance. As Eddie investigates, the question arises: is Gatesweed a peculiar small town with a literary past or a portal to the demon world? Though the writing is choppy, the story's setting is appropriately creepy.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8 Eddie, 12, is excited to be moving to Gatesweed, since his favorite author, Nathaniel Olmstead, lived there before he disappeared 13 years earlier. But it soon becomes evident that not everyone in Gatesweed is an "Olmsteady." Was the man responsible for all the tragic things that happened there? Eddie discovers what looks like a never-published Olmstead book written in code. His attempts to decipher it lead him to his first real friendships, with schoolmates Harris and Maggie, and escalating encounters with strange and frightening phenomena. Will the three kids be able to translate the manuscript and figure out what happened to Olmstead before the fabric of the universe is destroyed and the Woman in Black is freed to create havoc forever? Think John Bellairs, with a touch of R. L. Stine and Christopher Pike, and then add in a liberal sprinkling of Judeo-Christian mythology involving the Garden of Eden and its first inhabitants. The creep factor is high but not graphic, and the kids act and react like real kids. The adults (with the exception of Olmstead) play small but believable roles. Two minor quibblesthe cover art represents an important plot point, but isn't going to do much to sell the story, and the font used for the "handwritten" portions of the book is difficult to read. Still, this briskly paced novel is sure to be popular with fans of scary stuff. Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library

Kirkus Reviews

Eddie Fennicks is new to Gatesweed, Mass., when he discovers it's the home of Nathaniel Olmstead, his favorite writer. But the author has disappeared, creatures from his novels have come alive, children have gone missing and there have even been unexplained deaths. When Eddie's mother finds The Enigmatic Manuscript , a book written in code by Olmstead, at an antiques fair, Eddie and his new friends Harris and Maggie work to break that code and solve the mystery. The third-person narrative voice suits the breadth of the tale, which ranges from Gatesweed to Dracula's Romania and the Garden of Eden. Though the novel misses a chance for philosophical weight, it succeeds admirably in its intricate plotting, weaving together long excerpts from Olmstead's books, exciting face-offs with monsters and the efforts of the three young protagonists to decode the text and act in time to save the world. Fans of John Bellairs will enjoy this fine debut. (Fantasy. 9-14)

Voice of Youth Advocates

Twelve-year-old Eddie and his family are driving to their new home in Gatesweed when their car hits a monster-like animal in the road near the home of Nathaniel Olmstead, writer of EddieÆs favorite books about the supernatural. Olmstead has been missing for thirteen years and is blamed for the curse that causes mysterious happenings in the town. EddieÆs mother gives him a book, The Enigmatic Manuscript, written by Olmstead in code, which she had found at an antique fair. Thus begins EddieÆs determination to crack the code and find out what happened to Olmstead. Meanwhile Eddie is living in an increasingly nightmarish world in which he and his new friends are chased by monsters and haunted by the foreboding figure of a woman in black. Poblocki builds upon the myth of Lilith, AdamÆs first wife, associated with the darkness of the world to which she is banished. The statue of a stone child near OlmsteadÆs property is a gate between the real world and the world from which the monsters associated with Lilith emerge. There are stories within stories (all in longhand) as the friends search for clues from OlmsteadÆs novels and from the book discovered in OlmsteadÆs house in which he had written down how he obtained the pendantùa key to the gate. The novel, packed with encounters with supernatural beings, has little depth and deals superficially with the mythical material. It might appeal to younger teens who enjoy reading about the supernatural in a gothic style mystery story.ùHilary Crew.