BOOKS: For Halloween: ‘Creepy’ story about goblin boys

• 'The Wednesdays'

In “The Wednesdays,” Max must battle a group of goblin-like pranksters called Wednesdays. (Submitted photo)

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In our world, Wednesday is a harmless day of the week. But in Max’s village, weird things happen on Wednesdays. Cakes fall, televisions break, bumpers fall off cars. In fact, villagers hunker down every Wednesday and refuse to go outside.

Except for Max, who finds himself outside on a Wednesday.

“The Wednesdays,” By Julie Bourbeau, is a creepy story about the Wednesdays, the goblin-like boys who wreak havoc on the town and their attempts to get Max to join them.

When Max first meets the Wednesdays, they seem mischievous, but not scary. Yet before long, Max realizes that the Wednesdays are calling him “Next.”

He has been chosen to be the next Wednesday. The physical transformation begins. Max’s arms grow long, his belly gets paunchy and his eyes become silver. According to the eccentric parapsychologist that his mother hires, his condition is irreversible.

But Max is not about to go down without a fight. Thanks to a plan involving the town clock and brave friends, Max saves himself and the village.

“The Wednesdays” is an entertaining book, yet creepy.

On the one hand, the Wednesdays are just a bunch of pranksters.

As the narrator explains, nothing horribly bad had ever happens to the town. However the hold the Wednesdays have on each other and potentially on Max is downright evil.

Max’s struggles are also imbalanced. In the first half of the book, Max realizes that his own bad thoughts can produce powerful pranks.

Later, he realizes that by using his bad thoughts to battle the Wednesdays, he is actually becoming more like them.

Yet Max’s ultimate battle against the Wednesdays is not internal, but external. Max is able to defeat them with a combination of clockwork, magnets, stun guns and a dog named Thursday.

Despite this imbalance, “The Wednesdays” is a fast moving read that will leave you looking over your shoulder. Believe me, your view of Wednesdays will never be the same.

“The Wednesdays.” By Julie Bourbeau. Illustrated by Jason Beene. Knopf, 2012; 256 pp.