The Midnight Game

One night in July, six teenagers break into an empty primary school. They don’t know each other, but they have met online and are there to play a game - The Midnight Game. Their aim is to summon the Midnight Man, a type of demon. There are strict rules to follow; they must not turn on the lights, go to sleep, leave the building or let their candles go out. So begins a creepy, exciting, page turner of a novel, as the three girls and three boys wander the school in the dark. But is the Midnight Man real, or does the danger come from a more human threat? Who will survive The Midnight Game?

The Midnight Game is a well-written, cleverly plotted story, based around the Creepypasta phenomenon - the posting of stories on the internet designed to unnerve and shock the reader. Cynthia Murphy creates a claustrophobic, tense atmosphere throughout. We have six characters who, despite knowing nothing about each other, must trust that they can work together throughout the long night ahead. As the plot unfolds, we learn a little about each of them as they talk together and share a little of their backgrounds. Each has a weakness, a secret, which is exploited by the villain - but is that villain real or imaginary?

The story is told from multiple points of view - each character narrates part of the book - and the author also uses sections of text messages and newspaper reports to help build up the tension and help the reader slowly begin to unravel the mystery. The clever inclusion of a map of the school also helps us follow the action in more detail.

The characters are well drawn, Ellie is blonde and pretty but not to be underestimated, Toni is an angry goth, Mei is quiet and timid, Hugo the 'posh boy', Callum is spiritual, and Reece is deep and hard to read. There are plenty of shocks and twists, and even by the end of the book we are still not sure whether the Midnight Man is real. The ending is clever - will there be a sequel? There is certainly scope for the story to continue!

I would recommend this book for older teens. There are sections explaining the rules of other Creepypasta games and descriptions of murder and violence which may be upsetting to younger or more susceptible readers. However, older teens will love it and I can see it being extremely popular in school libraries. This is Cynthia Murphy's third horror novel for teens, and I feel that she is becoming an important voice in this genre. I await her next offering with interest.

400 pages / Reviewed by Beverley, school librarian

Suggested Reading Age 14+