Is this supposed to be scary?: Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew Reviewed

 Luciana Romay -  27/09/2024

When I was reading the Nancy Drew book I was waiting to find more horror in the short stories inside it. I ask myself, “that's the scary thing?” But at the end the only thing I found was an attempt at something scary. 

The moment I chose to read the book I was excited because it is a classic book that so many people have read. When I started reading I found interest that inside, there are four short stories that are completely different between them in factors like; location and setting, but the only thing that they have in common is the ghosts. 

The first short story is about Nancy, the protagonist going to Japan with Bess, George and her dad, a lawyer that is solving a fight between manga artists Matsumoto and Kenji about the rights of “Ghost Warriors” a manga. But something weird happens by the appearance of ghosts that look the same as the characters of the warriors, that makes Nancy get involved by investigating the mystery and solving the conflict between them. 

The second short story is about Nancy and her friends participating in a terror TV show named “Can You Hack it?”, in the old mansion of Sarah Hacket that she built for no reason. During the show some things started to happen mysteriously but all the participants think the reason was special effects, until at one point the things seem to change and Nancy solves the mystery. 

The third short story is in a town named “River Heights” where Nancy, Bess and George lived. A new girl comes to town, and some ghost appears to Nancy that involves her to solve the mystery of the girl. The four short story is about a terror carnival that comes to town, Nancy and her friends go there but they find something else more scary than the rides, but a suspicious person that makes Nancy solve the mystery. 

When I finished reading the book I was astonished about the scary and terrifying things it promese. And I ask, “That was the scariest thing at all?” The appearance of ghosts was innate! The only thing ghosts do was appear only one time!, and the story converts into horror? Sorry, but unfortunately it is wrong. The stories were entertaining and good, but I will not classify them as horror because it was not found there. 

In the first short story for example the ghosts were only warriors, so it is not that scary!, because the only thing you are seeing are like crazy people with costumes, and all the vanishing things were like “What?”. 

In my opinion It is a good attempt at horror books. I would actually recommend it to childs under the age of 12 to 13 years old, because older years would be a little bit boring or they would feel astonished because of the nonexistent horror (like me).