Jamie's Reviews > Hampton Heights: One Harrowing Night in the Most Haunted Neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This is a very weird book, you guys. But it's weird in a good way, not weird in a “I can't believe I suffered through this nonsense” sort of way. There are succubi and trolls and witches and werewolves and Burger King (one of these is not like the others), and it is a wild and entertaining ride.

Hampton Heights focuses on a group of paperboys (and their irresponsible boss, Kevin) who are sent out into Milwaukee's most bizarre neighborhood to sell newspaper subscriptions. When the boys are split up into pairs in order to canvass the neighborhood, this novel essentially becomes a series of interconnected short stories. Each pair (plus Kevin) have their own separate supernatural experiences while exploring Hampton Heights, and they don't meet up again until the very end.

My favorite story of the bunch was probably Ryan and Mark's adventure with the witches. There's something about it that's so magical and fairy tale-ish and perhaps even a little heartwarming. I'm just ever so slightly surprised that the witches' cottage wasn't made of gingerbread, because it seems like it should be that sort of tale.

Al and Nishu's experience with the troll is also a tremendously entertaining read – it's funnier and more lighthearted than the other chapters. What do you do when a troll is giving you problems? You trap it upside down in a backpack, of course!

Really, all of the boys' adventures are quite amusing and there wasn't a one of them that I didn't enjoy. And Kevin? Well, let's just say that Kevin should never be left alone in charge of children ever again and leave it at that. I mean, this book is set the 80s and I can say from first-hand experience that parents were a little more lax when it came to the quality of their kids' adult supervision back then, but I'm pretty sure that even my parents wouldn't have approved of Kevin's shenanigans.

While this book definitely has some horror elements, it's not scary at all. If you're not generally a horror fan, no worries – there's no blood or gore or jump scenes (can books have jump scenes?) or anything of the sort. There are monsters and supernatural occurrences, but they're more Hocus Pocus than A Nightmare on Elm Street, if that makes any sense.

So, yeah – this was a super fun and enjoyable read and I loved every minute of it. My overall rating: 4.55 stars, rounded up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.