Dreams of the Dead (The Waking Series) »

Thomas Randall is the author of the popular children's fantasy series Adventures in Strangewood. He lives in New York and frequently vacations in places that only exist inside his own head.

www.thomasrandall.net

When Kara Foster starts her new school in Japan, she has no idea she's about to confront an ancient evil. But before long, Kara begins to have nightmares, and soon students turn up dead, viciously attacked by someone . . . or something.

As Kara makes friends, she learns that there are secrets haunting the student body. Is the spirit of a murdered girl seeking revenge? Or is the culprit more ancient and terrifying than an American outsider can understand? A spooky new edition welcomes teen horror fans to the first book in this riveting series.

Kirkus Reviews

Newly transplanted to Japan, 16-year-old blond-haired, blue-eyed Kara Foster is a gaijin, or outsider. Excited to start a new life in an unfamiliar country, Kara is eager to assimilate into Japanese culture, although when she is bullied by a group of popular girls she quickly learns that her new school has the same clique issues as its American counterparts. When mysterious, supernaturally tinged deaths start to occur, it becomes very clear to Kara how different this school really is, however, and soon the young gaijin finds herself embroiled in terrifying circumstances of madness and murder. Drawing upon Japanese mythology and Noh plays, Randall (a pseudonym of Christopher Golden) delivers many elements typical to teen horror movies, including such tropes as sleep-deprived students plagued by horrible nightmares, teetering on the brink of madness. While a rather mediocre horror offering that tends to rely too heavily on plot to drive its action forward, it does incorporate many elements of contemporary Japanese culture and thus may appeal to those with an interest in it, especially manga fans. (Horror. YA)