Meddling Kids

by Edgar Cantero

Overview

"Deliriously wild, funny and imaginative. Cantero is an original voice."
--Charles Yu, author of How to Live in a Science Fictional Universe

With raucous humor and brilliantly orchestrated mayhem, Meddling Kids subverts teen detective archetypes like the Hardy Boys, the Famous Five, and Scooby-Doo, and delivers an exuberant and wickedly entertaining celebration of horror, love, friendship, and many-tentacled, interdimensional demon spawn.

SUMMER 1977. The Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in Oregon’s Zoinx River Valley) solved their final mystery and unmasked the elusive Sleepy Lake monster—another low-life fortune hunter trying to get his dirty hands on the legendary riches hidden in Deboën Mansion. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids.

1990. The former detectives have grown up and apart, each haunted by disturbing memories of their final night in the old haunted house. There are too many strange, half-remembered encounters and events that cannot be dismissed or explained away by a guy in a mask. And Andy, the once intrepid tomboy now wanted in two states, is tired of running from her demons. She needs answers. To find them she will need Kerri, the one-time kid genius and budding biologist, now drinking her ghosts away in New York with Tim, an excitable Weimaraner descended from the original canine member of the club. They will also have to get Nate, the horror nerd currently residing in an asylum in Arkham, Massachusetts. Luckily Nate has not lost contact with Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star who was once their team leader . . . which is remarkable, considering Peter has been dead for years.

The time has come to get the team back together, face their fears, and find out what actually happened all those years ago at Sleepy Lake. It’s their only chance to end the nightmares and, perhaps, save the world.

A nostalgic and subversive trip rife with sly nods to H. P. Lovecraft and pop culture, Edgar Cantero’s Meddling Kids is a strikingly original and dazzling reminder of the fun and adventure we can discover at the heart of our favorite stories, no matter how old we get.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385542005
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/11/2017
Series:	Blumhouse Books
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Edgar Cantero is a writer and cartoonist born in Barcelona in 1981. Meddling Kids is his second novel in English; his first was The Supernatural Enhancements.

Read an Excerpt

It starts when you pull the lamp chain and light doesn’t come. Then you know you will never wake up in time, you will not make it to the end of this paragraph alive. Desperate reassuring thoughts try to rise over the panic in your head: it’s okay, you don’t need lights, you are practically awake already. You are lying on your bed, you can guess the familiar shape of the side lamp in the morning twilight and hear the old radiator clunking in the night; you are safe. It’s just that the lamp doesn’t work. But you want it to work; you need to dispel the darkness and let certainty outline the room so the things outside know you’re awake and won’t dare enter, and you pull the chain again and again, and you recall the lamp switch has failed before (has it?), and look, the lightbulb really is trying, though it barely manages to seep a wan glow, and it’s not enough to flash the room out of the shadows, but who needs more, the lamp says, you’re here, this is your room, I am your lamp, that’s your radiator going clunk in the night, that’s the same old closed door beyond which things might lurk and breathe skinless and eyeless, but you can rest, we promise we don’t exist really, lie down. Or are you lying down? Because you think you’re up on your elbows, but your arms aren’t feeling the weight now that you focus on them; in fact, your eyeballs are not moving, and then you try to say “hey” but your throat isn’t responding either, so you cling to the sheets (Do you? Are your fingernails truly scratching the linen?) and you struggle to emit a sound, make your vocal cords vibrate, push some air through your windpipe, just feel your fucking windpipe, for God’s sake, shout and wake up the slumbering blob that is you on your bed, sleeping, dreaming, at the mercy of drooling things outside the closed door, and you pull pull pull pull pull the chain and the lamp insists, I can’t, it’s a technical fault, but I promise you you’re awake, look at me, I’m your good old lamp, I’ve never lied to you, the chain has failed before, you know this, you should install a real switch you can snap on and off, and that’s when you realize your bedside lamp never had a chain. Furthermore, there’s no radiator in the room that can go clunk. It’s their footsteps (clunk), and the door is already open—try to shout—they’re in your room—try to shout—they’re creeping up your bed (clunk), stretching toward you (clunk), squamous ice-cold webbed fingers aiming for your spine—try to SHOUT!
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Meddling Kids"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Edgar Cantero.
Excerpted by permission of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Reading Group Guide

1. The opening of the book sees the members of the Blyton Summer Detective Club (BSDC) as adults, and reveals their childhood stories in non-linear episodes. Did you find that this technique created suspense and mystery? How else does Cantero build tension throughout the book?

2. What did you make of BSDC’s choice to go back to Blyton Hills and return to the Deboën Mansion? Would you have made the same decision?

3. For years, Nate has been plagued by hallucinations of the deceased Peter. However, Peter has a real impact on Nate’s choices and actions. How reliable do you consider Nate’s interactions with Peter to be? Are they a figment of imagination or is Peter still an active member of the group?

4. The narrator in Meddling Kids has a very distinct voice and personality. Did you find yourself connecting with the voice? What did the narrative voice add to your reading experience?

5. Meddling Kids draws on archetypes from The Hardy Boys, The Famous Five, and Scooby-Doo—how did your knowledge of characters from those works inform your reading of the novel?

6. The supernatural plot in the book borrows heavily from cosmic horror, H.P. Lovecraft, and the Cthulhu Mythos. How much of those inspirations can you recognize in the scenarios, the props, even the supporting characters in Meddling Kids?

7. Which member of the BSDC do you identify most with? Why?

8. The character of Dunia Deboën, even after the final revelations, is shrouded in mystery: by the end, we know tidbits from her past, but nothing about her true origins—and her future is left open as well. Do you like this ambiguity? Do you think it's intentional?

9. Were you surprised by the ending of Meddling Kids? If so, what did you expect to happen?

Editorial Reviews

"Edgar Cantero’s enjoyably batty Meddling Kids unleashes enough freaky pleasure for
 horror fiends. Even more impressively, it scratches a nostalgic itch for those who grew up on Saturday morning Scooby-Doo cartoons and sugar-bombed breakfast cereal . . . The story proves as cleverly witty as its title. It's filled with high jinks both terrorizing and hilarious, and it goes down as smoothly as an old-school Scooby Snack."
—USA Today (***½ out of four stars)

"Why You'll Like It: While this is obviously an ode to Scooby Doo, Supernatural fans will love the idea of a group of mystery hunters coming back together after leaving the business, and grappling with the realities of both."
—Bustle

"A pop-culture gem, a hipster cartoon with surprising depths."
—Toronto Star

“This is a novel to read for style and for Cantero's clever allusions to other stories and media.…Anyone who finds the triangle formed by Scooby-Doo, Lovecraft and Buffy the Vampire Slayer a cozy place to be, here's your beach book.”
— Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

"Deliriously wild, funny and imaginative. Cantero is an original voice."
—Charles Yu, author of How to Live in a Science Fictional Universe

"If you loved Scooby-Doo as a kid (or as an adult — no judgment), you’ll love this sly take on the genre."
—New York Post

"MEDDLING KIDS is a fun romp of horror, humor, adventure, and a surprising amount of heart. If you’re looking for something that feels both comfortably familiar and exciting and new, add this book to your summer reading list."
—Aintitcool.com

"Meddling Kids is an utterly charming paean to a squad of animated teen detectives who fought down the crime wave of early-70's America. Amidst the homages and playfulness, it then transforms into a rip-roaring page turner. Throughout, Cantero plays with form and language in ways that are both mischievous and delightful. This would be impressive enough coming from a native of the country, decade, and language that the book operates in. As Cantero is none of the above, it's flat-out masterful.”
—Rob Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Year Zero

"A crackerjack story which is pure gold for fans of the great Saturday morning cartoons of the seventies and eighties...Prepare to read through this fun novel with a grin and hands gripping the pages."
—Cemetery Dance

"Zoinks! For Scooby-Doo fans, Spanish writer Edgar Cantero’s novel “Meddling Kids” is Scooby-meets-H.P. Lovecraft — either humor-laced horror or horror-laced humor. Cantero does justice to both sides of that equation...For anyone who finds the triangle formed by Scooby-Doo, Lovecraft and Buffy the Vampire Slayer a cozy place to be, here’s your beach book."
—San Antonio Express-News

"For any adult who grew up with "Scooby Doo," but also for those who love horror stories. There are real monsters in this book, not just bad guys in costumes."
—The News-Gazette

"Here is the mash-up fans of Scooby Doo and H.P. Lovecraft have been waiting for...Childhood pop culture references, witty banter and an unpredictable plot make this a compelling mystery/horror story."
—Shelf Awareness (Starred review)

"Cantero’s imagination is vivid, and the story, once it gains speed, continues at a breakneck, roller-coaster pace. He plays with form and style, which makes for an enjoyable romp. Fans of modern takes on Lovecraft and those that are nostalgic for the cartoons of their childhood will like this novel, which is also a sure bet for your Stranger Things-themed display."
—Booklist (Starred review)

"Cantero (The Supernatural Enhancements) will win readers’ hearts with this goofy, smart love letter to childhood adventure and enduring friendship...The prose is fast and funny, and the quirky, lovable characters are absolutely irresistible."
—Publishers Weekly

"The Scooby-Doo Gang all grown up—but more diverse—and taking on real Lovecraftian horror. It's laugh out loud. Truly scary. And full of great characters. Cantero hits the sweet spot by unfolding the action in a beautifully cinematic fashion."
—The Times

"An adventure that meshes Lovecraft-like elements with an eco-catastrophe thriller, providing chills and chuckles in equal measure."
—Financial Times

From the Publisher

2017-04-18
Barcelona-based novelist Cantero (The Supernatural Enhancements, 2014) returns with a lightly spun yarn steeped in decades-old American pop media.The members of the Blyton Summer Detective Club, who last adjourned in 1977 after sleuthing around the improbably named Zoinx River Valley in search of supernatural beings, have got the band back together a decade and a half later—well, with all but one of their number, who has inconveniently died. But are the dead ever dead? No, of course not. Of the original crew, Andy has turned into a butch, spiky young woman seemingly bucking for a dragon tattoo to call her own. Nate, "pale, blue-eyed, more worn but still fragile," let the ghosts get to him and has been in and out of mental institutions. Kerri has visions, too, but mostly ones brought on after one too many hits off the bottle. And there's a telepathic dog, too, that just may be living proof of metempsychosis. ("Please do not feel deceived: he has been your dog all this time. I just ride along.") If all this smacks of Scooby-Doo, then that's by design, though it's not the only mass-media allusion: glimmers of The Haunting, Dark Shadows, the Witch Mountain franchise, Halloween, and Tales from the Crypt dance above the swamp. There's even a satisfying explanation for "why bad guys charge at Jackie Chan in a single row," albeit the bad guys in question are your garden-variety hell beasts, "drooling, hissing, claw-waving creatures." Undergods, Thtaggoalites, uber-demons, six-limbed monsters: whatever the other side can throw at our gumshoes they deal with handily if cartoonishly. Cantero is a lively, capable writer, but this isn't much of a stretch for him; he seems determined to occupy the middlebrow midrange, turning in a piece better fitting an episode of The Librarians than, say, a spooky exercise by Guillermo del Toro. Meddling? Middling. A pleasing enough confection, but no great advance for either pop culture or the author's development.

Kirkus Reviews