Joella Peterson (Children's Literature)
Grubitsch “Grubbs” Grady’s life changes in one moment. Grubbs starts out as a normal kid who gets punished for a playing a cruel joke on his sister--he put dead rat guts on her bath-towel. Then, abnormally, the Grady parents and sister forgive Grubbs and send him to stay the night with an aunt. In an act of determined curiosity, Grubbs heads off to spy on his family, only to find demons murdering all three of them. Each gory description tempts readers to prove that this deliciously gruesome tale is for the stout of heart--or those reluctant teens that think they are. With a tale filled with everything from murder to werewolves, readers will race through each page to find a conclusion, if not to satisfy their own curiosity. Unfortunately, the text screams horror and suspense while the author hurries through the climax, resulting in a serious lack of consistency in the grotesque elements and action. However, Shan’s book will intrigue horror fans while attracting those looking for a good scare. 2005, Little Brown and Company, $15.99. Ages 14 to 18.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 18))
Any kid who has teased younger siblings with chants of "greasy, grimy, gopher guts" will feel right at home in this horror tale. Shan, author of the successful Cirque du Freak series, introduces Grubitsch ("Call me Grubbs!") Grady, a youngster who loses his immediate family to gruesome death at the hands of the demon Lord Loss and his two familiars, Vein and Artery. Pushed violently into a macabre world of multiple dimensions, Grubbs must struggle to deal with a new vision of reality and his own potential future trials at the hands of the demon lord. He is helped by his uncle Dervish, a magician, and his new best friend in the village, Bill-E. It is clear that the Grady family suffers from a long-term curse, one that has already struck down Grubbs's parents and sister. Will he be next? Will Dervish? The pace is non-stop, keeping the reader turning pages at a breathtaking rate. Details tend to be graphic and gruesome, and not for the faint of heart. This volume is the first in a new series, The Demonata. 2005, Little, Brown, 224p, $15.99. Category: Fantasy. Ages 13 up. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Paula Rohrlick (KLIATT Review, September 2005 (Vol. 39, No. 5))
The popularity of Shan’s Cirque du Freak series guarantees an audience for this creepy horror story, first in a new series. “I’ve seen demons rip my world to pieces,” teenager Grubbs Grady wails, and he means it literally--his parents and sister are torn apart by terrible creatures from another dimension, and he barely escapes with his life. No one will believe his story and he ends up in an institution, lost to grief and fear, until his Uncle Dervish appears. Dervish believes Grubbs’s tale and takes Grubbs to live with him in his huge stone house in the English countryside, where he reveals to him more about Lord Loss, the demon master who feeds on human suffering. He also tells Grubbs about the family curse--a werewolf gene runs in the clan. When Grubbs’s teenage relative and close friend Billy starts to turn into a werewolf, Dervish and Grubbs must take on Lord Loss and his terrible minions in a chess battle of life and death. The secret weapon of teens everywhere, sullen indifference, is the key to winning, Grubbs discovers. Short, staccato sentences and the use of the present tense help raise the tension level in this supernatural page-turner. Lots of gore, including dismemberment, and the descriptions of the nightmarish demons make this appropriate only for those with strong stomachs--it’s gross as well as engrossing. The cover, with a close-up of a menacing hand and a boy in the background with his hand to his throat, conveys the novel’s sense of menace nicely. Horror fans will eat this up. A sequel is promised for fall 2006. (Demonata #1) Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2005, Little, Brown, 240p., $15.99. Ages 12 to 18.

n/a (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January 2006 (Vol. 59, No. 5))
Aside from his morbid imagination and somewhat excessive bent for grossout mischief (such as putting rat guts in his sister’s bath towel), Grubbs Grady is a seemingly normal kid. Then his world collides with that of Lord Loss, a white-lipped demon who feeds on the fear and grief of humans. Grubbs comes home to discover his entire family ripped into shreds and only narrowly escapes being destroyed himself by Lord Loss’ familiars, Artery (a flame-eyed child whose scalp swarms with cockroaches) and Vein (a dog-crocodile hybrid). Orphaned and haunted by his family’s death, Grubbs is taken in by his uncle Dervish, hoping he’ll be safe from any further horrors in the countryside. However, when Grubbs learns that the Grady family is the victim of an ancient curse (some turn into werewolves), and that one of its victims is his recently discovered half-brother Bill-E, he must face Lord Loss again, bargaining for Bill-E’s cure in a risky, demon-choreographed battle that is part chess tournament, part brawl. In contrast to the vampires of Shan’s Cirque du Freak series (BCCB 6/01), Lord Loss has no traces of humanity--he plays by different rules than humans, unless, of course, he is playing chess. Lord Loss’ obsession with chess is his weakness, and the possibility of defeating him (along with Dervish’s magical prowess) injects hope into an otherwise bleak landscape. In this first volume in the Demonata series, Shan’s dark themes and gruesome descriptions are relieved with periodic bursts of sly humor and snappy dialogue, buoyed by a plot that mercilessly drives the reader forward to an unexpected conclusion. The graphic end met by Grubbs’ family early on lets reader know exactly what they are in for; those who don’t mind literal (and liberal) blood and guts will be haunted by this tale of demons, werewolves, and dark magic. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2005, Little, 233p, $15.99. Grades 7-12.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2006)
After his parents and sister attempt a deal with demonic Lord Loss to cure a family curse, Grubbs Grady witnesses their gruesome deaths. Secretive Uncle Dervish gains custody, and the two battle Lord Loss (in combat and in chess) to save another life. Though characters are rarely as detailed as the gore, the fast, occasionally innovative plot will hold readers' attention. (Demonata series). Category: Older Fiction. 2005, Little, 224pp, 15.99. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.

Erin K. Kilby (VOYA, October 2005 (Vol. 28, No. 4))
Shan pumps up the gore to maximum decibels in his ghastly introduction to the Demonata series, where werewolves and demons take center stage. Fans will remain riveted to the aggressive, clipped prose that propels Grubitsch, or "Grubbs," into the ghastly adversity of witnessing a triple otherworldly homicide and to his captivity as a mental patient. Grubbs's only hope for freedom-from the asylum and his terror-rests with his one mysterious ally, Uncle Dervish. The safety of Carcery Vale, the location of Uncle Dervish's magically protected mansion, becomes merely an illusion, however, when the mauled corpses of animals begin to litter the property, and Grubbs finds out that he must face his greatest fears yet again. Readers who devour Shan's Cirque du Freak books will be snapping like werewolves themselves to get this book. Shan uses the age-old idiom that all families have skeletons-or in this case, werewolves-in their closets to weave in complex themes like family loyalty and betrayal without being didactic. And despite the controversial nature of demons and werewolves, the classic conflict helps reveal the heart of the tale-that with loyalty and love, good has a fighting chance of triumphing over evil. VOYA CODES: 3Q 4P M J (Readable without serious defects; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2005, Little Brown, 224p., $15.99. Ages 11 to 15.