Spooksmiths Investigate: Circus of Shadows

Published on 24 August 2026 at 22:08

Spooksmiths Investigate: Circus of Shadows

🎪👻🔮🕯️

by Alex Atkinson

★★★★

At a glance

Things I loved:

✍🏼 Author: Alex Atkinson

📅 Release Date: 11th September 2025

📚 Book type: Illustrated chapter, 240 pages

🌟 Reader level: Growing

🎪 A brilliantly creepy circus setting
👻 Spooksmiths who can communicate with ghosts
🔮 A cursed crystal ball and deadly deadline
😱 Plenty of spooky moments without being terrifying
🌀 Two worlds creating an exciting adventure
🤝 Wonderful ghosts who help along the way

Dive Deeper

My Thoughts...

I read this book after a class call with the wonderful author Alex Atkinson. The spooky vibes and circus setting really took my fancy, and I knew my class would love it too!

The story follows Spooksmiths Indigo and Rusty, who have the incredible ability to speak to the dead and know how to deal with dangerous ghosts. But when the terrifying Hell Mary kidnaps their parents, they are given a deadly challenge: find her cursed crystal ball before sunrise, or their whole family will be trapped forever inside her haunted circus!

What I loved most about this book was the setting. Dipping between two worlds - the real world and a strange world created for ghosts of the past - made for such an exciting read. I was constantly on the edge of my seat, terrified that Indigo and Rusty might fade away forever before they could rescue their parents!

The idea of Indigo and Rusty's powers is also super appealing… speaking to the dead?! Yes please! Although Hell Mary is a total nightmare (as the name suggests!), I ended up loving many of the other ghosts they meet along the way.

Spooksmiths: Circus of Shadows is a fantastically fun and spooky adventure, with plenty of creepy moments but nothing too terrifying.

🌟I’d definitely recommend it to growing or confident readers who don’t mind a little bit of spookiness!🌟

Blurb

Roll up, roll up to be terrified out of your wits at the Circus of Shadows!

Run in horror from the phantom clown...
Meet a man made of flies on a real ghost train...
But scariest of all, hide from Hell Mary and her rings made of teeth. Because she has a deadly deal for you...
Spooksmiths Indigo and Rusty can speak to the dead and know how to fight dangerous ghosts. But now powerful spirit Hell Mary has kidnapped their parents - and if they don't agree to track down her cursed crystal ball by sunrise, she'll trap them all in her haunted circus for ever. Will their Spooksmith skills be enough to beat her?