Creeping myself out.

Nobody keeps me awake more than Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

Of course, there’s nothing quite like “The Shadow of the Wind”, but I still found myself gripped by “The Angel’s Game” and my latest read, “The Prince of Mist”.

Now “The Prince of Mist” was an earlier work, which was just translated from Spanish fairly recently. It is wrong to assume that this is similar to the depth and breadth of Ruiz Zafón’s later works. However, the same masterful storytelling of things that go bump in the night is present in this Young Adult novel, which can still give you the creeps, even if… well, you’re an adult in denial.

The Prince of Mist tells of a boy who moves with his family into a new home in the countryside, escaping the horrors of war. Yet, the boy eventually discovers the horrors that come with the new home—in particular, the Prince of Mist that comes back to settle some debts.

I must admit, I skipped some descriptions of haunting figures, largely because I don’t want to have crazy dream sequences involving clowns, for crying out loud (hated clowns when I was a kid, still hate them now). I think that’s the bookish version of running away from scary things.

In any case, Ruiz Zafón does a pretty darn good job with the creepers and adds a few moments of tenderness, which calls back your attention to the fact that this is a story of kids still discovering themselves—ending in obviously what is a loss of innocence. OK, I won’t say anything more. Just get yourself creeped out.