First published 2009
Will Henry serves as apprentice to a doctor who hunts monsters in nineteenth century New England. The orphaned boy has learned to expect late night visitors and dangerous work. One caller arrives with a gruesome discovery: the body of a young girl and the creature that was devouring her. The doctor identifies it as a baby Anthropophagus, a headless beast that feeds through a mouth located in its chest. This specimen signals something worse. A growing population of these monsters threatens the region. Will and his master must track down and destroy the Anthropophagi before the creatures overrun their world. The boy faces horrors that will test everything he has learned about courage and survival. Publishers Weekly praised the book, noting that horror lovers will be captivated by the story.
Genres: adventure, mystery, horror, 19th-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: coming-of-age, found-family
Setting: New England
Period: 19th Century
427 pages · Kindle Edition · Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Content warnings: body-horror, gore, violence