Shadow Catchers
The shadows aren’t just following you.
They’re catching up.
Something is wrong with the shadows.
Eleven-year-old Joe notices things other people don’t.
A shadow that moves when it shouldn’t. A friend who suddenly seems different. His sister Ami standing completely still, as though part of her has simply disappeared.
Nobody believes him. Not even Dad.
But when the same thing begins happening to Tom, Joe knows he can’t wait for the adults to catch up.
Because the shadows aren’t just following people. They’re changing them.
He notices what everyone else misses.
Joe is eleven, stubborn, observant and very good at spotting when something doesn’t fit.
He also happens to use a wheelchair.
When the shadows begin changing the people around him, Joe starts watching, testing and writing down everything he discovers.
Light helps. Sometimes.
Noise helps. Sometimes.
And the shadows seem to be learning too.
The boy’s voice lifted when the song reached the chorus.
He paused mid-step.
His shadow touched the hedge’s shadow,
and the dark thickened.
Zip.
Joe’s Notes
Part diary. Part experiment. Part desperate attempt to work out the rules before the shadows reach someone else.
I thought Tom was gone.
Like really gone.
My whole stomach went weird and I couldn’t breathe properly
and I was shouting but I couldn’t get there.
Creepy. Mysterious. Very much about family.
Supernatural mystery
Uneasy, suspenseful and strange rather than gory.
Family at the centre
Siblings, trust, secrets and the fear of losing someone who is still standing right in front of you.
For readers 10–13
Middle-grade psychological horror with plenty of creeping tension.
The Shadow Catchers series
The Shifting Shadows
Joe sees what the shadows are doing. Seeing them is only the beginning.
The Gathering Shadows
Coming next.
The Broken Shadows
Coming later.
Ready to enter the shadows?
Shadow Catchers: The Shifting Shadows
by Clint Chalmers.
New Zealand readers can purchase directly
from Creative Young Minds NZ.