Fiendish Deeds
P. J. Bracegirdle
This is the first book in the series that introduces Will Henry and Dr. Warthrop in their exploration of monstrous creatures.
The Monstrumologist: Curse of the Wendigo
by Rick Yancey
Children's Books
★★★★★5.0 (1)
A grisly, surprisingly literary Gothic horror novel that uses a wilderness monster hunt to explore obsession, hunger, and the bruising bond between a boy and his brilliant, neglectful mentor.
What It's About
This is the second book in Rick Yancey's Monstrumologist series, presented as the recovered journals of William James Henry, who in 1888 was the twelve-year-old orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a scientist who studies real-world monsters. Here a plea from Warthrop's past sends the pair into the frozen Canadian backwoods to search for a missing colleague who went looking for the Wendigo, a creature from Algonquian legend. Warthrop insists the thing cannot exist. What they find, and what follows them back to New York, tests that certainty.
Yancey writes in a deliberately old-fashioned, ornate voice full of long sentences, philosophical asides, and sharp, often darkly funny dialogue between Will Henry and the doctor. The horror is visceral and frequently gruesome, but the book is just as interested in arguments about science versus belief and in the slow, painful history between Warthrop and the people he once loved.
Reading it feels less like a quick creature feature and more like a Victorian novel that happens to contain monsters. It moves in two very different registers, a tense survival story in the wilderness and a more claustrophobic, talky stretch in the city, so pacing varies. Readers who enjoyed the first book's atmosphere will find this one deeper in emotional terms, with Will Henry's loyalty and loneliness at its center. It works best read after the first volume, though it can stand alone.
Read this if you…
- want horror with real literary ambition rather than cheap scares
- enjoyed the first Monstrumologist book and want more of Will Henry and Warthrop
- like Victorian settings, unreliable science, and morally complicated mentors
Skip it if you…
- are squeamish about graphic gore, body horror, and cannibalism
- prefer fast, plot-driven books with plain modern prose
Key Ideas
- 1
Science against the inexplicable
Warthrop is a rationalist who believes monstrumology must deal only with creatures that obey natural law. The Wendigo forces him, and the reader, to ask what happens when evidence and belief collide. The book stages this debate both in the wilderness and among his professional peers, without handing out an easy answer about what is real.
- 2
Hunger as a metaphor
The Wendigo, a being that grows hungrier the more it consumes, becomes a lens for human appetites: ambition, possessive love, the craving for knowledge or recognition. Several characters are consumed by wanting something they cannot have, and Yancey quietly draws parallels between the monster and the people chasing it.
- 3
A boy and his difficult guardian
The emotional core is Will Henry's relationship with Warthrop, who is by turns cruel, dismissive, dependent, and fiercely protective. The book is honest about how a child can love someone who neglects him, and about how that attachment shapes who he becomes. It is often more unsettling than the monster itself.
- 4
Old-fashioned Gothic storytelling
Framed as found journals of an elderly narrator looking back, the novel uses period diction, footnote-like asides, and a melancholy retrospective tone. This gives the horror weight and the humor a dry edge, and it rewards readers who like immersive historical voice rather than brisk modern prose.
Limitations
Despite being shelved with children's books, this is intensely violent and better suited to older teens and adults; parents of younger readers should preview it. The ornate, deliberately archaic style and long conversational stretches slow the pace, and some readers find the middle section in New York drags after the wilderness opening. Warthrop's harshness toward Will Henry can be wearing. The book also draws on an Indigenous legend largely through the eyes of white Victorian characters, which some readers will find thin in cultural terms.
Questions Readers Ask
- Is The Curse of the Wendigo appropriate for children?
- Generally not for younger children. Although it is often shelved as children's or YA fiction, it contains graphic descriptions of mutilation and death plus heavy psychological themes. Most readers and parents treat it as suitable for mature teens, roughly fourteen and up, and it is equally aimed at adult horror fans.
- Do I need to read The Monstrumologist first?
- It helps. The sequel has its own self-contained monster hunt, but much of its emotional power comes from the established relationship between Will Henry and Warthrop and from details introduced in the first book. Starting with book one will make the characters and the framing device far more rewarding.
- How does it compare to the first book?
- The first book is a tighter, more relentless horror story. This sequel is more reflective and character-driven, spending more time on Warthrop's past, his romantic history, and philosophical arguments about what monsters are. Some fans prefer its emotional depth; others miss the first book's momentum.
- Published
- 2010
- ISBN
- 9780857070197
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Category
- Children's Books
Book details and cover from Google Books.
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