Gustav Gloom and the Nightmare Vault by Adam-Troy Castro (Gustav Gloom, #2) [Illustrated by Kristen Margiotta]

"Who am I?" he roared, in tones so fearsome Fernie wondered why he'd ever bothered to use a gong. "You come into my house, scare my friends, chase away my family, and dare ask who I am? You could not possibly be so stupid!
My name's Gustav Gloom. Grandson of Lemuel Gloom, son of Hans, almost the son of Penelope, protector of this house and of my friends. If you're looking for anything inside these walls, you need to negotiate with ME."

[Click here to see my review of book 1: Gustav Gloom and the People Taker]

After reading the first book in this lovely gothic children's series, I had to get my hands on the sequels. I searched the bookstore in Paris where I'd bought the first one: nothing. I searched through each of the bookstores I normally frequent and still couldn't find anything. That's the wonderful thing about online shopping, though. You can almost always find what you need. I found this book and it's sequel on the Book Depository and ordered them as soon as possible.

The second book of the Gustav Gloom series begins just a few weeks after Fernie What's narrow escape from the clutches of the People Taker. Her family has been spending a great deal of time with Gustav, bringing over new foods he's never tried and generally giving him the pleasure of their human company. It's at one of these little picnics in the front of his yard that Fernie first spots the ice cream man.

After Aunt Mellifluous warns her against the ice cream man, Fernie grows suspicious, but it isn't until the man shows up in her house while her father's away that she and her sister, Pearlie, realize what danger they're in. It turns out, the ice cream man is a shadow eater named October who is searching for something called the Nightmare Vault. The trouble is, no one but he happens to know anything about this Nightmare Vault.

It's up to Fernie and Gustav to find out where the Nightmare Vault is and find it before October can. It's  the only way to stop him from destroying everyone either of them care about. But as the search becomes more frantic, the two children discover that the Nightmare Vault is more dangerous than they could have anticipated and that it very well might be the reason Gustav's parents are no longer with him.

I cannot get over how much I am loving this dark children's series. It's everything I hoped it would be: exciting, fun, scary, and filled to the brim with imaginative adventures and the kind of bravery that comes when someone you love is in terrible danger.

Once again, we get to run along with Gustav and Fernie through the Gloom mansion, discovering new rooms, strange creatures, and even a house inside the house. I especially enjoyed getting to learn quite  bit more about Gustav Gloom and how he came to be the only human living in a house filled with shadows.

I can't wait to read more of this lovely series and hope it continues for many books to come. I'll absolutely follow it until its end. You should do the same.

Rating: ★★★★★

She pounded on the door, screaming, "Gustav! I'm in trouble here!" 
"Yes," October said. "You are."
The black tendrils were now fewer than three feet from Fernie, and she couldn't have run in another direction even if she'd wanted to; they'd formed a cage around the two front steps to the Gloom house and blocked every other possible direction. 
"You should have cooperated," October said as the tendrils closed in. 
Fernie pounded on the door. "Please, please, please! Somebody let me in! I'm a friend of this house!"
The doors opened.