This story had so many ingredients, blending horror and fairytale tropes together to create a wildly imaginative story perfect for Halloween, with a great plot twist that even got me as an adult reader. I love the campfire vibe of the short stories Alex told every night, and the mystery surrounding the apartment.

I liked that the witch managed to be more than a stereotypical villain, and in later chapters gave me strong Kingfisher / McGuire vibes. I really enjoyed following Alex and Yasmin as they bonded, and Yasmin's Syrian culture was a great touch that really added a lot of depth to the story.

The short horror stories were genuinely interesting, and did feel like they could have been written by a kid Alex's age, and never dragged on for more than a couple of pages. They really reminded me of [book:The Midnight Club|84075], and fitted really well into the story without taking me out of the main story.