Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Lunatic's Curse
    Unavailable
    The Lunatic's Curse
    Unavailable
    The Lunatic's Curse
    Ebook296 pages4 hours

    The Lunatic's Curse

    By F. E. Higgins

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead

    About this ebook

    The town of Opum Oppidulum is home to the freezing Lake Beluarum and its rumored monster. On an island at the center of the lake is an asylum; no one has ever escaped it. So how will Rex, whose father, Ambrose Grammaticus, has been imprisoned there under false pretenses, prove that Ambrose is not insane? And if Rex can free his father, will his evil stepmother drive them both to madness?

    Higgins' fans will devour this deliciously scary tale, a "polyquel" to her previous books, all of which can be read singly or together. But not in the dark . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateAug 2, 2011
    ISBN9781429995436
    Author

    F. E. Higgins

    F. E. Higgins was born in England but raised in Ireland. She lives and writes in a house that dates back to the fifteenth century, in a small village in rural Kent. THE BLACK BOOK OF SECRETS was her debut novel.

    Read more from F. E. Higgins

    Related to The Lunatic's Curse

    Related ebooks

    Children's Fantasy & Magic For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      False Impressions

      Feb 1, 2020

      False Impressions
      10 min read

    • Article

      “Really?”

      Jun 2, 2022

      “Really?”
      6 min read

    • Article

      THE BOY WHO KEPT Bees

      Oct 6, 2021

      All you could hear was rain, rain, rain. Rain drumming on the slate roof, streaming down the kitchen window, saturating the meadows and the dark woods beyond. Jess waited until her dad had turned away to check his phone, then dropped her half-eaten s

      8 min read

    • Article

      The Christmas Cuckoo

      Dec 5, 2023

      The Christmas Cuckoo
      4 min read

    • Article

      “Now You Make the Tiger”: An Excerpt from Tania James’s ‘Loot’

      Jun 5, 2023

      "The French word for animal comes from the Latin animus, meaning breath." The post “Now You Make the Tiger”: An Excerpt from Tania James’s ‘Loot’ appeared first on The Millions.

      9 min read

    • Article

      FALSE IMPRESSIONS Part 4

      May 1, 2020

      Upon the death of his father, the slave Nabi-sin must leave the kitchens of his master, where his father had been embellisher, or cook. His master apprentices Nabisin to Zarriqum, slave and royal seal cutter to the household of King Hammurabi of Baby

      12 min read

    • Article

      Taking Sides

      Apr 1, 2022

      Taking Sides
      7 min read

    • Article

      FALSE IMPRESSIONS Part 3

      Apr 1, 2020

      FALSE IMPRESSIONS Part 3
      10 min read

    • Article

      Home to ROOST

      Jan 11, 2022

      Home to ROOST
      11 min read

    • Article

      Turtles Crossing

      Sep 1, 2020

      Turtles Crossing
      3 min read

    • Article

      GHOST In The HOUSE

      Oct 1, 2021

      GHOST In The HOUSE
      7 min read

    • Article

      HOME To Roost

      Mar 5, 2024

      HOME To Roost
      11 min read

    • Article

      The channel OF LOVE

      Sep 7, 2022

      The channel OF LOVE
      9 min read

    • Article

      DULCE DOMUM From The Wind In The Willows

      Nov 1, 2022

      DULCE DOMUM From The Wind In The Willows
      11 min read

    • Article

      The Glove

      Mar 4, 2024

      The Glove
      8 min read

    • Article

      Hans Hedgehog A GERMAN FOLK TALE

      Jan 1, 2019

      Hans Hedgehog A GERMAN FOLK TALE
      6 min read

    • Article

      Remains

      Sep 1, 2017

      THIS IS what you think your mother’s remains will look like. The ash will be black, like all that soot in the fireplace. It will be heavy, like wet sand. There will not be too much of it. It will fit in a small urn with intricate designs on the borde

      6 min read

    • Article

      Palabra

      Jun 1, 2023

      WHEN JOSEPH brought his young wife Palabra to visit Grandmother, his brother Ned, worried by the warmth and expansion of his chest, avoided his wife Stacey's eye, and Stacey understood that all eyes, male, female, old, young, were going henceforward

      5 min read

    • Article

      Back To Nature

      Apr 26, 2019

      Back To Nature
      4 min read

    • Article

      Confido BY KURT VONNEGUT

      Nov 1, 2022

      Confido BY KURT VONNEGUT
      13 min read

    • Article

      Suffering In Silence

      Jun 25, 2020

      Suffering In Silence
      3 min read

    • Article

      Summer at BEACON BAY HEIGHTS

      Aug 23, 2023

      Summer at BEACON BAY HEIGHTS
      9 min read

    • Article

      Mrs. Robinson

      Dec 10, 2022

      “Do you think she will like me?” The question slipped from between my lips and hung suspended in the air. My gloved hands were in my lap, and I was wringing them. As the carriage conveyed us and we neared my new husband’s ancestral home, Ashby Hall,

      20 min read

    • Article

      The Way to a Man’s Heart

      Feb 18, 2022

      The Way to a Man’s Heart
      5 min read

    • Article

      The King’s passion

      Aug 11, 2021

      The King’s passion
      11 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Lunatic's Curse

    3.5/5

    3 ratings3 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      This story gained momentum as it went on and true to Higgins writing it is worthwhile reading. Ambrose Grammaticus, a famous inventor and master engineer recently marries a younger woman Acantha. Out of character, Ambrose viciously attacks his own son, Rex and he is hauled to the island and imprisoned. Rex knows his evil stepmother, Acantha, is behind his father's 'madness', but how can he prove it? Only the asylum holds the answers, an inescapable asylum that stands in the centre of the freezing Lake Beluarum enclosed by the sheer cliffs of Drop Rock island. Within this lake is a large monster that needs to be fed regularly, but who feeds it and with what????? Lots of intertwined plots that are plausible and keep you reading, Great read
    • 3/5
      This is the fourth book in the Tales from the Sinister City; a series of stories featuring different sets of characters. This installment is probably my least favorite of the series, but it is still delightful creepy and disturbing. I love the dark gothic undertone to these books. Rex lives in the town of Opum Oppidulum which has its own creepy Asylum that is located on an island out on a lake which contains a huge monster. Rex hates his stepmother but adores his inventive father. When his father is accused of being insane, Rex thinks his stepmother may be behind his father’s madness. How will Rex prove his father’s sanity and what disturbing and dark secrets will he uncover along the way?This book is another delightfully creepy and dark book set outside a town that is similar to dark version of Victorian London. Like previous books this book deals with some uncomfortable topics; mainly insanity and torture with some cannabalism thrown in for good measure ...did I mention this was a dark book? Given the topic I am not sure this is still appropriate for middle grade readers...so just beware of the subject.The book is well written and full of wonderful descriptions that really make the atmosphere come alive. I really enjoy the way Higgins pieces the story together with newspaper articles and journal entries to make a complete picture. I love how the different pieces of media give the reader glimpses of the whole story.The characters are well enough done; Rex and a young girl are the feature characters. I liked that Rex was into inventing things and loved that the girl was determined to find out about her past. Still, both of the characters didn’t resonate with me like the characters in the previous books have...the characters are hard to like and engage with. There were a couple aspects of the story that I really enjoyed. I liked the steampunk feel to it; with Rex helping to build a crazy underwater walking machine. I loved the monster that dwelled in the lake; it was mysterious and eerie. This was a much darker story overall though. The icky factor was much higher than in the previous three books; more on the order of Rick Yancey’s Monstrumologist series than the previous book in this series. This made the story hard to enjoy; there are just so many dark and depraved things that happen in this book. The whole storyline is hinged on cannabalism and even our protagonist doesn’t escape unscathed.The book ends okay; let’s just say it’s a pretty depressing read overall. I ended up not enjoying the book as much as all of the others. It was just too dark, disturbing, and depressing.Overall an okay addition to this series. It is well written and has some really great parts to it; I love the inventing and the monster in the lake. I did not enjoy all of the cannibalism, torture, and the depressing nature of the story. I also had some trouble engaging with the characters. I would recommend this book to fans of Yancey’s Monstrumologist series; but would warn fans of this series that this is a much darker book than previous ones. I will most likely continue to read this series, if the next book follows in this book’s path then I will probably stop.
    • 3/5
      The Lunatic's Curse was good but not quite as good as the other installments in the Sinister City Series. Rex, is working to find a way to have his released from the insane asylum where he has been falsely imprisoned. This book is as creepy and unsettling as the other books but lacks the charm and wit founds in the other books. I enjoyed this book but it is my least favorite of all four volumes.