Josh's mom pushes an ugly teddy bear on him that belonged to his stepfather when he was a kid. His stepfather is creepy. He is always eyeing Josh, smirking at him, and when he laughs, it gives Josh chills. This teddy bear is a nasty-looking panda bear with beady eyes and long fangs. Pretty soon, Josh realizes he should be deeply afraid of this teddy bear....

Edgar (the bear) does horrible things that gets Josh into trouble, and in turn his stepfather punishes him. I actually teared up while reading about those cruel punishments. My heart tore for Josh. I just wanted to protect him and beat the you-know-what out of the stepfather.

J.H. Moncrieff has a real gift with all things that go bump in the night. She captured many childhood fears just in this short story (80 or so pages). It brought back memories from my childhood and the things I was afraid of. She is a pro at unraveling a spooky, often heart-breaking tale, and really did a great job writing in the perspective of a ten-year-old angry and frightened boy.

The end was a huge shock for me. I didn't see it coming, which is a HUGE compliment.

If you want to read a spooky story with twist after twisted twist, and great writing, look no further!