CREEP IT UNDER WRAPS

A self-centered mummy learns a tough lesson.

This second volume of the Monster High School Spirits series follows image-obsessed mummy Cleo de Nile, who divides her time between making videos for EekTok and scheming how to catch her jet-setting parents’ attention. Cleo begins to plan HumanCon, a convention in which monsters will celebrate and learn about all things human. As her plans grow more grandiose, she stumbles upon an item she thinks would be the perfect prize for the con’s costume contest; after she steals it, however, she quickly learns that the object has cursed her. Now Cleo is moving in a trancelike way, helping everyone around her whether she wants to or not. It gets to the point where she eschews sleep and food, despite being hungry and exhausted. Can Cleo figure out how to break the curse before it’s too late? Based on the Nickelodeon show, Cuevas’ work falls solidly in line with the tone and pacing of 2023’s A Fright To Remember. Fans of the franchise will be well acquainted with the vast character list and bespoke monster lingo. Newcomers may be deterred by the bloated list of monsters (some garnering nothing more than a passing mention) and the endless monster puns. Cleo’s journey to self-realization is predictable and facile, becoming obvious to readers long before it is to Cleo.

An overly moralistic tone weighs down the appeal of this volume.