The Clackity is the debut, middle-grade novel from Lora Senf, released in the summer of 2022. The book evokes shades of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Labyrinth, Edward Gorey, and 90s-era Nickelodeon.
The story of The Clackity is centered on preteen Evie who lives with her aunt Desdemona in the town of Blight Harbor. When Desdemona goes missing in the town’s old and abandoned abattoir, Evie investigates with the hopes of rescuing her. She meets the titular Clackity, a nefarious shadowy being that is part Cheshire cat, part Oogie Boogie, and 100% can not be trusted. The Clackity tells Evie where Desdemona has been taken to, but in return she must venture into another world, with a black sun and purple sky, to visit seven houses, and bring back John Jeffrey Pope, a serial killer from Blight Harbor’s past. Within each house is a test that challenges Evie’s wits and bravery. Aside from negotiating the houses, Evie must keep pace ahead of the pursuing Pope while also completing all her tasks before black sun down.
The Clackity is overflowing with vivid imagination, an amalgamation of child-like nightmares. Each house Evie visit has its own personality. One has a maze of repeating doors that must be entered in a certain order (think of those forest mazes in the original Zelda on the NES), another a gingerbread house, and one is even a house made from a witch who turns into a tree. There is a bag of holding, magical boats, distorted forests, enchanted flowers, birds that become shadow tattoos, infinity pits, and so on. If a child’s imagination can dream it, Senf grabs it, reworks it, and turns it into a wondrous component of The Clackity.
In addition to how varied and versatile The Clackity is, the prose is beautifully executed. Narrated in first-person perspective, Evie (by way of Senf) describes the world (both real and unreal) around her in a creative ways. Interspersed in the text of the book are black and white illustrations by Alfredo Cáceres that are a cross between Charles Addams, Edward Gorey, and Tony Di’Terlizzi. The illustrations capture Senf’s set pieces and underscore the novel’s atmosphere.
If there is a theme for The Clackity it is about bravery combined with a “fake it till you make it” ethos. Evie puts on the bravest face she can, and even changes her looks (hair cut, mascara, etc.) to give the impression that she is a warrior, even if she doesn’t feel it it. As she adventures through the seven houses, her bravery is put to the test, and often times she freezes with fear. The Clackity normalizes that it is ok to be afraid of big things, and that bravery isn’t sudden: it’s something to strive toward, mimic, and eventually you become it. It also underscores that even in moments that we lose our brave face, there is a safety net of others (shadow birds, witches, etc. in the case of The Clackity, but in real life, friends, family, etc.) to be there to be supportive. A person is never alone, there is always someone.
Even though The Clackity (book and monster) can be scary, the story is incredibly fun. Readers root for Evie in her highs and lows in her quest to rescue her aunt, feel and empathize with her emotions, but also have their imagination sparked by Senf’s descriptions of the unreal world. A creative and spooky endeavor, The Clackity is a fantastic dark, adventurous story.
Lore Senf can be found at:
Lora Senf was also a guest on The H. P. Lovecast Podcast. That episode can be streamed here or in the embedded player below.
