The Attack of the Killer Prom Dresses by Donna McClaire

Kim Howell has two weeks to make prom dresses for three classmates, but her brand-new sewing machine goes totally ape. When she hears strange jabbering in her bedroom closet she realizes unseen

“Otherworldies” came with the sewing machine!

Whoops . . . her life will never again be the same. The problem is, when she’s sure things can’t get worse . . . they do!

Trouble begins in earnest when two classmates attack her when they try on their dresses. Then the third dress is stolen from an overturned pickup on a lonely gravel road. A strange shawled woman spies on Kim from various hiding places, magic paper flowers have strange affects on her other classmates, life-threatening flames threaten to consume her—these and other weird happenings make her life almost unbearable.

Kim’s mom takes her to a psychiatrist, and Kim doubts her own sanity. Then an invisible Otherworldie lets it slip. Something major—make that earth shattering, perhaps even world-ending—is to happen at the prom. What is it? And whatever it is, can she stop it?

Kim uses her brains, humor, a huge amount of street smarts, great willpower, and the love of her boyfriend as she fights to foil the Otherworldies’ ghoulish plans.

Will she succeed? If not, her very life—and the world itself—will never be the same again!

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ISBN:978-1-934614-06-8

View other titles by Donna McClaire

Genre: YA paranormal thriller

Book length: Novel

Reviews and Awards:

"Five Angels!

Attack of the Killer Prom Dresses by Donna McClaire is one of the best young adult books I have had the pleasure of reading in a long time. It is fast paced and fun, something that anyone with a sense of humor is sure to love. Kim Howell, who is busy trying to beat the prom date deadline she has for finishing sewing dresses for three of her classmates, becomes an unlikely victim of a spanking new sewing machine run amok! It doesn’t take long before she realizes the sewing machine didn’t come alone, and those that accompany the machine are living in her closet. While those who love her wonder if she’s lost her mind, Kim finds the prom will have an ugly side to it, unless she can somehow find a way to change the course of fate. Will Kim be able to redirect the course of events at the prom and change the world? Or will she become a victim to something far more sinister than a wacked out machine?

This is a story that will, I think, catch the attention of young readers, as well as hold the interest of older readers. It has been a long time since I was a young adult, but I enjoyed every page of Attack of the Killer Prom Dresses. I think the reason is that although it has been years since I went to my prom, this author writes it all with such vivid descriptions that I could see and feel everything. The nuances of dialogue, the characters’ emotions and even the fearful realization that something evil lurked just outside the reader’s range of vision were all brought fully to the story. The reader is present on every page and that is what makes this story so special. Donna McClaire has written an offbeat story with normal, everyday characters so even though the scenario is unusual it is easy to identify with her characters, especially with Kim and her mom."

~Marlene for FALLEN ANGEL REVIEWS

"...Kim is making four prom dresses for her and three friends. Soon though, strange things are happening and she and her sewing machine are involved with an odd old woman and even odder things coming out of the closet. Kim thinks the strain may be getting to her, but with her boyfriend Mike she intends to find the truth... When her sewing machine starts sewing on its own Kim knows there is trouble. Soon her friends are acting odd and what is in the closet? Will Kim and Mike be able to save themselves and their friends before Prom ends?

...The girl’s closeness and caring was moving and in the end even evil creatures couldn’t compete with friendship. The dialogue was perfect and the quest for the perfect prom dress versus otherworld creatures kept me turning pages all night. Every character was unique enough to be special. I truly feel I have met these people in real life and this made the book sing for me. "

~Anya for Coffee Time Romance

Attack of the Killer Prom Dresses (snicker) is as silly and funny as the title implies. Aspiring fashion designer and high-school senior Kim Howell is a finalist for one of five scholarships offered by Albertsons Fashion Design School in New York. For her final entry she is making prom dresses for herself and three friends. Initially it appears that she is getting a mysterious, mystical helping hand, a silent partner so to speak. She buys a magic sewing machine, the fabric is absolutely perfect, her bedroom is converted to a work room; then things start to go horribly wrong. The dresses turn her friends into fiends, and they are going to take over the prom and subjugate the whole school! What's a girl to do?

Thankfully Kim and her boyfriend, Mike, are experienced in these situations.

It will take more than a closet full of spooks and concerned parents to prevent Kim from saving her classmates. Reading Attack of the Killer Prom Dresses is a hot idea!

~Beth E. McKenzie for MyShelf