There’s Something Sinister In Centerfield by Robert P. Ottone
Cemetery Gates Media (June 2024)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin
Robert P. Ottone wrote one of the most unsettling and raw books I’ve ever read, The Vile Thing We Created; think modern-day Rosemary’s Baby. But that’s just the half of it. Satanic worship? Or is it witchcraft?
Given the intensity of The Vile Thing We Created, I had no idea what to expect when I heard Ottone wrote a middle-grade horror story called There’s Something Sinister In Centerfield. Ottone, however, is no stranger to children’s literature. Check out The Sleepy Hollow Gang.
There’s Something Sinister In Centerfield follows “a motley crew of little leaguers” and a young girl, Casey, who knows the ins and outs of the game. She attends every practice and game with her father, the coach of the all-star Owera Valley Kingfishers.
The coach’s scheduling mistake leads the team to an abandoned ballfield. The dirt of the diamond glistens with shattered glass and the bases are worn and dark from years of play. The worst part is just beyond centerfield is a graveyard.
Ottone conjures supernatural dread right off the bat.
It’s creepy, sure, but the team makes do and practices beneath the gloomy sky. That is until the Kingfishers’ power hitter, Kirk, sends a homerun beyond the tall grass into the crumbling, forgotten cemetery, disturbing something sinister.
From here, the practice turns into a ghoulish life-or-death game. It’s the most dire win the team has ever chased. And with Danny’s soul waning, Casey steps up to the plate. One of the best parts of There’s Something Sinister In Centerfield is Casey’s leadership as she joins the team. I was thrilled when I first opened this book and discovered the sporty baseball story is told from a girl’s point of view. She delivers in the clutch on the field and in the dugout when all hope seems lost. She also, much to my amusement, doesn’t take any sh*t.
The Sandlot could’ve used a girl on the team.
There’s so much heart and nostalgia in There’s Something Sinister In Centerfield, but readers will never forget the stakes. How could they, with the ghostly, inescapable atmosphere? Still, for some players, this is their first encounter with the heavy burden that comes with the realization of mortality. Kids think they’re invincible. A winning team thinks they’re unstoppable. That all changes for the Kingfishers when challenged to a best-of-three series against otherworldly competitors.
Ottone has achieved a heartwarming coming-of-age tale with characters that more seasoned readers may liken to the Losers’ Club in It. The Kingfishers are surrounded by death, loss, and terror, but when they stop and look up and down the bench or to the on-deck circle, they can see that, much like in life, it just takes the right team and immense bravery to defeat encroaching monsters.
Like a Louisville slugger, the Kingfishers’ spirit never splinters and never breaks.
