Mister Magic is the newest horror novel from Kiersten White, 30 years after an accident on the children’s show Mister Magic the cast is coming back together however there is no record of the show ever existing though some people remember it.

Val has no memory of her time on the show and is using this reunion to find out what happened and why she forgot about it. The vibe that I got about what Mister Magic as a show was Barney mixed with the friend group of Are you afraid of the dark with a sprinkling of analog horror elements such as Candle Cove. As a reader you are on the journey with Val as she struggles with learning what really happened and the cult that is involved. As we get to the ending it gets more confusing with what seems to be a rip in reality that a god/demon resides in that the cult uses to create the show and the children help control how the show manifests. The cult wants to use the show to impart specific ideals and values to the viewer but they need to use their own children as essentially sacrifices to get it done. Val figures out that the only way to stop more people from getting hurt is to take over Mister Magic both the character and the show.

Overall I enjoyed this book but at times it felt like I was never going to understand what was happening. After reading the authors note that explained that Kiersten White was raised Mormon you can see that this book specifically is her way of working through her experience/trauma with the church through fiction.