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Deep Dark and Dangerous
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187 pages, Paperback
First published May 21, 2007
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About the author
Mary Downing Hahn
71 books4,393 followersI grew up in a small shingled house down at the end of Guilford Road in College Park, Maryland. Our block was loaded with kids my age. We spent hours outdoors playing "Kick the Can" and "Mother, May I" as well as cowboy and outlaw games that usually ended in quarrels about who shot whom. In the summer, we went on day long expeditions into forbidden territory -- the woods on the other side of the train tracks, the creek that wound its way through College Park, and the experimental farm run by the University of Maryland.
In elementary school, I was known as the class artist. I loved to read and draw but I hated writing reports. Requirements such as outlines, perfect penmanship, and following directions killed my interest in putting words on paper. All those facts -- who cared what the principal products of Chile were? To me, writing reports was almost as boring as math.
Despite my dislike of writing, I loved to make up stories. Instead of telling them in words, I told them in pictures. My stories were usually about orphans who ran away and had the sort of exciting adventures I would have enjoyed if my mother hadn't always interfered.
When I was in junior high school, I developed an interest in more complex stories. I wanted to show how people felt, what they thought, what they said. For this, I needed words. Although I wasn't sure I was smart enough, I decided to write and illustrate children's books when I grew up. Consequently, at the age of thirteen, I began my first book. Small Town Life was about a girl named Susan, as tall and skinny and freckle faced as I was. Unlike her shy, self conscious creator, however, Susan was a leader who lived the life I wanted to live -- my ideal self, in other words. Although I never finished Small Town Life, it marked the start of a lifelong interest in writing.
In high school, I kept a diary. In college, I wrote poetry and short stories and dreamed of being published in The New Yorker. Unfortunately, I didn't have the courage or the confidence to send anything there.
By the time my first novel was published, I was 41 years old. That's how long it took me to get serious about writing. The Sara Summer took me a year to write, another year to find a publisher, and yet another year of revisions before Clarion accepted it.
Since Sara appeared in 1979, I've written an average of one book a year. If I have a plot firmly in mind when I begin, the writing goes fairly quickly. More typically, I start with a character or a situation and only a vague idea of what's going to happen. Therefore, I spend a lot of time revising and thinking things out. If I'd paid more attention to the craft of outlining back in elementary school, I might be a faster writer, but, on the other hand, if I knew everything that was going to happen in a story, I might be too bored to write it down. Writing is a journey of discovery. That's what makes it so exciting.
In elementary school, I was known as the class artist. I loved to read and draw but I hated writing reports. Requirements such as outlines, perfect penmanship, and following directions killed my interest in putting words on paper. All those facts -- who cared what the principal products of Chile were? To me, writing reports was almost as boring as math.
Despite my dislike of writing, I loved to make up stories. Instead of telling them in words, I told them in pictures. My stories were usually about orphans who ran away and had the sort of exciting adventures I would have enjoyed if my mother hadn't always interfered.
When I was in junior high school, I developed an interest in more complex stories. I wanted to show how people felt, what they thought, what they said. For this, I needed words. Although I wasn't sure I was smart enough, I decided to write and illustrate children's books when I grew up. Consequently, at the age of thirteen, I began my first book. Small Town Life was about a girl named Susan, as tall and skinny and freckle faced as I was. Unlike her shy, self conscious creator, however, Susan was a leader who lived the life I wanted to live -- my ideal self, in other words. Although I never finished Small Town Life, it marked the start of a lifelong interest in writing.
In high school, I kept a diary. In college, I wrote poetry and short stories and dreamed of being published in The New Yorker. Unfortunately, I didn't have the courage or the confidence to send anything there.
By the time my first novel was published, I was 41 years old. That's how long it took me to get serious about writing. The Sara Summer took me a year to write, another year to find a publisher, and yet another year of revisions before Clarion accepted it.
Since Sara appeared in 1979, I've written an average of one book a year. If I have a plot firmly in mind when I begin, the writing goes fairly quickly. More typically, I start with a character or a situation and only a vague idea of what's going to happen. Therefore, I spend a lot of time revising and thinking things out. If I'd paid more attention to the craft of outlining back in elementary school, I might be a faster writer, but, on the other hand, if I knew everything that was going to happen in a story, I might be too bored to write it down. Writing is a journey of discovery. That's what makes it so exciting.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,587 reviews
October 31, 2023
This was a nice little ghost story! I liked that it was less of a scary story and much more so about finding closure for the ghost & closure for the ones involved in the traumatic event that occurred when the adults in the story were kids.
May 28, 2017
“The lake's deep...and dark...and dangerous.”
You can find this review and all of my other reviews at Novel Descent Thanks for the support!
I originally rated this three stars but after rowing it over in my mind I had to drop this one down to one star. There was some very problematic issues with the characters and there was one sentence in the book that made my mouth drop, due to racism.
Deep and Dark and Dangerous is about a young girl who is 13 who goes to stay with her aunt and her little cousin for the summer at a family summer home. Her aunt and her siblings haven't been to the house since they were little and they avoid all questions about why they won't go to the house. As soon as they arrive at the summer home another young girl named Sissy starts turning up out of nowhere and wanting to play. This puts the girls in numerous awkward or dangerous situations, not to mention their moods change when they are around her.
Ok, I might as well address the elephant in the room right away. Was this book racist? Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say it was a racist book but I would say there was a very good example of casual racism within it. At one point the girls are playing on the beach and Sissy comes up behind them, the girls remark how they did not hear her coming. Her response is and I quote, "I sneaked up on you, I'm as quiet as an Indian." (It was on page 76 in my edition, incase you want to look at it for yourself.)
Now let's get into why this is so problematic. Obviously the comment in itself is pretty racist, referring to the idea that Indians are sneaky. Next, there is NO reason for the comment. This is probably the biggest issue about this. The character is not racist, there is no signs, other than that one throw-a-way comment that they are racist. There is nothing about race in the book and it had nothing to do with anything that was going on. Do I think the author was racist? I really can't answer that question because I haven't read enough of her work and in the other book I read I didn't particularly notice anything. When I first read the sentence that I'm referring to, I kind of slowly stopped and thought, "there is no way I just read that." So, I read it over a few times, looked for some way that I could explain away the racism then I shrugged and figured that this must be a book of its era. I guessed this book to be written maybe in the 50s-70s at the latest. It read like an older book and the cover suggested it as well, so I checked the year. Wrong again, it was published in 2007 *bangs head on desk* How it got past the editors I'll never know. There is just no excuse in the year 2007 to have such stereotypical racism in a book. I personally would have an issue allowing children I know to read this without proper context. It is normalizing racism. Not a good thing in my book. I know some people may roll their eyes at the amount of content I'm writing on this, but I think it's important that we talk about these things when we see them.
Another huge issue with this book is the characters. None of them are particularly likeable. The protagonist isn't awful but there's nothing special about her, the little girl she babysits for is one of the most annoying children I have read about in a long time and Sissy (the mysterious girl) is just a complete monster of a character, not in a good way. The adults are harsh, and when they have their more tender moments it's still hard not to think of them as complete batshit crazy morons. I just couldn't get on board with any of them.
Is there anything really positive about this book? I thought I liked it at first but I realized I liked the feeling of it. It felt like an older story and it gave me a cozy feeling. I was letting a lot of things slide because of that.
I did read Mary Downing Hahn' more known book Wait Till Helen Comes and enjoyed it much more. I will read more of her books and hope that I do not come into these issues again. I can't in my right mind recommend a book like this though.
You can find this review and all of my other reviews at Novel Descent Thanks for the support!
I originally rated this three stars but after rowing it over in my mind I had to drop this one down to one star. There was some very problematic issues with the characters and there was one sentence in the book that made my mouth drop, due to racism.
Deep and Dark and Dangerous is about a young girl who is 13 who goes to stay with her aunt and her little cousin for the summer at a family summer home. Her aunt and her siblings haven't been to the house since they were little and they avoid all questions about why they won't go to the house. As soon as they arrive at the summer home another young girl named Sissy starts turning up out of nowhere and wanting to play. This puts the girls in numerous awkward or dangerous situations, not to mention their moods change when they are around her.
Ok, I might as well address the elephant in the room right away. Was this book racist? Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say it was a racist book but I would say there was a very good example of casual racism within it. At one point the girls are playing on the beach and Sissy comes up behind them, the girls remark how they did not hear her coming. Her response is and I quote, "I sneaked up on you, I'm as quiet as an Indian." (It was on page 76 in my edition, incase you want to look at it for yourself.)
Now let's get into why this is so problematic. Obviously the comment in itself is pretty racist, referring to the idea that Indians are sneaky. Next, there is NO reason for the comment. This is probably the biggest issue about this. The character is not racist, there is no signs, other than that one throw-a-way comment that they are racist. There is nothing about race in the book and it had nothing to do with anything that was going on. Do I think the author was racist? I really can't answer that question because I haven't read enough of her work and in the other book I read I didn't particularly notice anything. When I first read the sentence that I'm referring to, I kind of slowly stopped and thought, "there is no way I just read that." So, I read it over a few times, looked for some way that I could explain away the racism then I shrugged and figured that this must be a book of its era. I guessed this book to be written maybe in the 50s-70s at the latest. It read like an older book and the cover suggested it as well, so I checked the year. Wrong again, it was published in 2007 *bangs head on desk* How it got past the editors I'll never know. There is just no excuse in the year 2007 to have such stereotypical racism in a book. I personally would have an issue allowing children I know to read this without proper context. It is normalizing racism. Not a good thing in my book. I know some people may roll their eyes at the amount of content I'm writing on this, but I think it's important that we talk about these things when we see them.
Another huge issue with this book is the characters. None of them are particularly likeable. The protagonist isn't awful but there's nothing special about her, the little girl she babysits for is one of the most annoying children I have read about in a long time and Sissy (the mysterious girl) is just a complete monster of a character, not in a good way. The adults are harsh, and when they have their more tender moments it's still hard not to think of them as complete batshit crazy morons. I just couldn't get on board with any of them.
Is there anything really positive about this book? I thought I liked it at first but I realized I liked the feeling of it. It felt like an older story and it gave me a cozy feeling. I was letting a lot of things slide because of that.
I did read Mary Downing Hahn' more known book Wait Till Helen Comes and enjoyed it much more. I will read more of her books and hope that I do not come into these issues again. I can't in my right mind recommend a book like this though.
January 4, 2009
This book is very good it is more like a mystery and a ghost story if you want to read it CHECK IT OUT!!
January 25, 2012
blech.
so, here is this book in a nutshell:
claire: no, you can't go to the beach house! it's bad! water is bad! everything is bad! ouch! my head hurts!
ali: mom, you're, like, soooo over-protective!
pete: ali, you can go!
dulcie: ali, you will serve as my 13yr old au pair all summer. in return, you will have all your emotional needs ignored and i will have all the time in the world to paint creepy pictures of the lake in my studio.
emma: i'm lonely!
sissy: i'm cold and lonely. and dead. come play with me. forever, and ever, and ever.
ali: aunt dulcie, is there something you want to tell us?
dulcie: no! you ingrate! how dare you?!?!
ali: guess i'll go read [To Kill a Mockingbird]
sissy: bury me or else!
ali: i think we should do what she says. but first, let me yell at her like i'm 7 and storm off like i'm 17.
dulcie: you rotten brat! how dare you!!!
emma: i'm lonely!
sissy: i just want a friend. and a funeral. is that too much to ask? oh, hey, a canoe!
ali: um...i really think we should tell someone about this deep dark secret you've been harboring for decades...
dulcie: fine. i'll call the police. and the newspapers. and my lawyer. and your mother.
sissy: yay! i'm finally free!
dulcie: yay! i'm finally free!
claire: yay! i'm finally free!
emma: i'm still lonely.
blech.
there's virtually no mystery, the adults are all one-dimensional, the children are barely 2-d, and most of the characters are just so whiny or awful to like. what's up with parents being completely irrational and horrible people in these books? troubled, sure, that's forgivable, but irrevocably broken and cruel is problematic.
so, here is this book in a nutshell:
claire: no, you can't go to the beach house! it's bad! water is bad! everything is bad! ouch! my head hurts!
ali: mom, you're, like, soooo over-protective!
pete: ali, you can go!
dulcie: ali, you will serve as my 13yr old au pair all summer. in return, you will have all your emotional needs ignored and i will have all the time in the world to paint creepy pictures of the lake in my studio.
emma: i'm lonely!
sissy: i'm cold and lonely. and dead. come play with me. forever, and ever, and ever.
ali: aunt dulcie, is there something you want to tell us?
dulcie: no! you ingrate! how dare you?!?!
ali: guess i'll go read [To Kill a Mockingbird]
sissy: bury me or else!
ali: i think we should do what she says. but first, let me yell at her like i'm 7 and storm off like i'm 17.
dulcie: you rotten brat! how dare you!!!
emma: i'm lonely!
sissy: i just want a friend. and a funeral. is that too much to ask? oh, hey, a canoe!
ali: um...i really think we should tell someone about this deep dark secret you've been harboring for decades...
dulcie: fine. i'll call the police. and the newspapers. and my lawyer. and your mother.
sissy: yay! i'm finally free!
dulcie: yay! i'm finally free!
claire: yay! i'm finally free!
emma: i'm still lonely.
blech.
there's virtually no mystery, the adults are all one-dimensional, the children are barely 2-d, and most of the characters are just so whiny or awful to like. what's up with parents being completely irrational and horrible people in these books? troubled, sure, that's forgivable, but irrevocably broken and cruel is problematic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2021
4.0 Stars
This was a really good middle grade book that blended a good mystery into a horror story. I appreciated the representation of the depressed parent which is something I rarely see in stories. This is my second time reading this author and I'd definitely like to read more of her work. She is an excellent storyteller.
This was a really good middle grade book that blended a good mystery into a horror story. I appreciated the representation of the depressed parent which is something I rarely see in stories. This is my second time reading this author and I'd definitely like to read more of her work. She is an excellent storyteller.
December 17, 2008
Deep and Dark and Dangerous
By: Mary Downing Hahn
Review By: Kaitlyn
Have you ever read something that was so deep and dark and dangerous, as this book, Deep and Dark and Dangerous? Author Mary Downing Hahn wrote this spectacular, wonderful, amazing ghost adventure!
Some important character is this story is:
*Dulcie
*Ali
*Sissy
*Emma
*Mom
Ali discovers an old, old photo of three little girls sitting on a bench. Ali knows one is her Aunt Dulcie and the other is her mom, but she is puzzled by the third girl sitting next to them. Her mom and Dulcie won’t tell her and soon she is suspicious!
Later Ali and Emma meet Sissy. Sissy seems to know who this girl is, but won’t tell them who it really is.
Lastly Sissy is trying to tell Emma and Ali something, but what. This is a very important question in this mind-boggling ghost mystery!
By: Mary Downing Hahn
Review By: Kaitlyn
Have you ever read something that was so deep and dark and dangerous, as this book, Deep and Dark and Dangerous? Author Mary Downing Hahn wrote this spectacular, wonderful, amazing ghost adventure!
Some important character is this story is:
*Dulcie
*Ali
*Sissy
*Emma
*Mom
Ali discovers an old, old photo of three little girls sitting on a bench. Ali knows one is her Aunt Dulcie and the other is her mom, but she is puzzled by the third girl sitting next to them. Her mom and Dulcie won’t tell her and soon she is suspicious!
Later Ali and Emma meet Sissy. Sissy seems to know who this girl is, but won’t tell them who it really is.
Lastly Sissy is trying to tell Emma and Ali something, but what. This is a very important question in this mind-boggling ghost mystery!
January 8, 2009
It is creepy!!!!!!! But a great book about friendship and is very mystrious.
March 13, 2008
Ali is invited to spend the summer at the family’s old cottage up in Maine, watching her four-year-old niece Emma for her aunt Dulcie. But Ali’s mom is dead against it, saying the lake is too dangerous, and that it’s a dark and rainy place to have a miserable summer. She refuses to talk about her own childhood there, or who the third girl in the old photo Ali finds of her mom and Dulcie as kids at the lake.
But Dulcie and Ali wear her down, and Ali goes off to Maine, where she finds her mother was right. The weather is rainy, cold and depressing. But worse than that is Sissy, a local girl who influences Emma into bratty, and risky, behavior. Sissy hints that she knows all about the girl in the photo, and what happened years ago that no one else will talk about, but Ali doesn’t trust her.
Creepy and very dark, the atmosphere of dread in this book seems to poison the behavior of the characters. Elements such as an old doll and mossy tombstones heighten the tension along the way to the inevitable conclusion. You may not have fun reading this, but you will get chills.
But Dulcie and Ali wear her down, and Ali goes off to Maine, where she finds her mother was right. The weather is rainy, cold and depressing. But worse than that is Sissy, a local girl who influences Emma into bratty, and risky, behavior. Sissy hints that she knows all about the girl in the photo, and what happened years ago that no one else will talk about, but Ali doesn’t trust her.
Creepy and very dark, the atmosphere of dread in this book seems to poison the behavior of the characters. Elements such as an old doll and mossy tombstones heighten the tension along the way to the inevitable conclusion. You may not have fun reading this, but you will get chills.
January 17, 2013
I truly loved and enjoyed this book if you are looking for a great book READ THIS!!!!!
November 24, 2008
So Far, I've Read That A Girl Name Ali Was looking Through Her Dead Grandmas Stuff, And Found A Book To Read, She Was Flipping Through the Book And Found A Picture That Was Torn. She Saw That Her Mom Claire And Her Aunt Dulcie. She Saw A Arm Lying On Her Aunt Dulcie's Shoulder, And Wondered Who It Was. She Looked On the Back To Find Names, She Saw Her Mom's Name, Claire, Her Aunt's Name, Dulcie, And She Saw A Letter T. Like The Rest Of The Body Was Torn, The Name Was To. She Asks Her Mom Who It Is, But She Won't Tell. She Just Says That She Doesn't Remember Another Girl, It Was Always Just Her And Dulcie. She Would Have Called Her Aunt, But Her Mom Would Have Seen The Number On the Phone Bill And Ask Why She Called Her And What They Talked About. Well, That's All! ^-^
August 19, 2015
A surprisingly disappointing entry from a normally reliable author. It seems a rewrite of a her wonderful Wait Till Helen Comes, with many of the same tropes. But the protagonist is paper-thin, nothing much to her to appeal, and the story relies on the Stupidity Plot Drive. A story that is advanced only by the hero's incapacity to think of the obvious solution is painful. It's one thing when a thirteen year-old girl lets herself be putty in a malicious eleven year-old's hands. Such things happen, but, unless I have real reason to want to sympathize with the older girl, it does raise the question--so, would this ghost be dangerous if confronted with a mildly competent girl? Being manipulated by unbridled malice is one thing, but not knowing to hold tightly to her 4 year-old cousin the second time the ghost tells her to do something dangerous; not thinking to bodily lift the 4 year-old out of the canoe when she knows the ghost intends to sink her... this is a level of incompetence that strains credibility.
Otherwise, both the supporting characters undergo radical shifts of mood, from loving devotion to malicious attack, so extreme I was forced to believe they were being possessed by the ghost. Then the protagonist suddenly changes her mind about the ghost and is her best friend, for no discernible reason. The story feels long and drawn out, having its climax near the middle, and then meandering around the relationships of these incomprehensible characters. It's wordy, too. When it was time to say, "It said 'Theresa,'" because the reader already knows, instead we get: "Then I saw the name. Five more sentences. I couldn't believe it. More words. It was the girl from the canoe, the girl who'd been bothering us all this time, the girl you knew from the get-go was the ghost, Theresa."
In "Wait Till Helen Comes" Hahn deftly managed the push and pull of the mean girl, the discovery of the truth, and the transition of the relationship from fear and rejection to compassion. Read that and skip this.
Otherwise, both the supporting characters undergo radical shifts of mood, from loving devotion to malicious attack, so extreme I was forced to believe they were being possessed by the ghost. Then the protagonist suddenly changes her mind about the ghost and is her best friend, for no discernible reason. The story feels long and drawn out, having its climax near the middle, and then meandering around the relationships of these incomprehensible characters. It's wordy, too. When it was time to say, "It said 'Theresa,'" because the reader already knows, instead we get: "Then I saw the name. Five more sentences. I couldn't believe it. More words. It was the girl from the canoe, the girl who'd been bothering us all this time, the girl you knew from the get-go was the ghost, Theresa."
In "Wait Till Helen Comes" Hahn deftly managed the push and pull of the mean girl, the discovery of the truth, and the transition of the relationship from fear and rejection to compassion. Read that and skip this.
November 10, 2019
What a perfect book to read on the heels of reading Violet by Scott Thomas! This book could have easily been his inspiration behind writing Violet.
Deep and Dark and Dangerous is a middle grade ghost story. I really enjoyed the ghosty bits of this one. It's a great book for young horror lovers. I would have loved it back in my Lois Duncan days!
Unfortunately, the characters didn't always work well for me. The main character is Ali, and she often flipped from being mature to acting like a young child. This is probably true to life, but I think middle grade readers would appreciate spending time with her more than I did. I didn't find the 6 year old character to be very realistic either, but I'm not exactly the intended audience.
If you are looking for a spooky story set on the lake, Deep and Dark and Dangerous is a quick (and younger) ghostly tale.
Deep and Dark and Dangerous is a middle grade ghost story. I really enjoyed the ghosty bits of this one. It's a great book for young horror lovers. I would have loved it back in my Lois Duncan days!
Unfortunately, the characters didn't always work well for me. The main character is Ali, and she often flipped from being mature to acting like a young child. This is probably true to life, but I think middle grade readers would appreciate spending time with her more than I did. I didn't find the 6 year old character to be very realistic either, but I'm not exactly the intended audience.
If you are looking for a spooky story set on the lake, Deep and Dark and Dangerous is a quick (and younger) ghostly tale.
September 21, 2024
CUTE, but CHILLING, this quick ghost story will have you wondering about the supernatural and how spirits can communicate with children. DEEP AND DARK AND DANGEROUS tells a story of two cousins going to a summer cottage over the summer, when encounter a unrested girl their age, wanting to play, but also tells the two girls about a dark past, that involved with their mothers back in 1977. A spooky book that is perfect to read for the Summerween or the fall season!
May 21, 2025
Overall rating: 4/5
A reread from my childhood that was surprisingly better than I remembered. It wasn't scary, but the author nailed it with the creepy setting. A ghostly girl wearing a bathing suit, foggy setting of Maine, the creepy and dark lake. All were 10/10 and I see why I was so scared. Ali, Emma, & Dulcie weren't as fleshed out as I'd like them to be, but I was definitely getting sister vibes from Ali and Emma.
Also... lowkey... Dulcie might need CPS called on her 👀👀
As for the ghost girl and the mystery I was hoping for it to be a little darker but considering it's a middle grade I get why the author chose to go in a different direction which allowed me to see why Alis mom and Dulcie were the way they were...
Honestly, while it had horror aspects, this story was definitely more about the effects of generational trauma and guilt. I liked how the author chose to deal with grief and moving on.
I would definitely recommend this for middle schoolers as it's scary and teaches an important lesson with guilt and dealing with grief and loneliness.
A reread from my childhood that was surprisingly better than I remembered. It wasn't scary, but the author nailed it with the creepy setting. A ghostly girl wearing a bathing suit, foggy setting of Maine, the creepy and dark lake. All were 10/10 and I see why I was so scared. Ali, Emma, & Dulcie weren't as fleshed out as I'd like them to be, but I was definitely getting sister vibes from Ali and Emma.
Also... lowkey... Dulcie might need CPS called on her 👀👀
As for the ghost girl and the mystery I was hoping for it to be a little darker but considering it's a middle grade I get why the author chose to go in a different direction which allowed me to see why Alis mom and Dulcie were the way they were...
Honestly, while it had horror aspects, this story was definitely more about the effects of generational trauma and guilt. I liked how the author chose to deal with grief and moving on.
I would definitely recommend this for middle schoolers as it's scary and teaches an important lesson with guilt and dealing with grief and loneliness.
May 2, 2018
It was a pretty cool book.
March 13, 2009
This book was a wonderful story. There was so much that you could get from it. There was happiness, horror, and laughter all mixed in. Also some sadness. The creepiness of the story brought among the main suspense of the story along with the mystery of the new characters and new conflicts. During some times i felt like popping into the book and dealing with the situations myself since i felt they were not strongly dealt with although that was probably the author's point to make sure the story continues at a fast pace. The story more than being a scare your socks of story is a delicate horror story woven to expose the personality of Sassy and how the book can be scary even without monsters, and goblins and etc. The book wasn't at all predictable and even left a couple of red herrings. I loved the ending. Peace and happiness are two good ways to end a story based on my opinion and Mary Downing Hahn incorporated both those elements into the ending of the story which even brought an extent of tears to my eyes. A book I recommend to all for its uniqueness and plot. Enjoy!!
September 15, 2009
This book, Deep and Dark and Dangerous is about a girl named Ali who finds an old photograph of three kids one is her mom the other is her aunt Dulcie but the third person is torn from the picture. Ali has about 2 months to figure out who the third person is because she is spending that time in a beach house her mom and aunt used to stay in when they were kids. Ali wanted to go to the beach with her aunt because she wanted to babysit her little cousin and she wanted to find out who the third person is.
February 19, 2016
This story was alright. And the moment that Sissy came into the picture, I had already figured everything out, but I read the rest of the story because...why not.
There was enough tension and darkness to make the book not be a waste of time. I wouldn't say that it was creepy, precisely, but I suppose that it had its threatening moments--such as the time when Sissy takes them on the canoe, or Ali comes across the memorial.
Emma was the best thing in the story, and sometimes proved to be even more intelligent than the grown ups.
It's an okay book to pass a few hours with and disconnect.
There was enough tension and darkness to make the book not be a waste of time. I wouldn't say that it was creepy, precisely, but I suppose that it had its threatening moments--such as the time when Sissy takes them on the canoe, or Ali comes across the memorial.
Emma was the best thing in the story, and sometimes proved to be even more intelligent than the grown ups.
It's an okay book to pass a few hours with and disconnect.
June 12, 2023
Read with my daughter. Very similar to Wait Till Helen Comes in a way, but I think was done maybe a little better?
Sissy struck me as more sinister than Helen, and I think the writing was a bit stronger and less repetitive.
Not bad for Middle Grade horror fiction- probably would have eaten this up as a kid.
Sissy struck me as more sinister than Helen, and I think the writing was a bit stronger and less repetitive.
Not bad for Middle Grade horror fiction- probably would have eaten this up as a kid.
November 21, 2019
This was my first Mary Downing Hahn book and I found it quite enjoyable! The plot line could be considered predictable (no major plot twists), though it's MG so that's not really unusual for the category. The characters were well written - the MC's situation is frustrating at many points throughout, but in the way that it's frustrating to be a 13-year-old. The story kept my interest the entire time. The audiobook narration was decent, if a bit dramatized. Definitely one to consider reading if you're looking for an interesting ghost story.
January 2, 2025
i first read this book in elementary lit circles and clearly it had an impact on me re-reading it again 15ish (help) years ago, and still loving it. this book is a quick ghost story that actually had me feeling something while on the edge of my seat. a creepy (and kinda cheesy) read that dare i say, made me into the person today.
August 19, 2018
Klişe bir Amerikan filmi gibi. Yine de sonlarına doğru kendine bağlıyor, hayalet hikayesi sevenler olarak kendi dilimizde çok fazla seçeneğimiz yok o yüzden denk gelirseniz okuyun derim.
September 4, 2019
YA book. I've now read several from this author. Love her books. They're a little on the creepy side. I think I would of been freaked out if I read this when I was a kid.
April 5, 2011
Deep and Dark and Dangerous is fiction and mystery is a really good book and the story takes place in Main.
The main character Ali is a young girl who lives her mom and dad but her mom has so issues she gets upset about everything and she gets this migraines and she is always locked up in her room when she has the migraines. her dad is very nice and he is a hardworking man who loves ali very much. One day when Ali was looking around in the attic she finds this old picture and she recognizes her mom Claire and her aunt Dulcie when they were kids but also she noticed that there was another girl to the other side of her mom but that part of the picture was torn and all she could see was part of the hand and in the back the letter T. Ali then went to her mom and ask her who was the girl that was torn out of the picture but her mom got mad at her and said she didn't know and when Ali told her the first letter of the girl's name her mom said she didn't knew anyone with the name that started with a T. Days later her aunt came over and ask Ali to go with her to the lake where she and her mom just to go in the summer when they were little Ali was so exited and she really wanted to go. She was also going to babysit her little cousin Emma but when she ask her mom to let her go she refused to let her go and then she ask her dad and he said it was ok with him so they convinced her mother to let her go so she finally decided that she could go. When they got to the lake they settle in and while her aunt paint it in her studio she and Emma would play around and then Ali would read to Emma. one day Ali and Emma were playing outside in the lake when they saw this girl sitting in a rock so they went to talk to her and she told them her name was sissy. Sissy was a mean selfish girl at first she was nice to Emma and Ali but then she would get mean with then she was very mysterious. Sissy then became a bad influence for Emma because since she started to hangout with Sissy, Emma started to change she wasn't the nice girl anymore she would blame Ali for Everything and say that Ali wanted to hurt her and that she was mean to her. Even though Ali and her aunt try to keep her away from Sissy, Emma still try to get near her and still hangout with her and play with her. The most weirdest thing about Sissy was that she started talking about a girl named Teresa who drawn in the very same lake when Ali's aunt and mom just to come here in the summers. At first Ali though that Sissy was trying to scared her with that story but later on in the book Eli finds out who really is Sissy and what she wanted. to find out happen next you need to read the book.
The main character Ali is a young girl who lives her mom and dad but her mom has so issues she gets upset about everything and she gets this migraines and she is always locked up in her room when she has the migraines. her dad is very nice and he is a hardworking man who loves ali very much. One day when Ali was looking around in the attic she finds this old picture and she recognizes her mom Claire and her aunt Dulcie when they were kids but also she noticed that there was another girl to the other side of her mom but that part of the picture was torn and all she could see was part of the hand and in the back the letter T. Ali then went to her mom and ask her who was the girl that was torn out of the picture but her mom got mad at her and said she didn't know and when Ali told her the first letter of the girl's name her mom said she didn't knew anyone with the name that started with a T. Days later her aunt came over and ask Ali to go with her to the lake where she and her mom just to go in the summer when they were little Ali was so exited and she really wanted to go. She was also going to babysit her little cousin Emma but when she ask her mom to let her go she refused to let her go and then she ask her dad and he said it was ok with him so they convinced her mother to let her go so she finally decided that she could go. When they got to the lake they settle in and while her aunt paint it in her studio she and Emma would play around and then Ali would read to Emma. one day Ali and Emma were playing outside in the lake when they saw this girl sitting in a rock so they went to talk to her and she told them her name was sissy. Sissy was a mean selfish girl at first she was nice to Emma and Ali but then she would get mean with then she was very mysterious. Sissy then became a bad influence for Emma because since she started to hangout with Sissy, Emma started to change she wasn't the nice girl anymore she would blame Ali for Everything and say that Ali wanted to hurt her and that she was mean to her. Even though Ali and her aunt try to keep her away from Sissy, Emma still try to get near her and still hangout with her and play with her. The most weirdest thing about Sissy was that she started talking about a girl named Teresa who drawn in the very same lake when Ali's aunt and mom just to come here in the summers. At first Ali though that Sissy was trying to scared her with that story but later on in the book Eli finds out who really is Sissy and what she wanted. to find out happen next you need to read the book.
March 3, 2016
This book is very good, one of my new favorites. It's not a very long read, but the amount of intriguing detail makes up for its length. The main character Alison is really curious and smart, which helps her figure out exactly what she needs to know about a mystery trouble maker she runs into at her favorite cabin in the Maine woods. The best part of this book, in my opinion, is the huge plot twist. I like it because it is in the middle of the plot, and is explained very well up until the end of the book.
February 7, 2024
this book....
No words can describe how this book changed my life. I read it probably 30 times in 4th-5th grade.
do I even remember everything that happened? no. Am I still giving it 5 stars because I remember the chokehold this had on me and all my friends? yes.
No words can describe how this book changed my life. I read it probably 30 times in 4th-5th grade.
do I even remember everything that happened? no. Am I still giving it 5 stars because I remember the chokehold this had on me and all my friends? yes.
June 15, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. I read it to my middle school class and though we very quickly (as in the first couple of chapters) figured out what most of the "twist" would be, we still kept reading to see how it would all play out. We really enjoyed it, except we did feel like the ending should have been a little different somehow, but hey that's life :)
June 26, 2025
the adults suck so baddddd in this book. but this is what got me into horror for the very first time and it has a VERY special place in my heart because of that.
June 1, 2021
Lovely, inspiring chiller! Mary Downing Hahn is probably my favorite ghost story author :)
September 6, 2025
After recently reading and enjoying my first book by this author (review on my page), I was happy to remember that I'd also gotten a copy of this one. This story also takes place in Maine, but with a summer setting on a lake. The main character, Ali, age 13, goes to stay with her aunt and young niece for the summer in the family's lakeside cabin, which previously sat abandoned for decades. Ali's mom has a lot of health problems, mostly mental but also gets bad migraines. She doesn't have the best relationship with her sister Dulcie, Ali's aunt. There are certain things they don't talk about with the family. She really does not want Ali to go on this vacation. While staying at the lake, Ali starts to uncover the reasons for her mom and aunt's strange behaviors.
This book is creepy, but I wouldn't call it scary. It's probably a good amount of scare for middle grade readers. What I didn't expect was for it to be a bit sad (maybe I should have, since the cover calls it a ghost story); and there were parts that could be relevant even for adults. I thought the relationship between the two adult sisters was realistic. The story is a good warning against lying, and how long-lasting the impact of our actions (and guilt) can be. Even if you don't normally like paranormal, there's something in here for everyone. I wouldn't say it kept me on the edge of my seat reading for large chunks at a time, but I did like it. I think it has more substance than the previous book I read by this author, and I felt a lot for the one character, to the point I teared up near the end.
I recommend this one!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This book is creepy, but I wouldn't call it scary. It's probably a good amount of scare for middle grade readers. What I didn't expect was for it to be a bit sad (maybe I should have, since the cover calls it a ghost story); and there were parts that could be relevant even for adults. I thought the relationship between the two adult sisters was realistic. The story is a good warning against lying, and how long-lasting the impact of our actions (and guilt) can be. Even if you don't normally like paranormal, there's something in here for everyone. I wouldn't say it kept me on the edge of my seat reading for large chunks at a time, but I did like it. I think it has more substance than the previous book I read by this author, and I felt a lot for the one character, to the point I teared up near the end.
I recommend this one!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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