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The Passenger
Novella published following "Red".
The Passenger, follows the story of a woman who gets a flat tire, leading to a stretch of bad luck as she becomes a passenger in a car bound for Hell.
The Passenger, follows the story of a woman who gets a flat tire, leading to a stretch of bad luck as she becomes a passenger in a car bound for Hell.
93 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2002
4 people are currently reading
376 people want to read
About the author
Jack Ketchum
198 books2,957 followersDallas William Mayr, better known by his pen name Jack Ketchum, was an American horror fiction author. He was the recipient of four Bram Stoker Awards and three further nominations. His novels included Off Season, Offspring, and Red, which were adapted to film. In 2011, Ketchum received the World Horror Convention Grand Master Award for outstanding contribution to the horror genre.
A onetime actor, teacher, literary agent, lumber salesman, and soda jerk, Ketchum credited his childhood love of Elvis Presley, dinosaurs, and horror for getting him through his formative years. He began making up stories at a young age and explained that he spent much time in his room, or in the woods near his house, down by the brook: "[m]y interests [were] books, comics, movies, rock 'n roll, show tunes, TV, dinosaurs [...] pretty much any activity that didn't demand too much socializing, or where I could easily walk away from socializing." He would make up stories using his plastic soldiers, knights, and dinosaurs as the characters.
Later, in his teen years, Ketchum was befriended by Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, who became his mentor.
Ketchum worked many different jobs before completing his first novel (1980's controversial Off Season), including acting as agent for novelist Henry Miller at Scott Meredith Literary Agency.
His decision to eventually concentrate on novel writing was partly fueled by a preference for work that offered stability and longevity.
Ketchum died of cancer on January 24, 2018, in New York City at the age of 71.
A onetime actor, teacher, literary agent, lumber salesman, and soda jerk, Ketchum credited his childhood love of Elvis Presley, dinosaurs, and horror for getting him through his formative years. He began making up stories at a young age and explained that he spent much time in his room, or in the woods near his house, down by the brook: "[m]y interests [were] books, comics, movies, rock 'n roll, show tunes, TV, dinosaurs [...] pretty much any activity that didn't demand too much socializing, or where I could easily walk away from socializing." He would make up stories using his plastic soldiers, knights, and dinosaurs as the characters.
Later, in his teen years, Ketchum was befriended by Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, who became his mentor.
Ketchum worked many different jobs before completing his first novel (1980's controversial Off Season), including acting as agent for novelist Henry Miller at Scott Meredith Literary Agency.
His decision to eventually concentrate on novel writing was partly fueled by a preference for work that offered stability and longevity.
Ketchum died of cancer on January 24, 2018, in New York City at the age of 71.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
December 17, 2014
Wild and crazy novella that pulls out absolutely all the stops. Ketchum has a way of making you enjoy the ride even when the car is flying off the side of a cliff. Something I noticed was that one of the characters was named Alan Laymon, making me wonder if this story may have been a tribute to the late great Richard Laymon (It was published in 2001, but I'm not sure if it was before or after he passed away). Either way, it is Ketchum's signature style through and through. I love his writing. Gritty, brutal and unflinching in its portrayal of psychotic violence, this one was not for the squeamish at all.
December 20, 2021
I just finished “Red” by this author, and when I got to the end of that book, there was this bonus novella! Since I loved “Red”, I was happy to immediately start another of Ketchum’s stories. I didn’t like this one as much, but it was still good.
Janet’s car broke down after an already bad day, and two people come to her rescue: a creepy man in a truck, and a smiling woman. She went with the woman, and realizes they know each other from high school. That’s about the only good thing that comes out of her decision, as this soon takes a strange turn…
This was slightly disjointed, in a “Pulp Fiction” kind of way, and I didn’t care for that. There was very little character development, but it is a novella. Decent story though; I’ll give it 3/5 stars.
Janet’s car broke down after an already bad day, and two people come to her rescue: a creepy man in a truck, and a smiling woman. She went with the woman, and realizes they know each other from high school. That’s about the only good thing that comes out of her decision, as this soon takes a strange turn…
This was slightly disjointed, in a “Pulp Fiction” kind of way, and I didn’t care for that. There was very little character development, but it is a novella. Decent story though; I’ll give it 3/5 stars.
June 6, 2018
Brutal crime - back to what I'm more used to from Ketchum.
March 17, 2015
Passenger was a fast and furious story that followed my copy of Jack Ketchum's Red. And what a hell of a story it was for the first three-quarters of it. The ending however took a severe right turn causing it to go from an amazing five star read to a four to a four and a half star read. We'll call it a 4.25 star read. Janet is a defense attorney whose car breaks down on the highway. In her effort to get a ride to the repair garage, she hitches a ride with a woman that happens to remember her from high school. When the woman starts asking Janet questions from their old school days and following each one up with a pull from a whiskey bottle she kept in the glove compartment, along with a pistol, you knew that she'd hitched a ride with the wrong person. This is just the start of her day. Where it goes from there will blow you away. Again, for the first three-quarters of the story, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Time stood still as I devoured Passenger. Ketchum unwound a tale that was so horrifying, and yet so engrossing, I couldn't put it down. Unfortunately, the ending came so far from left field that it seemed like Ketchum couldn't decide how to end it and this was what came up with while being under the infuence of something stronger than whiskey. To me, it didn't seem to fit the story and thats disappointing since it was such a barnburner of a tale up to that point. Passenger is still worth the read simply for the the first three quarters. Its Ketchum in a groove that shows how good he can be. And who knows? Maybe you'll like the ending.
4.25 out of 5 stars
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4.25 out of 5 stars
You can also follow my reviews at the following links:
https://kenmckinley.wordpress.com
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/A2J1...
TWITTER - @KenMcKinley5
February 2, 2018
A roller coaster ride of a novella, included with the purchase of "Red" on Audible, "The Passenger" is quintessential Ketchum. I will admit that, story-wise, 'Passenger' didn't interest me as much as, say, "The Girl Next Door," or one of my favorite short stories written by Jack Ketchum, "Returns," but the pace is relentless, the action is intense, and the characters are flawed in flawlessly believable ways. Like others, I found the twist that the narrative took toward the end of the novella a little out-of-left-field and overly convenient, but this didn't take away from my enjoyment of "The Passenger," or of another rich and captivating world Dallas Mayr created.
July 3, 2017
This novella is, to me, the perfect splatterpunk book. Holy crap this is awesome!! If you like Jack Ketchum or if you like the icky red stuff then you have to check this out! It's a fast-paced trip into gore-soaked insanity that never lets up. Awesome!
March 12, 2016
A brilliant page-turner upto about half of it, with a rather tame and forced ending that bundled up most of the pleasure and sent it out of the window.
March 30, 2019
A brilliantly ruthless little novella from Mr. Ketchum.
A female attorney is having a bad day and trying to find the brother of her client, who is headed to trial for a double murder, but she thinks it was the brother. She breaks down and is picked up by a woman whom she soon realizes she went to high school with. But she's a little off. A little mean. A little...crazy?
You bet she is. When they are involved in an accident where a cop is chasing three murdering hoods, they witness the murder of the cop. But rather than run for help, the crazy woman who picked up our stranded passenger invites them into the car.
So begins an absolute nightmare.
This was a brutal read, not for the squeamish. But it also is done in Ketchum's down to earth style, with utterly realistic characters and dialogue. The events which play out are all too plausible and often hard to read, but horror fans will be right at home. I recommend anyone who likes very realistic horror give this one a chance. It won't take you long, and you'll be discovering a diamond in the rough.
THE PASSENGER is not to be missed.
A female attorney is having a bad day and trying to find the brother of her client, who is headed to trial for a double murder, but she thinks it was the brother. She breaks down and is picked up by a woman whom she soon realizes she went to high school with. But she's a little off. A little mean. A little...crazy?
You bet she is. When they are involved in an accident where a cop is chasing three murdering hoods, they witness the murder of the cop. But rather than run for help, the crazy woman who picked up our stranded passenger invites them into the car.
So begins an absolute nightmare.
This was a brutal read, not for the squeamish. But it also is done in Ketchum's down to earth style, with utterly realistic characters and dialogue. The events which play out are all too plausible and often hard to read, but horror fans will be right at home. I recommend anyone who likes very realistic horror give this one a chance. It won't take you long, and you'll be discovering a diamond in the rough.
THE PASSENGER is not to be missed.
November 18, 2015
Definitely one of my favorite novellas from Jack Ketchum. Even tho it's short this is the type of short story that still has everything! It was a great quick read that was very suspenseful with a lot of action. Ketchum paints vivid pictures when he tells story's & you can just imagine everything all the details. This story would have made a awesome novel or movie but even as short as it was he still nailed it all with plot & characters & a great ending.
March 5, 2018
Janet Morris, a defense attorney, is having a bad night, one that only gets worse when she gets a flat tire and becomes a passenger in a car bound for a hell she could never imagine.
The Passenger is a wildly vivid glimpse into the side of people we hope we never experience. Jack Ketchum’s talent for creating the ‘real world’ monster excels in this story. His skill is sharp-edged and witty proving yet once again he was a master of his trade.
The Passenger is a wildly vivid glimpse into the side of people we hope we never experience. Jack Ketchum’s talent for creating the ‘real world’ monster excels in this story. His skill is sharp-edged and witty proving yet once again he was a master of his trade.
March 6, 2018
YES! This novella was so fucking satisfying. It was very fun, and I loved the gore and pure craziness of the Hole-in-the-Wall. This right here is why Ketchum is one of my favorites. He will never let you down when you need a straight horror fix.
March 5, 2018
It's a good story, but not in the level of Off Season. I find it a bit too mild for a Jack Ketchum book.
October 26, 2025
Wonderful short story! An absolute thrill ride!
October 18, 2018
Why did you decide to read this book: I couldn’t find any good books in the young adult sections of the library so tried out the adult section and found this book.
March 3, 2017
This story was very good! Although, the crimes perpetrated in book, was heart-rending and extremely cruel. But, that is Jack Ketchum's style! What a writer!
June 16, 2019
A novella by Jack Ketchum. Janet is having a bad day, that gets worse when she hitches a ride after getting a flat tire. The driver is a woman who remembers Janet from high school. As the ride continues, Janet realizes she definitely should not have got in the car. A quick, wild, and action-packed ride.
July 3, 2015
Me había olvidado lo mucho que me gustaban las novelas de Jack Ketchum. Son cortas y punzantes, y esta novela llega al límite de lo soportable y va mucho más allá. Una abogada queda varada en medio de la ruta y la recoge una mujer al parecer desconocida...y bueno, las cosas no salen muy bien después de eso cuando conocen a tres personajes bastante detestables y desagradables ( y claro, la desconocida en cuestión también deja mucho que desear mientras avanzamos en la novela).
Ketchum sabe escribir relatos violentos y ni siquiera necesita usar a monstruos fantásticos como recurso. Sus personajes son bien humanos y verdaderamente dan mucho más miedo y repulsión.
En español solo se editaron 3 de sus novelas, las cuales tengo en mi biblioteca. Ahora que me regalaron un kindle me pude bajar gratis varias de sus novelas en inglés, asique a leerlas con mucho gusto.
Ketchum sabe escribir relatos violentos y ni siquiera necesita usar a monstruos fantásticos como recurso. Sus personajes son bien humanos y verdaderamente dan mucho más miedo y repulsión.
En español solo se editaron 3 de sus novelas, las cuales tengo en mi biblioteca. Ahora que me regalaron un kindle me pude bajar gratis varias de sus novelas en inglés, asique a leerlas con mucho gusto.
September 10, 2013
THE PASSENGER is a riveting novella that stumbles a bit in the last Act when it transforms from being a pretty straight-forward little thriller into something more akin to FROM DUSK UNTIL DAWN. Some of it maybe didn't make total sense, but I was having too much fun to care--hence the four stars. Brace yourself, though, for a couple of very disturbing scenes...
February 11, 2016
Could not finish the book.
March 12, 2021
Christ on a crutch. That was unpleasant.
January 8, 2020
My true rating is 4.2 stars.
Jack Ketchum once again drew me in with his lovely writing, as quick and sharp and pointed as it needed to be in some spots and as drawn out as it needed to be in others. He absolutely had a way with words, and while I'm glad that we have several examples of his talent, it does sadden me that we'll never have any more. One thing I really love in this novella is how smoothly he changed the POV throughout the story. The reader gets various glimpses at the characters, both through others' eyes and through their own / in their own voices. Though information on some was limited more than with others, I don't feel like that takes away from the story; I feel like Ketchum built the foundations that he wanted us to continue from, and then left us to our own devices to watch the characters blossom to life from our own perspectives. This can be a risky move, I think, but it's one he pulls off extremely well.
Moving on, The Passenger is a quick, gut-punch of a story that, even in the areas that it does hold back on description, still manages to stretch the comfort of the reader to transparency with the select minimal detail it allows in said sections. While I'm not one to necessarily mind if the description goes farther, I'm also not one to particularly enjoy it if I feel it adds nothing to the story itself. If something feels overdrawn, needless, etc., I see no point in having left it in; I was glad to see that Ketchum let the reader's own knowledge and imagination, should they want it to, do the work for the sexual scenes.
Come the ending, I smiled for myself and Janet.
Jack Ketchum once again drew me in with his lovely writing, as quick and sharp and pointed as it needed to be in some spots and as drawn out as it needed to be in others. He absolutely had a way with words, and while I'm glad that we have several examples of his talent, it does sadden me that we'll never have any more. One thing I really love in this novella is how smoothly he changed the POV throughout the story. The reader gets various glimpses at the characters, both through others' eyes and through their own / in their own voices. Though information on some was limited more than with others, I don't feel like that takes away from the story; I feel like Ketchum built the foundations that he wanted us to continue from, and then left us to our own devices to watch the characters blossom to life from our own perspectives. This can be a risky move, I think, but it's one he pulls off extremely well.
Moving on, The Passenger is a quick, gut-punch of a story that, even in the areas that it does hold back on description, still manages to stretch the comfort of the reader to transparency with the select minimal detail it allows in said sections. While I'm not one to necessarily mind if the description goes farther, I'm also not one to particularly enjoy it if I feel it adds nothing to the story itself. If something feels overdrawn, needless, etc., I see no point in having left it in; I was glad to see that Ketchum let the reader's own knowledge and imagination, should they want it to, do the work for the sexual scenes.
Come the ending, I smiled for myself and Janet.
July 9, 2021
3.5
After taking 6 weeks to read 2 big books, I needed something fast that I could read in one night. This was that book. It came in the back of my copy of Jack Ketchum’s Red (which I have not read yet).
This is my first Ketchum read and I was not disappointed. This was a very dark and twisted tale that gets very sick and spirals out of control very fast in a crazy way (even into absurdity towards the end). It wasn’t super bloody, but it was disturbing and it while it made my skin crawl (one scene in particular), it was refreshing for an author to “go there.” My only real complaint is that sometimes the sentences went super run on and it could get a little confusing as to who was who and what was happening, but outside of that, no complaints, this was a 1 day read. I’m excited for more Ketchum
After taking 6 weeks to read 2 big books, I needed something fast that I could read in one night. This was that book. It came in the back of my copy of Jack Ketchum’s Red (which I have not read yet).
This is my first Ketchum read and I was not disappointed. This was a very dark and twisted tale that gets very sick and spirals out of control very fast in a crazy way (even into absurdity towards the end). It wasn’t super bloody, but it was disturbing and it while it made my skin crawl (one scene in particular), it was refreshing for an author to “go there.” My only real complaint is that sometimes the sentences went super run on and it could get a little confusing as to who was who and what was happening, but outside of that, no complaints, this was a 1 day read. I’m excited for more Ketchum
January 20, 2019
The Passenger is a novella-sized story that followed my edition of Red, and it's a wild ride of criminal insanity and twisted justice. And it all starts when a defense attorney, Janet, is stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire and gets picked up by a girl she used to know in high school. The night of terror that ensues for Janet, and the many people she encounters that night, both villain and victim, hurtles the reader along with Janet on a bullet train of blood.
I'm so glad these stories are fictional. Because any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, would be even more terrifying.
I'm so glad these stories are fictional. Because any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, would be even more terrifying.
April 5, 2021
This one is a series of unfortunate events. It's the story of Janet and her night in hell. She gets a flat tire, and from there, her night gets increasingly worse, she trusts in the wrong person, and before she can get away she gets dragged into a series of crimes, some of which she is the victim of, some she only witnesses. It's a horrible experience, but with a somehow happy ending.
The story is a little crude, and I'm glad it's a short one, because it could have become very tedious, really fast, but it manages to keep it interesting right until the end. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it fulfills its purpose.
The story is a little crude, and I'm glad it's a short one, because it could have become very tedious, really fast, but it manages to keep it interesting right until the end. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it fulfills its purpose.
Read
June 9, 2025I was a little cynical about this one at first since I'm not really that big on the grindhouse type stuff it pastiches, especially rape-revenge I think is kind of overrated by postmodern critics. I thought that making the protagonist a lawyer defending a rapist/murderer in court was just to further her guilt or moral conflict about seeing those things in real life and feeling hypocritical but it actually plays into how she entraps he assailant in a pretty unique and clever way. The satanic cult stuff at the end is a little over the top in comparison to how grounded it starts out but I suppose that's par for the course for this genre.
September 22, 2018
The Passenger is a great thrill ride novella from Jack Ketchum. It escalates and escalates again until the reader’s heart is pounding. It’s not as good as the Great Ketchum novella, The Crossings (the greatest novella this reviewer ever read) but bloody good. Our loss at his death is incalculable!!
December 4, 2021
My second Ketchum. Not as good as Red for a variety of reasons including the story material. The writing though is good and they plot, the action and the resolution move along quickly. They resolution you could really see coming about 1/3 of the way into the book. It’s decent but not something I would recommend as a place to start with this author.
July 6, 2020
I loved this quick read. A novella with some bite!!! Compared to Red, this was definitely more violent, graphic, and dark. But that's what you expect from a Ketchum story, yes? Recommended and glad I read it.
March 2, 2021
As always, a great read. It's lot of fun bar one thing - see below.
Trigger warning for a rape scene. Might not be graphic by some people's standards, but I'm not a fan of it in general, and I'll bet it was graphic enough to really upset some people.
Trigger warning for a rape scene. Might not be graphic by some people's standards, but I'm not a fan of it in general, and I'll bet it was graphic enough to really upset some people.
January 17, 2022
Janet is having a bad day. Her car has just broken down. She accepts a lift a lift from Marion, a former classmate. Little does she know that her day has just gone from bad to worse. A novella that's rapidly paced and interesting.
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