Hell Board

by Dana Reed

Peggy Reardon was the most unpopular girl in school. Her classmates taunted her about her looks, her weight, and her clumsy behavior. But Peggy possessed a hidden talent, and with her Ouija board, she discovered a power that could deal with anyone who had teased her--permanently.

Genres: Horror, Paranormal

361 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1990

About the author

Dana Reed, author of eleven published novels—eight horror, two romantic thrillers, and a mystery-suspense—worked as a reporter for several years, and taught Creative Writing and Journalism in Adult Ed classes. Born in Peekskill, New York, she now resides in Vermont with her husband.

Reviews

[Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I thought was going to be a kind of "Carrie" type book, turned into a silly little "Goosebumps" story. The back made it sound like a nerdy girl gets revenge through the power of a Ouija board. Turns out, she just feels a little better about herself. No revenge except the demons she summoned to help her wanted to kill her.

I loved Dana Reed's "Demon Within" novel. Gave that five-stars. I can't rave enough about that. (Bad in the very best of ways.) I then read "The Gatekeeper." My enthusiasm for the author plummeted. That was pretty lame. This one kind of falls in the purgatory between those two novels. Silly, with crazy dialog. Nutty characters that you wouldn't mind seeing ripped up by Ouija board monsters. It just leaves you thinking it could have been more.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn’t as endearingly inane as Dana Reed’s The Gatekeeper or Demon Within, but overall it was still quite entertainingly ludicrous. I mean, there was a freakin demon in hell who was in charge of all the ouija boards on the planet. That was, like, his official job title: Ouija Board Dude. And the guy who was waiting in the wings to take over from him was none other than…the Marquis de Sade. Yeah. There was also this weird, lumpy, amorphous blob-type creature who hung out in Ouija Board Dude’s cave in hell, clamoring for fresh human flesh to replenish his putrefying “outer crust,” which had apparently gotten kind of icky lately. So you know Dana Reed was trying her hardest here to outdo herself here in terms of sheer stupidity, it’s just that there were a few too many excruciatingly slow spots, which definitely detracted from my enjoyment of this one. Still, if you’re looking for a so-bad-it’s-hilarious vintage horror novel, you could do far worse. Just maybe start with her more consistently batshit titles first.

[Stefani · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is honestly one of the worst books I've ever read. I feel like people 13 and under who are interested in the paranormal might find it interesting, and there's nothing wrong with that. I thought it was terribly written, and the plot didn't really make sense. With a little more work, it may have been better, but as is it just wasn't worth my time.

[The Local Spooky Hermit · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book... is very hard to keep reading. Like if you aren't a main character and just one of the students they all talk in this weird hillbilly slang. "ya'll " "t'is" "yah" idk Is this how the author thinks teens talk? And is everything is suppose to happen in a matter of days? or months? It sounds like days but Peggy looses so much weight she's suppose to be heavily over weight but in what seems like 3 days sounds like shes now just a tiny bit chubby suddenly. its not like shes working out shes just not eating sweets. And she's really stupid all this weird stuff going on and she KNOWS ITS THE BOARD BUT IS ALL "maybe the house IS HAUNTED." BITCH PLEASE. The demon is made out to be very sly and acts all friendly but HE DOESN'T sure he'll say one nice thing BUT IS A COMPLETE DICK OR BEING CREEPY ALL THE REST OF THE TIME!! If anyone ever fell for his "nice guy act" (which he DOESN'T HAVE AT ALL) you deserve to have you soul taken for being so stupid.
He possesses the dog (WHOSE NAME IS DOG. WOW.) and Peggy is all "oh my dog hasn't pissed in two days and is standing weird, sleeps with his eyes open, mean. Oh he's just sick, Max(the demon) said he fixed him." (what a fix your dog was nervous THATS ALL and now he suddenly hates you. I say thats a step back and not a step forward!!!)
THERE'S SO MUCH MORE WRONG . Peggy thinks the boy staring at her is creepy all the sudden they are making out. WHAT WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?! OVER THE 3 DAYS SHE STAYED HOME FROM SCHOOL AND LOST WHAT SOUNDS LIKE 200 POUNDS?!
SO THIS TEEN DUDE HAD A EVIL DAD BUT AT THE SAME TIME ACTS LIKE HIS PARENTS were really okay like their ghosts GO FOR FUCKING WALKS IN THE EVENING TOGETHER! WTH??? WHAT AM I TO GET OUT OF THIS?!!?!?!
PEGGY'S DAD IS ALL "OMG YOUR THAT EVIL GUYS SON?! GET OUTTA MY HOUSE!!!"
Peggy moms say "oh hunny he seems like a good boy"
peggys dad "oh sorry nvm stay for dinner i'll tell some funny stories" JUST DON'T MIND THE FLYING FURNITURE THE THE POSSESSED DOG FOAMING IN THE CORNER HE'S JUST SICK IS ALL!!!"
BTW PEGGY'S MOM THINKS HER DAUGHTER AND FATHER ARE SLEEPING TOGETHER BUT HE HELPS HER GET THROUGH HER EPILEPSY ATTACKS AND THEN ITS NEVER BROUGHT UP AGAIN.
EXCUSE ME WHAT?! THATS A HELL OF A STRETCH WOMAN AND WHY IS THIS BROUGHT UP AND NEVER TALKED ABOUT AGAIN!?!?!?!
This book is a HUGE mess!!!
And i'm SO TIRED OF TRYING TO GET THROUGH IT
I've read some BAD BOOKS. But when they are this messy and all over the place and no one seems to act or think like a normal human ugh. No. I give up. I'm so close to being done with it. But now I won't read anything new bc I have this and so many others to finish so I don't read anything. I'm going to free a spot and find something better. Let it haunt me being so close to finishing it and just not haunt my shelf and keep me from other stories. I WISHED THEY ALL DIE AT THE END OF THIS NOVEL ANYWAYS. UGH!!

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

The storyline was good, but it did feel a bit rushed to end, the main characters were good. Though it just seemed like a really bad D grade horror movie.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover is phenomenal but the content? Well, somehow I thought this might be some kind of fairy tale for kids starting with the preface. Then the story came up about a fat kid, Peggy, taking revenge on her classmates with the help of a quija-board. To be honest, I didn't like the characters in the book, they were flat, the evil ones were fairy-tale and dull cliche like and the action was extremely predictable and lame. Had expected much more. So I was glad when this was over. Only for hardcore quija fans or fans of the author. The cover is outstanding though!

[Bee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was WILD. WILD. I don't have words. It's like Dana Reed had 75 story ideas and decided to smoosh them all into one book and somehow they all tie together? How does so much happen in one book?? This was not a good book, but I couldn't look away. Like Pringles once you pop you can't stop. Even if you want to...but like Peggy with the Twinkies, I just couldn't put this one down... Hell Board is going to haunt me until I die. I think Dana Reed might be a genius.

[Lizette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the beginning of the book, and would rate what I have read 2/5. However, when I got to the mother's jealousy towards the relationship between the father and daughter I was put off. Overall a good book otherwise to get into the genre of horror, not really scary and full of stereotypes.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

An unpopular girl unwittingly befriends a demon. Silly plot points, nonsensical character development and motivation. Skip this one.

[Damien Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely speechless. A dog named Dog, a mean ass bus driver, four pages about a tracksuit; what a book!

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a scary and fast read! I enjoyed the story line and the scary images!

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very creepy horror. This is one of the few horror books I would recommend to other people. =)

[Stacy Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was a teenager and it was still a good read as an adult. I'm going to get the rest of her books because I enjoyed her writing immensely.