Ghost Light

by Clare McNally

In the blood of the innocent burns the flame of evil! Pretty little five-year-old Bonnie Jackson was the darling of all the stage world. Until the night she found herself wandering, terrified, through the darkness of the Winston Theater--a night that would end with evil consuming the innocent girl in a horrible fiery death. Now, sixty years later, Bonnie has returned. And she will command the spotlight once again. For pretty little Bonnie Jackson is about to perform her show-stopping act of revenge. From inside front "You have to die," the little girl in a ghostly white dress said, in a voice audible only to Barbara. Suddenly, she lunged forward, pushing the woman with all her might. All those who were watching thought Barbara had somehow lost her balance. Her thoughts filled with visions of fire and crashing timber. She tried desperately to grab for something. But there was nothing within her reach. Barbara Warner hit the floor so hard on impact that she never felt a thing.

Genres: Horror, Fiction

215 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read several books by McNally and have never been really impressed; they all seem to have a rather paint-by-the-numbers feel to them regarding horror tropes. Ghost Light is no exception here, but then, being published in 1982, I think intended audience had a rather low bar for innovation and quality. McNally is readable and fun, but rather tame compared to modern horror.

Ghost Light starts with a prologue set in the 1920 where we first meet our soon-to-be ghost-- a little girl of 5 or so whose mother abuses rather badly and who likes to lock her in dark places as 'punishment' or simply so she can have a quicky with her lover. The girl hates her mommy, but loves her daddy, and in any case, meets a grizzly end when the theater she was performing in burned down.

Now, 60 years later, Nate, a director/producer of theater, was willed millions by his father (long nasty story there) and decides to build a new theater in NYC and finally fulfill his ambitions by taking Broadway by storm. Little does he know that the site upon he builds the new theater was where the prologue tragedy took place and that the ghost of the little girl is still around looking for her daddy to save her...

Decently written and plotted, but Ghost Light felt too scripted to be really novel. You kinda know what will happen right from the get go and the only mystery is exactly how it will unfold. Again, paint-by-the-numbers horror. 2 stars.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second Clare McNally book. The first being Come Down Into Darkness which I rated as 2 stars. It deserves 3 as I was being tight with my ratings and turning into a grumpy old man. As a bloke in my 40’s I am not the intended audience for both books, going by the other reviews. They are more for teenagers or young adults. This context has to be taken into account when reading both.

Having said that, I enjoyed this horror book so maybe I am just as much the intended audience.

The story is of a young girl, Bonnie, who is killed in a theatre fire in the 1920’s. There are family issues in her life which leads her to seek revenge for her death 60 years later. She haunts a newly built theatre by a director who has his own family issues and she is one angry ghost.

Similar to Come Down Into Darkness, the book does not create a menacing, spooky, creepy enough atmosphere. It is there but just not dark enough. It is a horror book that is not that horrifying. For Me.

It is probably scary and creepy enough for a YA. I now have 2 Clare McNally books to pass onto my daughter.

The last words. It is a 1980’s horror book. A genre which I LOVE reading. Always will.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book when I was 16 years old and loved it so much, it has stayed with me my whole adult life. In fact, one can find it in my attic in a special box to protect it from elements. I love Clare McNally..and have read and kept the sequel to Ghost Light ...Ghost Light Revenge. Well worth the read. I am just afraid to bring it out at this point for fear it may fall apart.

[#ReadAllTheBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of feel bad giving this book any sort of rating. It's not meant to be a great book, but then no pulp horror novel is meant to be an amazing life changing experience. This is pretty much the epitome of the type of read that you get and then take to a secondhand bookstore afterwards. It's the type of book that you know you'd have loved more when you were a teenager, if that makes any sense.

The characters are all stereotypical of the time and place, with each one filling a specific role and getting discarded as they serve their purposes. I do have to give McNally credit: she isn't afraid to take a few swipes at the kids in the book. Children are the sacred cows in horror fiction and while she doesn't go to John Saul-esque lengths, they are put in peril.

There was just something about this that didn't really catch my interest the way I wanted to. I wasn't expecting much, just good old fashioned cheese along the lines of Robert McCammon's Sting. It just didn't really live up to my hopes, although it was a pleasant enough read for this fan of pulp horror. I've got another one of McNally's work, so I'll give that a go as well.

[Mike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like reading a horror checklist

[Mysticpaganwitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember around the time I left school I used to go to the library after tea when it was dark. The best time. This was one of the books I borrowed and I read it in bed. I couldn't remember the authors name but the story sounds like the same story from one of the reviews I've read. At the time I would have said 'yeah it was great' and I'd probably say the same thing thing today it's just that it was 26 years ago and I'd find it 'dated' now. But at the time my 16 year old mind loved it. I loved ghosts then and I still love them now.

[David Stephens · Rating 1 out of 5]

“In the blood of the innocent burns the flame of evil.” So reads the book’s tagline, and it’s probably not a good sign when this short blurb along with the cover of flames and a little girl tell you everything you need to know about the book.

But, in case it doesn’t, here it is in brief: 1920s theater. Tragedy. Present day. Rebuilt theater. Mysterious girl (repeat every other page). Confusion. Unexplained occurrences. Deaths. Research. Oh, no! The performance is scheduled for the same day as the tragic fire. Oh, well! The show must go on. Further chaos. Resolution. Denouement.

Even a worn out story like this might still be fun if there were any atmosphere or suspense created or some engaging characters or anything the slightest bit unpredictable, but the book manages none of this. It’s all rigid prose and dream sequences and cheap stereotypes and ghostly going-ons that must be the wind or someone whispering or a mistake. It certainly can’t have anything to do with that unknown girl who every character has now seen arrive and disappear inexplicably.

On top of all this, the poorly attempted horror tactics become insulting at some point. Instead of merely deploying the old trick of having something spooky that shouldn’t be there show up on a picture and letting readers get goosebumps from this already hackneyed approach, the author walks her readers step by step through the process. “Okay, imagine this . . . You take a picture–say of a building. And there are no people in the scene. Yet when the picture is developed, someone is there–or rather, what seems to be a person.”

Give us a little more credit, please.

[April Yvette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I finally finished this book. It was amusing enough to read, however, it just wasn't really that thrilling. There wasn't any real character development beyond just explaining their part in the story. The dialogue between characters was lacking genuine conversation. It was all so cliche and got pretty predictable. Honestly the most exciting thing about this book was finishing it so i can start reading something else.

[Joe Xtarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I generally dislike ghost and evil-child stories, but this was damn good. The pacing was on point. The tropes were present but understated. The ending felt appropriate. And the characters weren't obnoxiously misogynistic, racist, or sexually creepy towards children like most horror fiction from this era. All around, this was a solid story about a hauted theatre. I'll be reading more from McNally for sure.

[Zach Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much pulp-fiction paint-by-numbers, never doing anything unexpected or out of the ordinary. It's all fine, a quick read, and nothing about it made me angry like my last Spooktober read (Dean Koontz's The Funhouse), but a forgotten paperback from Hell that should stay forgotten.

[Rel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd like to imagine there's an alternate universe where this was a deeply eerie piece of speculative fiction that explored generation trauma via a ghost story. But here, it's typical 1980s paperback horror dreck. I found it for a dollar at a used bookstore and honestly felt like I'd overpaid.

[Dutchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG!!!! I READ THIS BOOK WHEN I WAS 12!!!!

I NEVER FORGOT IT/ JUST FORGPOT THE NAME/ HAVE SEARCHED FOR YEARS TO FIND THIS BOOK AGAIN!!! THANK GOD FORE THECHNOLOGY!!! I AM NOW REUNITED WITH AN CHILDHOOD MEMORY AND A FANTASTIC BOOK WITH A FANTASTIC STORY LINE!!!

[Pattie Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

good ghost story

If you are looking for a good old fashioned ghost story this is it! I very much enjoyed this book. I read it years ago but hadn’t been able to find a copy of it in years. It was just as good the second time as the first.

[Dragonglimer Lisa Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to re-read since it has been several years but I remember that I really liked the story..

[Lisa Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a teenager the first time, and read it again as an adult. I love the theater and ghost stories so I totally enjoyed this book.

[Jodi Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a great story, haunting, revenge, reincarnation. It had it all. I felt bad for Bonnie, such a sweet little girl that die and become angry looking for her daddy.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reread for me. Still spooky. Perfect reading fun for October and spooky book month.

[C. Shepard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another of my favorite "first horror" books I read when I was younger. The main ghost character is very compelling. One of my all-time favorite ghost tales.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I owned and read this book years ago. For me, it was one of the most chilling ghost stories I had ever read. The sheer malevolence of a child, who simply wanted to be loved makes for a heart-thumping read. My copy was lost in a move and I really need to get another copy because Clare McNally's "Ghost Light" is one to own.