Dylan was promised a surprise, but he's tired of surprises. Each of his parents losing their jobs were surprises. Having to sell their house was a surprise. Having to move to a new town and go to a new school were surprises.
When the surprise turns out to be PLAYLAND PIZZA with its very own ginormous structure of huge tubes, he thinks his luck has taken a change for the better. But then he meets the nasty ghost who lives in the tubes.
At school, a gang of supreme bullies are out to get him. At his new "home" he's given the task of getting rid of the terrible smell inside the tubes. But it's the ghost that's causing the smell.
He's sure he's out of luck until two friends vow to help him with the ghost. He's on his own with the bullies, though. Or is he?
A ghost haunting horror thriller from the Just Deserts Horror Collection of Chilling Short Stories and Novellas
Story revolves around Dylan - a kid whose parents lose their jobs and move to take over a previously shut down restaurant called Playland Pizza. It's a pizza restaurant with a play area that includes an elaborate set of tubes and slides (thinking old McDonalds playplaces). Dylan and his mom and dad live in a trailer on the property of the restaurant. The tubes are haunted by a ghost of a boy who went missing years earlier and Dylan and his new friends from school must figure out how to protect everyone from and get rid of the ghost. Dylan's life is complicated by the fact that he is harassed by 3 bullies at school so its pretty much him tormented by bullies at school during the day and then the ghost in the tubes at night.
The novella (its around 85 pages) was well written and had some scary parts with the haunting. The ending felt a little rushed in that the story built to the end and it happened very quickly and some details were left out. Overall though, a really good quick read ghost story