The Rain Ghost

Hippo Hauntings #9

by Garry Kilworth

The Scholastic classic, available for the digital age. When Steve finds an ancient dagger on the moors he realizes that, unless he returns it, he will always be haunted by the brooding presence he has disturbed.

Cover from Scholastic US Point edition of THE RAIN GHOST.

Copyright 1990 by Scholastic Inc.

Used by permission of Scholastic Inc.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Horror

Audible Audio

First published March 1, 1990

About the author

Garry Douglas Kilworth is a historical novelist who also published sci-fi, fantasy, and juvenile fiction.

Kilworth is a graduate of King's College London. He was previously a science fiction author, having published one hundred twenty short stories and seventy novels.

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for our podcast Teenage Scream, which dissects the best (and worst) of 90s Teen Horror.

https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream

[Livvi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Point horror always puts me in a good mood

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

While on a school hike on a mountain, Steve becomes lost in the mist. Finding himself in a circle of stones, he discovers an ancient dagger in the peat and brings the treasure home. But he brings other things along with it. The dagger brings excess moisture wherever it sits, nightmares plague him, and a ghost comes in the rain searching for it. Steve will need the help of his friends to put a top to the haunting.
While intended for youth reading, the story nonetheless had drawbacks beyond the age level it was intended for. Aside from not a lot of depth to the horror elements, the fact that the plot seemed to waver between what age levels it was written for, it felt dated and had a lot of slang and cultural elements that may have been familiar to late 1980s England, but fell flat in today's United States. - 2.5/5*

[Brianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Am I insane or did this kids parents die like a year ago and then he goes to their grave and says he doesnt know them. Dude you're like 14? You remember when you were 13.
The main characters contradictions are all over the place and there s no reason pointing to his changing opinions. There is zero building feelings for your girl best friend, but you think she s the best thing since sliced bread in the last sentence of the book? Where s the pining. Where's the awkwardness. Also I was pretty darn sure she had a thing for the other boy best friend but who cares about the last 110 pages I guess.

[Louise · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel harsh giving this one star, but it was so dull that I can't muster up any enthusiasm for it.

Quite a typical style for the late 80's, it starts out in an adventure style plot with a boy getting lost in the mist on a school trip. Then it veers unconvincingly into a ghost story. I can't decide if this is middle grade or YA, it doesn't really suit either. Again, quite typical for the time period.

[BRANDON · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story had more depth than I was expecting which was a pleasant surprise. It felt strange reading about the locale from a modern(ish) lense, as most of the titles I've read set on the tidal marshes were Regency.