Ghost Boy

by Jean Simon

Once, in a small town paralyzed with fear, a sadistic human monster moved undetected, leaving a terrifying trail of bloody death...and few clues. That was twenty-five years ago. Today, two more children have just been found brutally murdered.

Eleven-year-old Joely calls this town her new home. She calls the shy, strange boy named Martin her new friend. But Martin has a secret: He knows who the killer is. Because he was the first victim. And unless he can stop the killings, Joely's going to be the next one.

In this town, every child has a reason to be afraid.

Genres: Horror

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1994

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun read by Simon, one of the better authors in Zebra's stable, but not her best. Libby recently moved to Cielo, a small inland town in California, with her two daughters after her divorce from her philandering husband. The transition from city to small town is pretty rough on her two daughters, Tess, 15 and Joely, 11; being summer, they are out of school, friendless and bored. Libby now works for the town doctor as a receptionist and money is tight. Pretty typical set up for Simon.

Joely, our main protagonist, has met a few girls her age, and on a dare, sneaks out one night to hook up with them at midnight in the town's graveyard. Unfortunately for Joely, they plan (and do!) ditch her as a prank; freaking out, she runs smack into a crypt and knocks herself out. When she awakens, she sees the ghost of a little boy; he looks so sad she is not frightened. On a return to the graveyard a few nights later, the ghost shows her his tombstone; little Martin has been dead for 25 years! Shortly thereafter, a little girl is first missing and then found mutilated and the town freaks out. Seems like something similar happened 25 years ago...

Ghost Boy reads fast and has a nice twist at the end, but most of the characters are pretty well worn cliches to say the least. Joely is fun to root for-- a little plucky kid to say the least. Definitely not exceptional by any means, but a good time waster if you have nothing better to do and like vintage horror. This also has killer cover art, a kinda metallic mirror that does not show well in the photo. 2.5 stars, rounding up for little Joely.

[Joe Xtarr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good. I kept my expectations low, and went along for the ride on this one. It's not much of a ghost story, and the ghosty parts are okay. The ending caught me by surprise, so kudos to the author for hiding the foreshadowing well.

This suffers from feeling short and rushed, and skipping over occasional plotholes. The dialogue is mediocre. The tropes and stereotypes are present, and sometimes annoying. Not bad.