Schoolhouse

by Lee Duigon

Final Bell

Some said Victory School was haunted. That after the final bell had run and the last child had filed out the school doors, ghosts of teachers long dead walked the hallways. And spectres of students in outdated clothing floated through the dark and empty classrooms. Plus, there were all those strange accidents...All in all it was a relief that the Board of Education had decided to close the school forever...

Final Test

Fifth-grader Ned Bradley knew that something weird was going on at school. He'd seen the ghosts with his very own eyes. His father, who happened to be the principal, told him he'd been watching too many monster movies. But Ned knew better. He knew that closing the school was a bad idea. A very bad idea. Because now the evil that stalked the school would only have a few months to take its revenge. A revenge that would be the ultimate in deadly terror...

Schoolhouse

Genres: Horror

317 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes (okay, often) I get in the mood for some trashy 80s horror, and this fulfilled all the requirements I look for in these sorts of novels, but it's pretty rare for me to rate one higher than a 3 unless there's something truly unique (or batshit crazy) that separates it from the glut of similar books of the era.

This was anything but unique, but it certainly was fun, about an old grade school that's about to be torn down, with spectral beings roaming the halls and weird worm/tentacle-like creatures in the drains. These creatures can shoot up their victim's noses, causing them to be under the influence of the evil power residing in the building. Only 5th grader Ned and the slightly mentally-challenged assistant janitor knows or accepts what's going on (everyone seems to experience a sort of memory loss when "violated" by the tentacles), and Ned must somehow convince his father, the school principal, of the danger they're all in.

Another reviewer here mentioned Invaders From Mars, and that's as good of a comparison as any. There's a bit of a science-fictional element here relating to the nature of the evil, and I dug the overall creepy atmosphere and decrepit nature of the school. The characters are all pretty stock, but drawn well enough so that I was invested in the story, silly as it was at times. I enjoy just turning my brain off for a while and wallowing in all the insanity of these midlist horror boom-era novels every so often, and this one hit that sweet spot, even if it didn't really go above and beyond in any way. There are a couple of pretty freaky scenes, though, as well as the obligatory over-the-top ending that was well done.

I'll most likely be checking out Duigon's other horror novels like Lifeblood and Mind Stealer, the next time I have a hankering for some B-horror done right.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I would not really call this a classic, it is a fine piece of trashy pulp horror, and just OTT enough to make it stand out from the pack of cheesy 80s horror. The titular schoolhouse is Victory elementary, located in a small, upstate NY town. Our main leads are Virgil, the principal of the place, and his son Ned, a fifth grader who attends the school. Duigon kicks this off with a prologue, where the shaman of the Spotted Turtle tribe witnesses a meteor slam into a valley; soon the place has a bad rep among the locals.

Flash forward to the 1980s and the valley is now filled with Tianoga, a small town. Virgil grew up in Tianoga, and even went to school at Victory as a kid; he got his degree and started teaching there before he became the principal. It seems the school will be closing down after this school year and the 'sentience' at the school knows this (not a spoiler, as Duigon introduces the POV of the sentience right off the bat). Hence, rather than slowly reel in prey, it needs to up its game to take advantage of the time left.

Right off the bat, Duigon introduces lots of strangeness; the staff acting strangely (after being injected up their noses by something that came out of the pipes. Obviously, the place is haunted, or is it something even worse. While the narrative is largely from Ned's POV, Duigon often shifts to various staff members, and it is a lot of fun to watch them either self-destruct or take matters into their own hands...

I have to thank Jack Tripper for putting this one on my radar. Lots of fun, plenty of foo, and surprisingly well written. If you are into trashy 80s horror, give it a whirl. 4 crazy stars!!!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the Board of Education votes to shut down dilapidated Victory School, it is now finishing out its last year of operation. It's not just a rundown old building, however; long, pink worm-like creatures come up from drains and shoot up people's noses, possessing them. The halls are haunted by ghostly apparitions. There are strange holes in the walls, terrible smells and noises in the ceilings.
Victory School is haunted, and the sentience inherently knows the school will be closing, thus ending its energy source of human prey and forcing it to ramp up its currant level of activity.
From the beginning of the school's history, there have been many terrible tragedies - teachers and faculty disappearing, dying in freak accidents and having mental breakdowns. When tragedies happen in the school, it gives the spirits power and energy.
Only fifth grader, Ned Bradley and his father, school principal, Virgil Bradley believe in the ghosts and spirits, and are among the only people in the school to avoid possession or some other such tragedy. They are determined to get to the bottom of what's going on at Victory School and get rid of it once and for all - and as there become more and more victims, it's obvious that waiting out the year is not an option any longer.
Can Ned and his father destroy this sentience before it gets anyone else?
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I really enjoyed this, I thought it was fun and interesting. There were definitely a lot of characters going on and it sometimes became confusing, but overall, I definitely really liked this book.

[DJMikeG · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a prime example of late 1980s "Horror Boom" horror, from the somewhat cheesy cover art with 3D embossed art and metallic silver lettering, to the lurid synopsis on the back cover. So many of these novels are bad. Some of them are so bad they are good, most of them are just plain bad. Once in awhile, though, you pick one of these cheesy looking things up and it takes you by surprise. This book was so much better than it had to be. It was well written in an easy reading, accessible way. The pacing was perfect, with short chapters concerning different characters all intertwining towards the climax. The history of the ground upon which the titular schoolhouse was built was fascinating and the vignettes from that worked as great, chilling stories in their own right. The whole concept of the book was great and while the climax took some serious suspension of disbelief, it was executed well. A very, very good horror novel, much better than most of its ilk in the 1980s horror boom. It is books like this one that keep me digging through piles of paperbacks, looking for the gems! Duigon is a talented author and I look forward to reading his one other horror novel, "Lifeblood".

[Jim Lay · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old favorite of mine that I have read multiple times. Kinda campy and shlocky but a lot of fun and awesome in an 80's, Pinnacle Horror way... And you gotta love that cover, lol.

[Rachel Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is problematic to have two ladies who work at the school with names starting with "D" who also both have nosebleeds narrating; especially when they are two of, like, ten narrators whose perspectives are given in mainly little one page snippets of chapters. I like ensembles and multiple narrators and I was confused. However, once Duigon stopped adding narrators this story got going.

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Schoolhouse" is classic 1980s pulp horror with a cover to match.

The Victory School has a jaded past that few know about but some have sensed over the years. A series of strange deaths, injuries, teacher transfers, and disappearances have ramped up the concern that Principal Virgil Bradley has for his building. On top of that, the present school year will be the last for the dilapidated and neglected school.

When some of the teachers, custodians, and students begin to see strange apparitions, readers are slowly exposed to the sentient being hiding beneath the building.

Author Lee Duigon uses a large number of characters to tell his story, but does a great job developing them and giving them plenty of opportunities to move the plot along.

If you are a fan of this genre and gory 1980s horror, then I think you'll enjoy this oldie, but goodie.

[Morgan Chalfant · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty standard 80s era Pinnacle horror, but lacked the edge of some of their other titles. The characters weren't that compelling (except for Virgil and the janitors), and that probably has less to do with Duigon's actual writing and more to do with having too many characters involved in the novel. Not a bad read by any means, but of all the 1980s and 90s paperback horror I've read, this one is in the bottom half of my favorites.

[Scott Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was better read then I thought it would have been.

Ghosts, a few bloody moments and a giant pink alien that sticks a spike up your nose. It would have made a great movie, well made for tv movie perhaps

[Cascadianwonder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fun read! Campy, cheesy 80's horror.

[Mehwish]

High


?l?nnnk

[R.J.]

Fantastic revisiting this late 80s horror novel.