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The Academy
With a promise of more freedom, and the chance to get out from under the thumbs of a reactionary school board, the teachers of Tyler High have voted to become a charter school. Instructors and parents alike are thrilled with the prospect of independence--and yet...
The formerly laid back principal has become unusually strict. With her toadying secretary, she seems to be running the show. That isn't all. The janitors no longer work nights because of what they hear. The students are frightened by what they see. And things that defy explanations are happening on school grounds. But there is an explanation--it's just not something that anyone can begin to believe...or hope to survive.
Text taken from book jacket.
The formerly laid back principal has become unusually strict. With her toadying secretary, she seems to be running the show. That isn't all. The janitors no longer work nights because of what they hear. The students are frightened by what they see. And things that defy explanations are happening on school grounds. But there is an explanation--it's just not something that anyone can begin to believe...or hope to survive.
Text taken from book jacket.
392 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
100 people are currently reading
1390 people want to read
About the author
Bentley Little
135 books2,565 followersBentley Little is an American author of horror fiction. Publishing an average of a novel a year since 1990, Little avoids publicity and rarely does promotional work or interviews for his writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
June 29, 2023
This is a typical Little novel, with a cast of normal everyday people thrust into a surreal situation caused and manipulated by evil Evil. A Spielbergian California high school decides to convert itself to a charter school, resulting in lots of uncomfortable sexual hijinks and odd violence. It's more political than most of his other works, and the ending feels abrupt. It's an engaging page-turner despite the lack of common sense most of the characters exhibit, but not among his best work.
March 16, 2025
I don’t write reviews.
And honestly, I don’t feel any sort of way about charter schools. I know I don’t like teachers pushing politics in school, but I don’t really think school is good for kids either. Based on the Prussian system to create factory workers, “education” is a way to indoctrinate the youth into the slavery system. You know it’s not about education, when kids aren’t taught anything of value or things humans actually need to know to exist in the modern world. Whatever, Little is a leftist so he hates what the left hates and he takes up the talking points as he has characters get sexually aroused while watching Bill Maher.
The Academy could have been so much more. Little set it all up. I would have liked a family tree of witches and their familiars. He basically wrote that foundation, then didn’t go anywhere with it. I still enjoyed the pace and the style and, of course, the complete inability of anyone in a Little book to fight against what they know is wrong. This one was all over the place though. Some people died, but why? I wanted this story to be like that episode of The X Files where that group of teachers, who were a coven of witches, broke their oaths, and a “substitute teacher” came to town, with spooky results. But it wasn’t like that. It was more like that whipping scene after the gay club in Nightmare on Elm Steet 2: Freddy’s Revenge.
Book 7 - Just a Little Bit More: Reading Through the Bentley Little Catalog
And honestly, I don’t feel any sort of way about charter schools. I know I don’t like teachers pushing politics in school, but I don’t really think school is good for kids either. Based on the Prussian system to create factory workers, “education” is a way to indoctrinate the youth into the slavery system. You know it’s not about education, when kids aren’t taught anything of value or things humans actually need to know to exist in the modern world. Whatever, Little is a leftist so he hates what the left hates and he takes up the talking points as he has characters get sexually aroused while watching Bill Maher.
The Academy could have been so much more. Little set it all up. I would have liked a family tree of witches and their familiars. He basically wrote that foundation, then didn’t go anywhere with it. I still enjoyed the pace and the style and, of course, the complete inability of anyone in a Little book to fight against what they know is wrong. This one was all over the place though. Some people died, but why? I wanted this story to be like that episode of The X Files where that group of teachers, who were a coven of witches, broke their oaths, and a “substitute teacher” came to town, with spooky results. But it wasn’t like that. It was more like that whipping scene after the gay club in Nightmare on Elm Steet 2: Freddy’s Revenge.
Book 7 - Just a Little Bit More: Reading Through the Bentley Little Catalog
September 26, 2013
Are you afraid of the principal's office? Do you have nightmares about your mother posing nude in art class? Does the thought of spanking your phys ed teacher's bare ass send chills down your spine? Are you frozen in terror by the word "feces"? Then maybe The Academy by Bentley Little will scare you. Maybe.
I bought the Academy to read after liking Little's previous work, The Burning. Unfortunately, The Academy is like it was written by a completely different author; an inept, confused, struggling author. It is so bad that it's difficult to put into words just how terrible it is. Let me put it this way: The Academy is so badly written that it retroactively ruined all previous Bentley Little works.
Firstly, the characters. We've got a number of protagonists in this book, but sadly they are all so underwritten that by the end of the book, we still know next to nothing about them. We, the readers, have no sense of connection to any of these individuals, and thus have no interest in either their survival or their passing. The ones who live are the ones you know will live because Little spent the most time NOT telling us anything about them as people. The antagonists aren't much better. The principle antagonist (ha ha) is seen frequently for brief amounts of time, and she never seems to do more than scowl and scream. She and all the other dangerous entities of the story are merely caricatures, so outlandishly deviant that you feel more inclined to laugh at their antics than fear them. The rest of the story's characters are so ignorant or oblivious to everything going on, that any sort of torment or death seems a welcome change in their lives.
The plot is awful. I've said it as plainly as I can. The events that take place are neither convincing in their horror, nor rational in their motivation. When the book reveals the purpose and planning behind the happenings of the story, we are not terrified nor horrified, we are simply baffled. If the true nature of the beast is education, loyalty, homogenization and order, then why in God's name is the entire school campus in a rapid state of denigration and chaos? Everything that occurs runs completely contradictory to the eventual ending. It's an insulting journey, and when it's over, we are the true victims of the tale.
If you haven't already read The Academy, do yourself a favor and read ANYTHING ELSE. Hell, I would even rather read another Dean Koontz crapfest than this. I only finished the damn thing out of some insane obligation to time and money spent. Terrible. If Bentley Little actually went to school, his English teacher(s) are rolling in their graves over this book.
I bought the Academy to read after liking Little's previous work, The Burning. Unfortunately, The Academy is like it was written by a completely different author; an inept, confused, struggling author. It is so bad that it's difficult to put into words just how terrible it is. Let me put it this way: The Academy is so badly written that it retroactively ruined all previous Bentley Little works.
Firstly, the characters. We've got a number of protagonists in this book, but sadly they are all so underwritten that by the end of the book, we still know next to nothing about them. We, the readers, have no sense of connection to any of these individuals, and thus have no interest in either their survival or their passing. The ones who live are the ones you know will live because Little spent the most time NOT telling us anything about them as people. The antagonists aren't much better. The principle antagonist (ha ha) is seen frequently for brief amounts of time, and she never seems to do more than scowl and scream. She and all the other dangerous entities of the story are merely caricatures, so outlandishly deviant that you feel more inclined to laugh at their antics than fear them. The rest of the story's characters are so ignorant or oblivious to everything going on, that any sort of torment or death seems a welcome change in their lives.
The plot is awful. I've said it as plainly as I can. The events that take place are neither convincing in their horror, nor rational in their motivation. When the book reveals the purpose and planning behind the happenings of the story, we are not terrified nor horrified, we are simply baffled. If the true nature of the beast is education, loyalty, homogenization and order, then why in God's name is the entire school campus in a rapid state of denigration and chaos? Everything that occurs runs completely contradictory to the eventual ending. It's an insulting journey, and when it's over, we are the true victims of the tale.
If you haven't already read The Academy, do yourself a favor and read ANYTHING ELSE. Hell, I would even rather read another Dean Koontz crapfest than this. I only finished the damn thing out of some insane obligation to time and money spent. Terrible. If Bentley Little actually went to school, his English teacher(s) are rolling in their graves over this book.
June 15, 2017
Who would have thought that a high school turning into a charter school would be so nightmarish?! At the beginning of the school year the teachers and students are told that their school is being turned into a charter school. Strange things start happening first with the ones who opposed the charter school idea and then with the school and students. Murder, gore, batshit craziness all wrapped into one. This is not for the faint of heart. I had a hard time putting this one down.
July 4, 2021
Little is a proficient writer to be sure, but his novels often have a formulaic quality to them that gets a little old. Typically, we are introduced to a range of normal people as characters and then things slowly start to get odd/go wrong. The Academy concerns a high school in California that one summer suddenly elected to become a charter school. It turns out the principle has been working on the paper work for three years and just launched the bomb one summer with the support of a clique of teachers who supported the idea for various reasons. At first, the school seems normal enough, but things start going downhill fast-- naked gym classes, cheerleaders who were ordered to take off their panties, 'squads' of boys and girls acting as enforcers of various new rules, mandatory bible studies, strange noises and sounds, disgruntled employees disappearing, etc. All kinds of craziness!
Little uses The Academy as a platform to disparage charter schools; while I personally am not a fan of such, such blatant politics in a novel kinda turns me off. Little is good a building tension, however, and this novel reads as a cross between a horror and a mystery-- what is the link between becoming a charter school and all the strange supernatural things going on at the school? It is finally revealed in the denouement (itself very unsatisfying and abrupt). Not one of Little's better efforts, but the first 300 pages were fun. 2.5 stars.
Little uses The Academy as a platform to disparage charter schools; while I personally am not a fan of such, such blatant politics in a novel kinda turns me off. Little is good a building tension, however, and this novel reads as a cross between a horror and a mystery-- what is the link between becoming a charter school and all the strange supernatural things going on at the school? It is finally revealed in the denouement (itself very unsatisfying and abrupt). Not one of Little's better efforts, but the first 300 pages were fun. 2.5 stars.
May 23, 2020
This is my 6th (or maybe 7th) Bentley Little book in the last two years, and while The Academy is as whacked-out as the others, it's definitely the weakest one I've read. Not to say I didn't enjoy it, because I did, but it just felt a little random and lazy plotwise when compared to the rest of them. And the ending was not very satisfying, especially considering one of the things I love most about Little is how big and over-the-top his endings often are. Of course, there are plenty of moments in this that still make for an interesting read, but if you're looking to dive into this author, this is definitely not the first place you should start.
July 13, 2018
my god this author has fantasy and can write! page turner... also like the sex descriptions with bentley...
November 3, 2021
Bad. Really bad. I finished it just out of curiosity. Example sentence: "Even as creepy as she seemed these days, Jody would not have defecated in a book." AHAHAHAA! So, at least I got a laugh out of it.
September 27, 2020
Another creep, twisted reality from Bentley Little. Great book.
August 22, 2008
A Charter School Horror Story
I am not a huge fan of the horror genre, but as an education writer I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read a horror story set in a charter school. That has to be a high-water mark for the charter school movement, to become a subject front and center in a mass-market chiller. The Academy, written by Bentley Little, is about a California high school, the fictional John Tyler High, that elects to go charter to get out of from under the grasp of a fundamentalist school board. Much of the politics of charter schools is covered in the novel, but there are several twists.
John Tyler High is not run as a democracy, but as a principal’s personal dictatorship. There is forced parental involvement—with a financial penalty, as well as a loyalty oath to pledge allegiance to the school. The principal turns students into paramilitary scouts to spy on their classmates and inform on the teachers too. While the principal’s totalitarianism reaches heights of fear and deceit, many teachers descend to the lowest lows; there is corporal punishment, sexual abuse of mothers and students by the faculty, and rebuttal of the separation of church and state—all condoned by the administration. Teachers and students in support of the principal behave like zombies and the school community crumbles in fear. The library and the basketball courts are the most dreaded public spaces at John Tyler and the place is locked down during the school day, like a prison. And, as always in horror novels: good people die.
Horror and the idea of a haunted school aside, Little has caught onto some of the most debated issues on charter schools: school uniforms (down to the underwear in this story); teachers exchanging tenure for more creative license and latitude in the classroom; the lack of a teacher’s union to be a grievance manager for the faculty; the potential for teachers and administrators to direct the poorest students to leave because they will have a negative impact on the school’s performance on standardized tests. These are the real-life scary parts, and they help steer the story.
The teacher hero in The Academy strongly believes in the thought behind charter schools however she is forced to team with three students to destroy the written charter in order to exorcise the demons from John Tyler High. That was the place where the story went south for me; fortunately it was near the end. There is a history to the haunted nature of the place, though it took a while to get there.
The writing held my attention, but that was because I am familiar with charter schools. I don’t know how the leaders in the charter school movement will react to The Academy, but I’d be curious to find out what they think. I can’t take a horror novel too seriously, but I am aware of educators who would like to ban Harry Potter and similar stories from the classroom. I’d love to read their comments on The Academy now that they have the chance to read mine.
I am not a huge fan of the horror genre, but as an education writer I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read a horror story set in a charter school. That has to be a high-water mark for the charter school movement, to become a subject front and center in a mass-market chiller. The Academy, written by Bentley Little, is about a California high school, the fictional John Tyler High, that elects to go charter to get out of from under the grasp of a fundamentalist school board. Much of the politics of charter schools is covered in the novel, but there are several twists.
John Tyler High is not run as a democracy, but as a principal’s personal dictatorship. There is forced parental involvement—with a financial penalty, as well as a loyalty oath to pledge allegiance to the school. The principal turns students into paramilitary scouts to spy on their classmates and inform on the teachers too. While the principal’s totalitarianism reaches heights of fear and deceit, many teachers descend to the lowest lows; there is corporal punishment, sexual abuse of mothers and students by the faculty, and rebuttal of the separation of church and state—all condoned by the administration. Teachers and students in support of the principal behave like zombies and the school community crumbles in fear. The library and the basketball courts are the most dreaded public spaces at John Tyler and the place is locked down during the school day, like a prison. And, as always in horror novels: good people die.
Horror and the idea of a haunted school aside, Little has caught onto some of the most debated issues on charter schools: school uniforms (down to the underwear in this story); teachers exchanging tenure for more creative license and latitude in the classroom; the lack of a teacher’s union to be a grievance manager for the faculty; the potential for teachers and administrators to direct the poorest students to leave because they will have a negative impact on the school’s performance on standardized tests. These are the real-life scary parts, and they help steer the story.
The teacher hero in The Academy strongly believes in the thought behind charter schools however she is forced to team with three students to destroy the written charter in order to exorcise the demons from John Tyler High. That was the place where the story went south for me; fortunately it was near the end. There is a history to the haunted nature of the place, though it took a while to get there.
The writing held my attention, but that was because I am familiar with charter schools. I don’t know how the leaders in the charter school movement will react to The Academy, but I’d be curious to find out what they think. I can’t take a horror novel too seriously, but I am aware of educators who would like to ban Harry Potter and similar stories from the classroom. I’d love to read their comments on The Academy now that they have the chance to read mine.
July 28, 2010
The storyline in this novel isn't nearly as bad as some reviewers here would have you believe. My main complaint is that the ending was fairly unsatisfying.
Like a number of Bentley Little books that I've enjoyed overall, this one ends too abruptly after spending 300 pages building an atmosphere of dread and downright creepiness, throwing together a conclusion with not much explanation and too many loose ends in an attempt to leave the reader with a sense of underlying mystery and unease.
Is it worth running out and buying new before it goes out of print? Probably not. But if you find it cheap online, at a used bookstore, or at a yard sale, go ahead and give it a try.
Like a number of Bentley Little books that I've enjoyed overall, this one ends too abruptly after spending 300 pages building an atmosphere of dread and downright creepiness, throwing together a conclusion with not much explanation and too many loose ends in an attempt to leave the reader with a sense of underlying mystery and unease.
Is it worth running out and buying new before it goes out of print? Probably not. But if you find it cheap online, at a used bookstore, or at a yard sale, go ahead and give it a try.
May 27, 2025
The Academy by Bentley Little
AKA “School’s out forever… because the school ate the kids.”
Did you ever wonder what would happen if The Stepford Wives got tenure? The Faculty got a budget increase? Welcome to John Tyler High, where educational reform meets damnation.
After a narrow vote, the school is converted into a charter institution, promising better pay, better academics, and absolutely no mention of dinosaurs, social justice, or anything that might make Karen from the school board clutch her pearls. The principal (who might be the devil, or a lich) leads the charge. And wouldn’t you know it? As soon as the charter is signed, things start to go a little… wrong.
Plot Summary: The School From Hell (Charter Approved)
Before the ink on the charter even dries, John Tyler High starts acting like it’s been cursed. Teachers and students who speak out vanish mysteriously off the roster, off the payroll, and off the face of the earth. New rules arrive weekly. Personal expression is discouraged. Evolution is banned. And punishment? Well, let’s just say the new “detention” program would make Gitmo blush.
In the midst of this Orwellian makeover, five unlikely heroes emerge: Linda and Diane, two teachers with a healthy fear of fog and fascism; and students Ed, Brad, and Myla, whose extracurricular activities now include: seeing ghosts; decoding past trauma through haunted fog; and not getting ritualistically disappeared. They begin to realize something ancient and cruel is rewriting the entire educational environment.
There’s supernatural punishment. Ominous classrooms. Possessed staff members who definitely failed their humanity finals. And through it all, the creeping dread that the school's transformation is less about academic achievement and more about ideological purification.
Together, the quintet digs deeper into the curse infecting their once-mediocre school and tries to reverse the spell before the curriculum adds them to “missing persons.”
Writing Style
Little’s writing here is in fine form—fast-paced, creepy, and filled with that uniquely satirical venom he reserves for systems that pretend to help people. There’s a potent mix of political commentary and pure paranormal mayhem. He satirizes real-world education debates—book banning, charter schools, and exclusionary practices.
What starts as a slow-building mystery with vanishing janitors and echoing voices becomes a full-blown supernatural siege. The Academy doesn’t just show how horror hides in bureaucracy—it makes bureaucracy horrifying.
At its core, The Academy is about the dangers of ideological extremism dressed in institutional clothing. Little takes shots at authoritarianism in education, the whitewashing of history, and the dehumanization that comes with so-called “improvement.”
Criticisms (Lovingly Refuted)
Some readers feel the book veers into heavy-handedness, particularly with its supernatural take on moral panic and censorship. Others take issue with how over-the-top the punishments and control mechanisms are.
But Bentley Little isn’t writing a policy memo. He’s writing a horror novel. The exaggeration is the point. If you think enforced uniformity, child surveillance, and book burning are too absurd to happen, I invite you to Google “Florida school bans dictionaries” and get back to me.
This isn’t realism—it’s extremism as horror, highlighting how ideology can corrupt even the most mundane institutions. The fear comes from watching people turn into compliant husks for the sake of “better test scores” and “moral values.”
Highly recommended for horror fans who like their haunted schools with a side of social satire and a generous helping of creeping authoritarian dread.
Just don’t forget your hall pass. The detention room bites.
AKA “School’s out forever… because the school ate the kids.”
Did you ever wonder what would happen if The Stepford Wives got tenure? The Faculty got a budget increase? Welcome to John Tyler High, where educational reform meets damnation.
After a narrow vote, the school is converted into a charter institution, promising better pay, better academics, and absolutely no mention of dinosaurs, social justice, or anything that might make Karen from the school board clutch her pearls. The principal (who might be the devil, or a lich) leads the charge. And wouldn’t you know it? As soon as the charter is signed, things start to go a little… wrong.
Plot Summary: The School From Hell (Charter Approved)
Before the ink on the charter even dries, John Tyler High starts acting like it’s been cursed. Teachers and students who speak out vanish mysteriously off the roster, off the payroll, and off the face of the earth. New rules arrive weekly. Personal expression is discouraged. Evolution is banned. And punishment? Well, let’s just say the new “detention” program would make Gitmo blush.
In the midst of this Orwellian makeover, five unlikely heroes emerge: Linda and Diane, two teachers with a healthy fear of fog and fascism; and students Ed, Brad, and Myla, whose extracurricular activities now include: seeing ghosts; decoding past trauma through haunted fog; and not getting ritualistically disappeared. They begin to realize something ancient and cruel is rewriting the entire educational environment.
There’s supernatural punishment. Ominous classrooms. Possessed staff members who definitely failed their humanity finals. And through it all, the creeping dread that the school's transformation is less about academic achievement and more about ideological purification.
Together, the quintet digs deeper into the curse infecting their once-mediocre school and tries to reverse the spell before the curriculum adds them to “missing persons.”
Writing Style
Little’s writing here is in fine form—fast-paced, creepy, and filled with that uniquely satirical venom he reserves for systems that pretend to help people. There’s a potent mix of political commentary and pure paranormal mayhem. He satirizes real-world education debates—book banning, charter schools, and exclusionary practices.
What starts as a slow-building mystery with vanishing janitors and echoing voices becomes a full-blown supernatural siege. The Academy doesn’t just show how horror hides in bureaucracy—it makes bureaucracy horrifying.
At its core, The Academy is about the dangers of ideological extremism dressed in institutional clothing. Little takes shots at authoritarianism in education, the whitewashing of history, and the dehumanization that comes with so-called “improvement.”
Criticisms (Lovingly Refuted)
Some readers feel the book veers into heavy-handedness, particularly with its supernatural take on moral panic and censorship. Others take issue with how over-the-top the punishments and control mechanisms are.
But Bentley Little isn’t writing a policy memo. He’s writing a horror novel. The exaggeration is the point. If you think enforced uniformity, child surveillance, and book burning are too absurd to happen, I invite you to Google “Florida school bans dictionaries” and get back to me.
This isn’t realism—it’s extremism as horror, highlighting how ideology can corrupt even the most mundane institutions. The fear comes from watching people turn into compliant husks for the sake of “better test scores” and “moral values.”
Highly recommended for horror fans who like their haunted schools with a side of social satire and a generous helping of creeping authoritarian dread.
Just don’t forget your hall pass. The detention room bites.
July 13, 2023
I've never read a story that had such horrible things happening to such unresponsive people.
Was this book intentionally absurd? I don't know. I don't really care. I'm mad at myself for sticking with it through the end.
Villains who were quick to kill or ruin minor threats or insubordinates while letting major players against their agenda just kind of roam free gathering clues, main characters who would be traumatized one minute and back to their normal routine the next, so many goddamn naked teachers chasing and whipping naked students. Hitler Youth as hall monitors, cheerleaders being told not to wear underwear, Spanish teachers aggressively offering analingus. It all sounds like an amazing bizarro novel, but it's a Bentley Little horror novel instead.
I just don't know dude. I'm gonna take a break from Bentley Little. I work at 4AM every day and I gave up my goddamn afternoon nap to finish this.
Was this book intentionally absurd? I don't know. I don't really care. I'm mad at myself for sticking with it through the end.
Villains who were quick to kill or ruin minor threats or insubordinates while letting major players against their agenda just kind of roam free gathering clues, main characters who would be traumatized one minute and back to their normal routine the next, so many goddamn naked teachers chasing and whipping naked students. Hitler Youth as hall monitors, cheerleaders being told not to wear underwear, Spanish teachers aggressively offering analingus. It all sounds like an amazing bizarro novel, but it's a Bentley Little horror novel instead.
I just don't know dude. I'm gonna take a break from Bentley Little. I work at 4AM every day and I gave up my goddamn afternoon nap to finish this.
April 7, 2012
I was a huge fan of the horror novel in the 80's, particularly during the Ruby Jean Jensen and William Johnstone years, but haven't really been reading many since then. According to other reviewers, this book is not up to Bentley Little's usual standards...well, I can at least agree that although this was a good premise, this wasn't a great book. It was far too littered with left wing politics (although that can certainly be a horror story in and of itself ;), but also, it just didn't flow. There was definitely a creepy undertone which made the book bearable, but it lacked that certain something which makes a horror story both chilling and believable. I have a few more of Little's books in my stack and I'll see how they are before I pick up any more.
December 8, 2014
I am not sure where this book was aimed. I guess Mr. Little either hates, is scared of or does not understand charter schools. Maybe he is on a school board somewhere and is upset because a charter school cut him out of the decision making process. In any case, this book makes the charter system the horror villain with a school that has gone terribly wrong. The principal is possessed by the ghost of a previous school system leader. I think that is what the thing was about. Any way it was a quick easy read and I managed to finish it so it wasn't a complete waste of time!
June 11, 2010
OK, I brought this as a trashy beach read. And ignoring the fact that it's too cold and wet for the beach, I should've been able to enjoy some pulp fiction, right?
The Academy was AWFUL. The plot made no sense. The characters were stupid. It wasn't at all scary. And the sex and violence were gross because they involved high-schoolers.
All of which might've been OK if the book had been in any way fun, which it wasn't.
We'll see if I can bring myself to try the other Little I brought on the trip.
The Academy was AWFUL. The plot made no sense. The characters were stupid. It wasn't at all scary. And the sex and violence were gross because they involved high-schoolers.
All of which might've been OK if the book had been in any way fun, which it wasn't.
We'll see if I can bring myself to try the other Little I brought on the trip.
April 8, 2011
This kinda sucked. It's only my second Bentley novel. I thought The Store was decent but this one was like a carbon copy. First, Walmart is evil. Now, charter schools are evil. Is the author always like this? I like my horror to be agenda-free. If a political statement is to be made, for the love of God, at least keep it subtle. There was nothing subtle here.
I rest my case with a quote from one of the main characters - "The only question is, is this a charter school because it's evil, or is it evil because it's a charter school?"
I rest my case with a quote from one of the main characters - "The only question is, is this a charter school because it's evil, or is it evil because it's a charter school?"
September 15, 2008
OK. I'll admit that I've been a Bentley Little fan for years. I love how he shocks me with innappropriate action that occurs in an innocent setting, e.g. a mega-store; a postal route; a luxury resort. But his shtick is getting a little too formulaic for my tastes.
This book reminded me of so many of his others: The University; The Store; The Policy.
His The Ignored and The Postman stray a little from the formula and were enjoyable.
Keep writing, Bentley, but shake it up a little!
This book reminded me of so many of his others: The University; The Store; The Policy.
His The Ignored and The Postman stray a little from the formula and were enjoyable.
Keep writing, Bentley, but shake it up a little!
September 30, 2020
Good writing style so I will try more of his stuff, but this book was not the one for me. It was highly sexualized to be set in a high school. Like inappropriately sexualized and by the teacher no less. I get that they were under evil influence but man oh man...that was a too much for me.
December 12, 2008
Nick Anderson
Mrs. Baltz
Pre-AP English 10
December 11, 2008
The Academy By: Bentley Little
John Tyler High School closed down last year. A lot of teachers were worried about what they were going to do for jobs. Luckily Linda Webster one of the English teachers received a letter from the Principal Jody Hawkes saying that the district was going to have a meeting about the future of Tyler High School. The meeting was about Tyler High becoming a charter school. They would be free to teach the way the wanted, not worry about the controlling school board, and the principal would be the one in charge.
Brad Becker and Ed Haynes have been friends since the third grade. They are now seniors at Tyler and were looking forward to their last year of school. Myla Ellis is the Vice president of the student council. She is Brad’s girlfriend. Throughout the story Ed, Brad, and Myla encounter many strange and scary things about the school. For example, Brad and Myla were on a date and they decided to check up on a hunch they had about their friend Cheryl and the PE coach Mr. Nicholson having “intimate” encounters. They went to the school and while checking the halls they heard a loud BANG! It came from the lockers. It happened again, and again, until the locker finally flew open, but fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, nothing was in the locker.
Carlos and Rakeem are janitors at the high school and have been working the night shift for some time now. Here lately many weird things have been happening at night. Things are so bad that it is scaring two grown men to death. One night Carlos and Rakeem are cleaning up after a PTA meeting and they find a picture. The picture looks like it was out of an old Polaroid camera, but the picture itself was of the PTA meeting that evening. On top of one of the buildings in the picture was a small boy. The janitors thought nothing of it and kept working. While moving a table they notice something slide off and fall on the ground. Carlos grabs it and freaks out, as does Rakeem. The picture is of them moving that very table! In a frantic, Carlos and Rakeem take off to their cars on the other side of campus, but the school started “attacking” them. Let’s just say Carlos and Rakeem “did not make it.”
This book was probably one of the worst books I have ever read! I would rather “Slam my head in a car door than read this again.” It was extremely explicit and vulgar. I do not mind that sometimes, but it was on almost every page and the stuff gets old. I did not like the fact that it had three different stories going on all the time. You had the teachers’ side, then the kids’ side, then the janitors’ side, until they were killed. You could be reading about the teachers in one paragraph and then read about the kids in the next. It was very confusing and I do not like that stuff in my book. I can handle it every chapter or something like that, but not between paragraphs.
The book did have some strong points though. At times, the book was somewhat scary. However, to be a horror novel it should be a little scarier than this book. All in all this book has more bad points than good and I will not be reading any more books by this author if I can help it.
Pages: 391
genre: horror/fiction
Mrs. Baltz
Pre-AP English 10
December 11, 2008
The Academy By: Bentley Little
John Tyler High School closed down last year. A lot of teachers were worried about what they were going to do for jobs. Luckily Linda Webster one of the English teachers received a letter from the Principal Jody Hawkes saying that the district was going to have a meeting about the future of Tyler High School. The meeting was about Tyler High becoming a charter school. They would be free to teach the way the wanted, not worry about the controlling school board, and the principal would be the one in charge.
Brad Becker and Ed Haynes have been friends since the third grade. They are now seniors at Tyler and were looking forward to their last year of school. Myla Ellis is the Vice president of the student council. She is Brad’s girlfriend. Throughout the story Ed, Brad, and Myla encounter many strange and scary things about the school. For example, Brad and Myla were on a date and they decided to check up on a hunch they had about their friend Cheryl and the PE coach Mr. Nicholson having “intimate” encounters. They went to the school and while checking the halls they heard a loud BANG! It came from the lockers. It happened again, and again, until the locker finally flew open, but fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, nothing was in the locker.
Carlos and Rakeem are janitors at the high school and have been working the night shift for some time now. Here lately many weird things have been happening at night. Things are so bad that it is scaring two grown men to death. One night Carlos and Rakeem are cleaning up after a PTA meeting and they find a picture. The picture looks like it was out of an old Polaroid camera, but the picture itself was of the PTA meeting that evening. On top of one of the buildings in the picture was a small boy. The janitors thought nothing of it and kept working. While moving a table they notice something slide off and fall on the ground. Carlos grabs it and freaks out, as does Rakeem. The picture is of them moving that very table! In a frantic, Carlos and Rakeem take off to their cars on the other side of campus, but the school started “attacking” them. Let’s just say Carlos and Rakeem “did not make it.”
This book was probably one of the worst books I have ever read! I would rather “Slam my head in a car door than read this again.” It was extremely explicit and vulgar. I do not mind that sometimes, but it was on almost every page and the stuff gets old. I did not like the fact that it had three different stories going on all the time. You had the teachers’ side, then the kids’ side, then the janitors’ side, until they were killed. You could be reading about the teachers in one paragraph and then read about the kids in the next. It was very confusing and I do not like that stuff in my book. I can handle it every chapter or something like that, but not between paragraphs.
The book did have some strong points though. At times, the book was somewhat scary. However, to be a horror novel it should be a little scarier than this book. All in all this book has more bad points than good and I will not be reading any more books by this author if I can help it.
Pages: 391
genre: horror/fiction
August 17, 2021
This didn’t end up being one of my favorite Bentley Little novels, but it was a darkly hilarious commentary on, of all things, charter schools. So far in my adventure through his books, I’ve read about a mailman, a corporate giant, a desert resort and a homeowner’s association, just to name a few. The ability to take everyday things and make them horrific gets me every time, because it’s always a stretch…but usually not a far one.
Like most of Little’s books, this isn’t for the faint of heart (or mind). Tyler High School is about to open in the fall, but with little notice, it has left the school district and become a charter school. The principal is no longer the normal woman the teachers left in the spring. Everything about the school has changed, even her. There are new rules, new uniforms and new lesson plans. Students, parents and teachers who don’t go with the program are…let’s just say…STRONGLY disciplined.
As the school year gets going, things get more and more strange. Then, they just get downright scary. Staff and students are dying under dubious circumstances and there is a new security team made of students (who all may or may not even attend Tyler High) that seems more like the Hitler Youth than hall monitors. But monitoring they are - other students, and especially the teachers who are not on board with all the changes. If those dissenting teachers want to keep their jobs (and lives), they must figure out a way to get rid of the evil that now surrounds every aspect of the school.
This isn’t the most brilliant of Bentley Little’s books I’ve read so far, but I thoroughly enjoyed it even though more “haunted” kind of stories aren’t usually my favorite. I think there’s a big element of humor in his writing, and this one had me laughing a lot (yes, I have a sick sense of humor). Four solid stars for this one!
Like most of Little’s books, this isn’t for the faint of heart (or mind). Tyler High School is about to open in the fall, but with little notice, it has left the school district and become a charter school. The principal is no longer the normal woman the teachers left in the spring. Everything about the school has changed, even her. There are new rules, new uniforms and new lesson plans. Students, parents and teachers who don’t go with the program are…let’s just say…STRONGLY disciplined.
As the school year gets going, things get more and more strange. Then, they just get downright scary. Staff and students are dying under dubious circumstances and there is a new security team made of students (who all may or may not even attend Tyler High) that seems more like the Hitler Youth than hall monitors. But monitoring they are - other students, and especially the teachers who are not on board with all the changes. If those dissenting teachers want to keep their jobs (and lives), they must figure out a way to get rid of the evil that now surrounds every aspect of the school.
This isn’t the most brilliant of Bentley Little’s books I’ve read so far, but I thoroughly enjoyed it even though more “haunted” kind of stories aren’t usually my favorite. I think there’s a big element of humor in his writing, and this one had me laughing a lot (yes, I have a sick sense of humor). Four solid stars for this one!
June 29, 2011
Anyone who knows the work of Bentley Little can guess what The Academy is about. Although I still enjoy his work and the gimmicks he comes up with, I really need more than an evil fill-in-the-blank that slowly takes over a fill-in-the-blank. Even the ending is what I predicted at the start of the book, and while it may be the logical conclusion, I was hoping Bentley would have put a deeper layer of thought behind this one.
His technical writing is always very proficient, but I felt a few plot lines and characters were skimmed over towards the end and left me feeling a little cheated. I also wanted to know more about certain evil characters and more details of the evil's origins. Still, it's not a bad novel by any means, but I'm still waiting for another "The Store", "The Policy", "The Association", or "Dispatch" from this living legend of horror.
His technical writing is always very proficient, but I felt a few plot lines and characters were skimmed over towards the end and left me feeling a little cheated. I also wanted to know more about certain evil characters and more details of the evil's origins. Still, it's not a bad novel by any means, but I'm still waiting for another "The Store", "The Policy", "The Association", or "Dispatch" from this living legend of horror.
April 11, 2022
DNF. There is so much trash in this.
November 25, 2020
El argumento parece estúpido pero tras leer The Auctioneer de Joan Samson sé que es más sencillo de lo que parece aterrorizar a alguien obligándole a aceptar un patrón de comportamientos sin usar la fuerza.
Obviamente, este es un libro de Bentley Little. Poco a poco lo de no usar la fuerza queda en el olvido.
Me ha gustado mucho el doble punto de vista: los profesores y los alumnos, pues cada grupo se divide entre los que aceptan el cambio y los que se resisten, pero lo hacen en su nivel (un alumno adolescente no va a comportarse como un profesor adulto).
El fallo que veo es que el terror pasa de ser normal a otra cosa de una forma bastante radical. Habría sido más interesante que todas las cartas estuvieran en la mesa desde el principio.
Por supuesto, gore y sexo a montones. Muchos lectores se han escandalizado porque en escenas de sexo hay alumnos. Teniendo en cuenta que rozan o pasan de los dieciocho años yo no veo el problema, y en cualquier caso es ficción, joder.
Conclusión: me parece un libro flojito para lo que es el autor.
Obviamente, este es un libro de Bentley Little. Poco a poco lo de no usar la fuerza queda en el olvido.
Me ha gustado mucho el doble punto de vista: los profesores y los alumnos, pues cada grupo se divide entre los que aceptan el cambio y los que se resisten, pero lo hacen en su nivel (un alumno adolescente no va a comportarse como un profesor adulto).
El fallo que veo es que el terror pasa de ser normal a otra cosa de una forma bastante radical. Habría sido más interesante que todas las cartas estuvieran en la mesa desde el principio.
Por supuesto, gore y sexo a montones. Muchos lectores se han escandalizado porque en escenas de sexo hay alumnos. Teniendo en cuenta que rozan o pasan de los dieciocho años yo no veo el problema, y en cualquier caso es ficción, joder.
Conclusión: me parece un libro flojito para lo que es el autor.
October 22, 2019
The story was engaging and I'm fully in on using horror to critique charter schools, and while it's not as all-out terrifying as you might want from your horror, it is strange and disturbing and atmospherically eerie from start to finish. In all honesty, I wish I could give this 3.5 stars -- Little has a habit of blatantly explaining his metaphors that can get really grating, and the book leaves readers with uncertainties and unanswered questions that many may find frustrating. Overall, a brisk, pulpy read that I don't regret at all, but I suspect I'll enjoy other works by Little a tad more.
September 14, 2023
Teachers are acting weird, students are disappearing and campus has an eerie ghostly feel to it. After turning into a charter school the Fall semester begins at Tyler High and almost instantly we see things start to change for the worse. Under the principals seemingly supernatural & dictatorial rule it’s up to a few students and teachers - not yet under the academy’s hypnotizing influence - to try and save their high school and bring things back to normal.
Bentley Little seems to have a formula, and it works. Really enjoyed this one, had some hilarious & over the top moments. A great Fall read - recommended.
Bentley Little seems to have a formula, and it works. Really enjoyed this one, had some hilarious & over the top moments. A great Fall read - recommended.
October 15, 2023
This one was a big miss for me. The concept was there but not well executed. The ideas were all over the place and the author knows how to write some batshit horror situations but when they weren’t strewn together it lost it’s effectiveness. The main characters were pretty boring and their fear/horror with what was happening didn’t come across which to me is the best way to scare a reader. It appears I chose one of the weaker entries in this author’s catalogue so I’m interested in trying another. High 2 stars that had a lot of potential.
January 13, 2023
My first audio book and a real disappointment. I didn't care for the reader and the story was pretty stupid. I thought it was about about spooky things happening at a high school but haven't gotten to that part yet so decided to stop this one.
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May 3, 2024hauntingly , macabre almost felt perverse reading it
October 16, 2021
Loved this book. It's a creepy twisted horror but was written very well.
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