Haunted Ground

by Stephen Gresham

My name is Ted O'Dell. I grew up on a farm in Saddle Rock, Kansas and I'd like to tell you about the summer of '55...A child of the devil is what my mother called my cousin Ilona. She had been crippled in a mysterious accident when she came to spend the summer with us. She was immediately drawn to the Trogler house as if she was already familiar with its violent past and whispered to me: "Do you believe in ghosts?" She could sense the evil that still lingered there - an evil that should have remained buried in the orchard behind the Trogler home. But Ilona's presence had a way of stirring up echoes that should have faded long ago.

Genres: Horror

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Suspense, supernatural, and young adult fiction writer Stephen Gresham (1947- ) has been intrigued by the gothic tradition of the South since moving to Auburn, Lee County, in 1975 to take a teaching position at Auburn University. This area of Alabama provides the backdrop for his novel The Fraternity (2004) and imbues works such as Rockabye Baby (1984) with the horror and fantasy elements of the southern magic genre that guide him as he writes of supernatural creatures and forces.

Gresham was born in Halstead, Kansas, on September 23, 1947, to Chester Gresham, a building contractor, and Helen Kennedy, housewife and wartime riveter. He was raised with five brothers. Gresham's literary passion was sparked by listening to his grandmother read him everything from comic books to Edgar Allan Poe and watching 1940s B movies by horror film producer Val Lewton. Gresham studied journalism for two years at Wichita State University, where he began his professional writing career as a freelance sports reporter at the Wichita Eagle. He then transferred to Kansas State Teachers College (present-day Emporia State University) to earn a bachelor's and a master's degree. In 1975, he completed a Ph.D. in English Renaissance literature at the University of Missouri. While in Missouri, Gresham married Linda Duffy in 1969, and the couple had their only child, Aaron, in 1974.

In 1975, Gresham joined the English Department at Auburn University as a professor of creative writing. By the later 1970s, he had published several pieces of short fiction with two small presses. Gresham is drawn to the mythical South and has described east Alabama as an inspirational place. Moon Lake, Gresham's first novel, uses such a backdrop to tell the tale of two honeymooners who encounter evil hidden in the water hyacinths on Moon Lake.

Gresham's novels have aimed to mesh the supernatural world of ghosts, magic, and witchcraft with the real horrors of places like his boyhood Kansas, with its tornados, polio scares, and threats of nuclear war. The most distinctive aspect of his writing is the centrality of unrequited love and the unexpected yet powerful bonds formed by his characters. When Teddy, the teenage hero of Haunted Ground, battles ghosts at a neighboring farm, he must also come to terms with his adolescence and the wrath of his dysfunctional family. This focus on the destructive innerworkings of families is balanced by a respect for what Gresham refers to as "soul" families, those united not necessarily by blood but by heart or circumstance. Even after Teddy is assaulted by his own brother and neglected by his psychologically unfit mother, he is able to find solace with his cousin Judith, the black sheep of his extended family.

Another characteristic of Gresham's books is his attention to research and historical settings. In the 1990 novel Blood Wings, Gresham researched the field of cryptozoology to create the massive batlike creature from which the novel gets its title. In The Fraternity (2004), two warring vampire fraternities battle against the backdrop of Depression-era America where the only threat greater than the crumbled economy of the Hoover years is the risk of being kidnapped by rival vampires.

In addition to the many novels he has published under his own name, Gresham has also written under two pennames to establish a distinct identity between his suspense thrillers and his young adult fiction. For the 1994 suspense/thriller Primal Instinct, he adopted the name John Newland from the 1950s television series "One Step Beyond." The next year, he paid homage to director Val Lewton when he published two novels, Just Pretend and Called to Darkness, under the name J. V. Lewton. Gresham's best selling novel to date has been Midnight Boy (1987), and Haunted Ground (2003) has garnered the most favorable response from readers. Reception from readers, especially young ones, has been largely favorable, and he continues to publish thrillers.

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Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan. Maybe it's just me, but there was so much that didn't seem to be explained here, and the parts I WANTED to know about were glossed over too quickly.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Earth angel, earth angel, Will you be mine ..?” The summer of 1955, a time remembered for innocence and simplicity, but for Teddy it was the summer of blood. With the arrival of his cousin, he begins to notice a change in his house. Madness is slowly creeping into the house, into the land and into his family. Infatuated with Ilona, Teddy begins to learn that she is different than most people. She can see ghosts and raise them from the dead. Proving her power, she takes him to the neighboring house. Abandoned, rumored to be the scene of a murdering family who ended up being killed there themselves, she stirs up an evil that should have stayed buried. Now they’re back, and they want revenge.

Classified as horror, this book is undeniably more of an intellectual thriller. The story, while captivating, centers more on the sexual confusion and frustration of 14 year old Teddy then on the supernatural. Gresham brillantly sets the atmosphere, appearing claustophobic and disorderly, you immediately feel the tension building. The main character Teddy is authentic and substansive, allowing the reader to feel his humiliation and his fear.

The secondary characters were detailed well, but lacked evocking an emotional bond between the reader and the characters. Written in the first person, Gresham’s writing is at times disjointed, leaving the reader questioning the shifts in time. The pace is misproportioned in speed. You feel rushed and then slowed to a standstill. The plot twists in the end leaves the reader feeling justified and heartbroken. Gresham leaves you nostalgic for your youth and grieved for the lost of innocence. If you’re looking for a scare, this is not the book for you, but if you’re looking for a psychological coming of age book. Look no further!

I give this book a 1 . If offered free, snatch it up. While not creepy, it does leave a Haunting impression.

-As reviewed for Horror-Web.com

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good, better than I've come to expect of Gresham over the years. Easily, his best work.