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Night Cries
A group of young actors stranded on an island without electricity are further terrified when ghostly voices call out to each of them by name and one by one, they start to disappear.
- GenresHorrorYoung Adult
132 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 10, 2022
Determined to turn them into a tight-knit group, drama teacher, Kathleen takes several of her highschool students to a primitive island for a weekend getaway.
After the first night on the island however, they wake up to a power outage and phone lines down. They also discover a student missing, with many more to join over the course of the day.
As their numbers dwindle, they try to figure out who among them is responsible and why. Or could it perhaps be the caretaker of the island or his strange son?
After the first night on the island however, they wake up to a power outage and phone lines down. They also discover a student missing, with many more to join over the course of the day.
As their numbers dwindle, they try to figure out who among them is responsible and why. Or could it perhaps be the caretaker of the island or his strange son?
November 28, 2021
Wow! Absolutely no words! This is amazing
October 24, 2016
Found this used for a quarter, and thought "Why not?" It's strictly for the tweens. Anyone over 14 will be bored. Hell, anyone over 8 might be bored. Pretty much skimmed through the last 40 pages and still managed to not be at all surprised at how it played out. Makes R. L. Stine read like Joyce. Cool cover, though, I'll give it that.
March 20, 2017
Disappointing, by the end I was just skimming through to get it over with. I was really confused the whole time and really didn't care about any of the characters, the only one I did care for died
February 27, 2023
I like the atmosphere that Steiner was able to create in her books where it is always creepy but you can never tell if it is going to be something natural or unnatural at the heart of the book.
I myself was a drama kid in high school and my teacher was always one of my favorites but I do not think she would have ever done anything like the theater teacher in this book.
Kathleen Reed is the teacher at Shoreview High School and every year she takes the cast of the yearly play out on a trip to a cabin in some secluded spot to bond them together to strengthen the play.
This year, they are doing "The Scottish Play". To those not in the know, it is what most people call Shakespeare's Macbeth. The play is very dark and to even say the name is bad luck. No one who has ever performed or produced this work has had any good come from it.
Why can't you do something nice and fun like a musical? We did them all the time.
New to school this year is Suzanne Rollins. She moved here to Minnesota from NYC and has been in plays since she was a little girl. She has won the honor of playing Lady Macbeth, the female lead.
Her competition was Monica McCheever, the one who is use to always getting the lead role and the dark-haired girl isn't happy that this new blonde girl got it over her but it was Mrs. Reed's call.
Others on this trip include Tamara Tate, Suzanne's new bestie. She has wild curly hair and has told Suzanne that she comes from real life Gypsy heritage, not just reflected in her jewelry choices as a "fashion" statement.
There is June Mason, a larger framed girl and a girl named Bitsy Wrenn, short of stature but with a very powerful voice. There are two other teachers, Mr. Clyde Wilkins and Miss Lucille Stubblefield, as chaperones or senior sponsors who are both close to retirement and dating.
That is kind of sweet but I'm not really sure teachers regardless of age are allowed to date each other...?
On the male side of the spectrum there is Willis Hayward, a curly red-haired class clown. Then there is Sol Parker, dark-haired with looks so handsome that Suzanne believes he had to have ancestors who were Spanish royalty or Aztec gods. Lastly, there is Hank Hopkins.
Hank is a star basketball player, a poet who has had some of his works published in magazines but he is also a somewhat quite person...fascinated by the concept of death.
We learn some of these things when the group participate in some "games" devised by their teacher. They open up about their fears and their passions where we learn June is deathly afraid of spiders, Willis became a funny guy to cope with his parents' divorce and that Suzanne is scared of being alone.
The only other people on this island are the caretaker, Mr. Russell and his teenage son, Adam. The younger boy is quiet and doesn't look very healthy to Suzanne but her thoughts are running around all over the place because the island is creepy.
Hank is fascinated by the cries of the loons on the lake and he tells Suzanne that they usually warn of death with their calls.
Quite a charmer, isn't he?
There is a scream that turns out to be June falling prey to a nasty joke by Monica and Willis involving all sorts of spiders on her bed. They were just trying to help her get over her fear but Suzanne is not amused.
The adults don't really reprimand the kids for the prank but soon, they change their minds come the next morning of this weekend getaway.
June is missing followed by Bitsy disappearing until one by one...the others follow.
They told ghostly stories against the warmth of a fire on the lake until the rain came...a storm.
Now there is no electricity...no boat to escape...no radio to call for help and no one coming until Sunday afternoon.
Is all of this part of their teacher's games? Could the caretaker on this isolated island and his son be crazy? Do the loons know that there is an unearthly presence here?
Suzanne is about to discover the answer to the cries in the darkness of the night...
We get the old Agatha Christie treatment where each person disappears until only one person is left and then we get a reveal that is just bonkers. It fits with the very heavy play they have decided to perform and we get a few answers to who is behind this.
We get some laughs at the beginning but by the end of the climax, no one is laughing anymore. The ending is not left on a note of happiness but with melancholy and ambiguous as to what will become of the ones who make it out alive.
That is one thing I can spoil but you already know that at least one person may not make it and that doesn't always mean the body is dead...some spirits can be broken too. After all, you didn't think this was going to not be tragic?
If you haven't read Night Cries, I would recommend it.
I myself was a drama kid in high school and my teacher was always one of my favorites but I do not think she would have ever done anything like the theater teacher in this book.
Kathleen Reed is the teacher at Shoreview High School and every year she takes the cast of the yearly play out on a trip to a cabin in some secluded spot to bond them together to strengthen the play.
This year, they are doing "The Scottish Play". To those not in the know, it is what most people call Shakespeare's Macbeth. The play is very dark and to even say the name is bad luck. No one who has ever performed or produced this work has had any good come from it.
Why can't you do something nice and fun like a musical? We did them all the time.
New to school this year is Suzanne Rollins. She moved here to Minnesota from NYC and has been in plays since she was a little girl. She has won the honor of playing Lady Macbeth, the female lead.
Her competition was Monica McCheever, the one who is use to always getting the lead role and the dark-haired girl isn't happy that this new blonde girl got it over her but it was Mrs. Reed's call.
Others on this trip include Tamara Tate, Suzanne's new bestie. She has wild curly hair and has told Suzanne that she comes from real life Gypsy heritage, not just reflected in her jewelry choices as a "fashion" statement.
There is June Mason, a larger framed girl and a girl named Bitsy Wrenn, short of stature but with a very powerful voice. There are two other teachers, Mr. Clyde Wilkins and Miss Lucille Stubblefield, as chaperones or senior sponsors who are both close to retirement and dating.
That is kind of sweet but I'm not really sure teachers regardless of age are allowed to date each other...?
On the male side of the spectrum there is Willis Hayward, a curly red-haired class clown. Then there is Sol Parker, dark-haired with looks so handsome that Suzanne believes he had to have ancestors who were Spanish royalty or Aztec gods. Lastly, there is Hank Hopkins.
Hank is a star basketball player, a poet who has had some of his works published in magazines but he is also a somewhat quite person...fascinated by the concept of death.
We learn some of these things when the group participate in some "games" devised by their teacher. They open up about their fears and their passions where we learn June is deathly afraid of spiders, Willis became a funny guy to cope with his parents' divorce and that Suzanne is scared of being alone.
The only other people on this island are the caretaker, Mr. Russell and his teenage son, Adam. The younger boy is quiet and doesn't look very healthy to Suzanne but her thoughts are running around all over the place because the island is creepy.
Hank is fascinated by the cries of the loons on the lake and he tells Suzanne that they usually warn of death with their calls.
Quite a charmer, isn't he?
There is a scream that turns out to be June falling prey to a nasty joke by Monica and Willis involving all sorts of spiders on her bed. They were just trying to help her get over her fear but Suzanne is not amused.
The adults don't really reprimand the kids for the prank but soon, they change their minds come the next morning of this weekend getaway.
June is missing followed by Bitsy disappearing until one by one...the others follow.
They told ghostly stories against the warmth of a fire on the lake until the rain came...a storm.
Now there is no electricity...no boat to escape...no radio to call for help and no one coming until Sunday afternoon.
Is all of this part of their teacher's games? Could the caretaker on this isolated island and his son be crazy? Do the loons know that there is an unearthly presence here?
Suzanne is about to discover the answer to the cries in the darkness of the night...
We get the old Agatha Christie treatment where each person disappears until only one person is left and then we get a reveal that is just bonkers. It fits with the very heavy play they have decided to perform and we get a few answers to who is behind this.
We get some laughs at the beginning but by the end of the climax, no one is laughing anymore. The ending is not left on a note of happiness but with melancholy and ambiguous as to what will become of the ones who make it out alive.
That is one thing I can spoil but you already know that at least one person may not make it and that doesn't always mean the body is dead...some spirits can be broken too. After all, you didn't think this was going to not be tragic?
If you haven't read Night Cries, I would recommend it.
December 27, 2020
This was a reread. First read it a long time ago in my teens. Saw it sitting on my shelf, realized I didn't remember the story and thought I'd read it again. It was incredibly boring. I was skimming a little over halfway through.
I honestly like the cover art more than the actual story.
1.5 / 5
I honestly like the cover art more than the actual story.
1.5 / 5
October 7, 2023
Another good well paced YA novel
Reminds me of April Fools Day for the most part, if done for a younger audience
Reminds me of April Fools Day for the most part, if done for a younger audience
June 4, 2025
perfect evening reading book, simple and spooky
July 23, 2011
This book was super amazing. A good, short thriller. I have been looking for it for like 2 1/2 years because i liked it that much before i found it in my old backpack.. :)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews