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“Haunting, spine-tingling, and tragic.”
Reading age
10-12
Genre
Horror fiction
Publisher
HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication date
September 6, 2011
My brief summary of the book
Florence Crutchfield, a 12-year-old orphan, will live with her friendly uncle Thomas, spiteful aunt Eugenie, and her sickly cousin James at Crutchfield Hall. Shortly after Florence arrives, she gets an eerie feeling that something strange is within these walls. Sophia, her recently dead cousin, starts to force Florence to be her friend. Sophia wants to kill James so that she can live instead of him. Will Florence stop her sinister dead cousin Sophia from killing James before it’s too late?
My thoughts
This was my first horror novel, a wonderful reading experience. I love the picture of James and Sophia (when she was living), and I think the bloodstain looked a bit spooky too. The story is chilling, suspenseful, and thrilling. The characters are well-developed and lifelike. My favorite of all the characters is the jealous, dead Sophia. Overall, a spooky but fantastic book. I want to read more books from this author.
My rating
Do your kids enjoy reading spooky stories? For Paige, it was her first horror fiction, and she loved it.
About the author
“Mary Downing Hahn, a former children’s librarian, is the award-winning author of many popular ghost stories, including Deep and Dark and Dangerous and The Old Willis Place. An avid reader, traveler, and all-around arts lover, Ms. Hahn, lives in Columbia, Maryland, with her two cats, Oscar and Rufus.” – Amazon.
More by Hahn Mary
- The Thirteenth Cat
- One For Sorrow: A Ghost Story
- The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story
- Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story
- The Girl In The Locked Room: A Ghost Story
