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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | YA Fic Stolarz, L. 2007 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
High atop Hathorne Hill, near Boston, sits Danvers State Hospital. Built in 1878 and closed in 1992, this abandoned mental institution is rumored to be the birthplace of the lobotomy. Locals have long believed the place to be haunted. They tell stories about the unmarked graves in the back, of the cold spots felt throughout the underground tunnels, and of the treasures found inside: patients' personal items like journals, hair combs, and bars of soap, or even their old medical records, left behind by the state for trespassers to view.
On the eve of the hospital's demolition, six teens break in to spend the night and film a movie about their adventures. For Derik, it's an opportunity to win a filmmaking contest and save himself from a future of flipping burgers at his parents' diner. For the others, it's a chance to be on TV, or a night with no parents. But what starts as a playful dare quickly escalates into a frenzy of nightmarish action. Behind the crumbling walls, down every dark passageway, and in each deserted room, they will unravel the mysteries of those who once lived there and the spirits who still might.
Author Notes
Laurie Faria Stolarz is the author of Welcome to the Dark House, Return to the Dark House , and the Touch series, as well as Project 17 ; Bleed ; and the highly popular Blue Is for Nightmares ; White Is for Magic ; Silver Is for Secrets ; Red Is for Remembrance ; and Black Is for Beginnings . Born and raised in Salem, Massachusetts, Stolarz attended Merrimack College and received an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College in Boston. For more information, please visit www.LaurieStolarz.com.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8-10-In this eerie, evocative ghost story, Stolarz sends five teens into that most beloved of horror-genre locations, the haunted house; here, however, it has been updated into a mental hospital, a change that enlivens the tale and contributes to its truly spooky tone. Each teen begins the overnight expedition with his or her own motivation. Derik hopes to make a film that will win a documentary competition, which might mean a ticket out of a life spent toiling in his parents' diner, and he enlists several classmates to participate in it. Class-clown Chet thinks exploring the hospital might be good for a few laughs-plus, it provides an escape from another night spent with his abusive, alcoholic father. Greta and Tony think only of being cast in Derik's film, which they hope will propel them to stardom. Bookish Liza needs to diversify the extracurricular activities on her college applications, and hopes the film project will fit the bill. And Goth-girl Mimi wants to uncover some evidence relating to her grandmother, who was committed to the institution years before. These motivations fade into the background, however, when the group begins to suspect that something-or someone-is trying to communicate with them, and that the hospital won't let them leave until they listen. Although the characters veer close to stereotypes at the outset, Stolarz infuses them with depth and complexity, revealed as each teen narrates in alternating chapters. Page-turning action, genuine scares, and a satisfying conclusion should make this a hit with teens, particularly those who enjoyed the suspense of Stolarz's "Blue Is for Nightmares" series (Flux).-Meredith Robbins, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, New York City (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
An abandoned mental institution serves as the setting for this mildly scary novel, sort of a Breakfast Club meets Blair Witch Project. Senior year of high school finds Derik (La Playa) LaPointe (from Stolarz's Bleed) making a film in hopes of winning an internship at a reality-TV network. Derik assembles a cast of students from different cliques, then, with help from a classmate similarly obsessed with the Danvers State Hospital, sneaks everyone inside the condemned building and plans to film there overnight. Most of the characters are barely acquainted, and each has a different motive for participating in the project (the straight-A student needs to round out her resume to improve her chances at Harvard; the drama geek wants stardom; the outcast hopes to find traces of her grandmother, who died at Danvers). Exploring how these figures interact is the meat of the novel: they mature over the six or so hours encompassed in the book, pairing off and eventually becoming a team, looking out for one another and united in purpose. Although the action reads like a laundry list for a PG-13 horror movie-the timely discovery of a journal, rats, floors giving way when people step on them, etc.-a soupcon of mystery combines with supernatural overtones to move the plot along rapidly. The familiar story arc and devices comfortably contain the chills, entertaining the target audience without hitting any nerves. Ages 12-up. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
For Derik, there is something eerily compelling about the abandoned campus of the old Danvers State Hospital. His filmmaker instincts have always urged him to do something there, but on hearing that it's scheduled to be razed, he can no longer wait. Intending to make a docudrama, Derik involves the thespian wannabe couple Tony and Greta, clown Chet, Goth-type Mimi and straight-A superachiever Liza. Since it's illegal to be there and guards patrol the place, the six high-school students have to sneak in and keep their investigations secret. Gradually a connection emerges to Christine, a patient who has left a journal and other evidence of her presence. Especially for Mimi, it seems that Christine's psychic presence is making itself felt for a reason. Facts of how miserably the institution had been run and how decayed it is now are revealed simultaneously. While the project may call to mind The Blair Witch Project this is nowhere near as scary, hypnotizing or memorable as it would like to be. Characters seem like stock types and their interactions never carry much validity. With three boys and three girls, the romance appears conventionally and almost provides more interest than the unexplained occurrences. Bland and unconvincing, even film students won't find this intriguing, as the camera is even less present than the supposed ghosts. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The Breakfast Club meets Session 9 in this genre-blended horror novel, in which six wildly different kids film themselves spending the night in Danvers State Insane Asylum before it is demolished. Derik, the filmmaker, is intent on winning a reality TV show contest, thereby avoiding a career at his parents' diner; while five others goth girl Mimi; beautiful, studious Liza; nerdy class clown Chet; and drama students Greta and Tony go along with Derik's plan for various reasons. While exploring the abandoned hospital, the group finds a diary belonging to a teen patient and quickly become obsessed with discovering what happened to her. Stolarz uses the real hospital's history as a backdrop, invoking the sad, fearful memories and spirits that might remain in such places. While the atmosphere is appropriately creepy, the ghost story doesn't develop enough to be effective. Still, the sad tale of the diary is compelling on its own, and the six characters, though superficially created, are ones teens will instantly recognize. Recommend this eerie story to kids who like to be spooked but aren't quite up for harder-edged horror fare.--Hutley, Krista Copyright 2007 Booklist