Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Average Customer Rating:

Excellent Paranormal Teen Story

Customer Rating:

The first time I read this book was about 25 years ago when I checked it out from my school library. Though I did not recall the title or the author, through the magic of an Amazon discussion board, I got the information very quickly from another helpful reader and was able to obtain my own copy. Obviously, if it stuck in my mind all this time, the book is a good read, and I'm happy to report I enjoyed it nearly as much the second time as I did all those years ago. Kit Gordy's father died several years back, leaving her and her mother alone. Nobody truly believed Kit saw her father in her bedroom on the night he died since he was out of town at the time, but now the memory is clearer than ever in Kit's mind. Her mother is about to remarry and take an extended European honeymoon, so Kit is enrolled in Blackwood Academy, an upscale, rural school for girls. So her mother and new husband can catch their ship, Kit is left at Blackwood a day early. She should be thrilled at the school's picturesque setting, but instead, Kit is unnerved by a pervasive sense of evil. Her first night there, she is bothered by the fact that the hallway to the dorm rooms is stygian dark, and then she is plagued by disturbing dreams about being smothered by her bed's ornate canopy. She hopes her unsettled feelings will change once the school is full of chattering students, but then is surprised to learn that only four students have been accepted to attend the term. She befriends another girl there and has some good times, but no matter how pleasant her days, at night the old mansion's shadows darken, and the hallway to the student rooms is dreadfully dark. Before long, the students at Blackwood start showing amazing talents in math and the arts, and Kit also notices that they all seem to be getting thinner. She often awakens with sore arms and fingers as if she had been playing hours of piano. Her letters to her mother don't ever seem to arrive, either. Other strange incidents among the students continue to occur and escalate, but Madame Duret, the headmistress, explains them all away, until one night Kit comes upon evidence that nothing at Blackwood is at it seems. Kit and the other girls are in terrible danger and there seems to be no way out. One of the most important elements to the plot of this book is isolation, which is less and less a part of the modern world. The way it is done in this story is a bit dated, but since it could still work in a modern setting with a tweak or two, it remains believable. The story itself is chilling, with the sinister elements slowly building until its explosive climax. The ending could have benefitted from a little more fleshing out, but again, I believe that is a mark of the time period in which it was written. Books these days tend to drag endings out sometimes past the point where they should. I enjoyed this book enough as a teenager to seek it out all these years later, and enjoyed it again as an adult. I highly recommend it.

Decent teen horror	Customer Rating:
Duncan was one of the authors that always managed to terrify me when I was a teenager. This is a deliciously scary story about a place that should freak out anyone--school. Almost "Suspira" in its way, we get an all-too proper setting that is all the more terrifying for it. Great concept, great plot, and genuinally scary.

Lois !!! What Happened !!!????	Customer Rating:
I don't understand how someone can go from writing such a good book like 'Stranger With My Face' to this..... I couldn't even get to the middle of the book !! I tried really hard. It was painful, and so I had to let it go, and any glimmer of hope I had for a decent book based on customer reviews. Skip it !!!

Down a Dark Hall

Customer Rating:

When I bought Down a Dark Hall I knew it was going to be interesting. Louis Duncan is one of my favorite authors. Durring Down a Dark Hall a 14 year-old girl named Kit is chosen to go to the private school Blackwood School for Girls. Durring her time at Blackwood some unusual things happen to her and the few other girls that are there. Kit runs into some problems while being at this school, some of which she doesn't know what to do about. Ever since Kit has been at the school she has had a weird feeling about it. She's not sure what it is but she does know that it isn't good.The biggest problem at the school is when she is sleeping. Soon she becomes too scared to sleep but she has no choice but to fall asleep. The other girls that are at the schools are having similar problems but none of them want to face Madame Duret the school boards leader. This is a intereting book that combines mystery with common real life problems.

Through A SUSPENSFUL BOOK!	Customer Rating:
This book (like other Lois Duncan novels) is one of the best books I have ever read. The other keeps you hooked in every second. read this book!!