The Harrowing [Hardcover]

I've seen THE HARROWING compared to teen horror films, but I'm almost two millennia away from being a young adult and have never seen a teen horror/slasher movie. I avoided them like the plague even when I was reviewing a movie weekly for our daily newspaper.

But I do like ghost stories and once I started reading the book, I couldn't put it down. I thought the characterizations of the five college students was great. The build-up is superb as the five bored students, staying at Baird College for the Thanksgiving break, find an ouija board and strange things begin to happen.

It someone playing tricks or have these students actually contacted someone from "beyond," specifically a young man who died years before in a fire at the school?

The tension mounts as the "odd" group of students begin to form alliances and try to figure out what is happening to them. Did they "release" a tortured soul trying to affect some kind of closure, or has a more malevolent force been unleashed?

I found myself really caring about these young people and being pulled into their struggle. The information on the Kabbalah
and other Jewish folklore is fascinating.

The plot moves at a great pace and I certainly can see this as a movie, which isn't surprising since the author, Ms. Sokoloff, is a long-time screenwriter.

I bought a few copies, after reading the ARC, for some lucky people on my Christmas list. Highly recommended

Well, I give the author praise for trying to write a modern day ghost story. She succeeds in one great scene, but the rest of the book stumbles badly.

First off, the characters act and talk like they are in junior high and they are supposed to be in college. Robin, the main character, is depressed for a variety of reasons--she's an outcast, had a crappy childhood, etc--and the author spends more than 20 pages basically stating over and over how crappy Robin's life is. And this is how the book starts so it doesn't make for a real page turner. A more seasoned writer could have communicated this in a few short paragraphs but as I read along, I sensed that this book was heavily padded to stretch it out to the brief 240 pages it was in hardback.

Any horror novel or movie MUST have characters you care about but THE HARROWING -- what does that even mean? -- lacks people we sympathize with. Robin is depressed and self-centered; her roommate Waverly is a self-centered beauty queen type; Patrick is the big dumb self-center jock; Lisa is the college druggie/whore; Martin and Cain are the non-descript remaining male leads.

The idea of being alone on a college campus over Thanksgiving break is a nice way to isolate them but totally unrealistic. There would be sign-up sheets for meals for those not going anywhere and because only five (5?) students are on campus, there would have to be some notice posted about who was or wasn't there. Instead, each one of the five is SHOCKED to discover he or she has company for the four-plus day holiday (roughly Wednesday afternoon to Sunday afternoon.)

So the five of them meet and get drunk, smoke pot, drag out an Ouija board and call up a spirit. This is the BEST part of the book and really moves along nicely and their reactions--for the most part--are pretty realistic. It makes for the best part of the book.

But then...well, the premise is over. Suddenly, it's Sunday and the other students return to school and our five heroes don't see much of each other. This is where the book loses all momentum and I wonder why the author even set up the Thanksgiving break if she wasn't going to continue it? The idea of an isolated and empty gothic campus is a wonderful setting but it's really only used for one scene.

The rest of the book has bulging walls (see The Haunting of Hill House), sex with ghosts/demons (see The Legend of Hell House and The Entity), a wise-cracking demon (see The Exorcist and Evil Dead movies) and plenty of banging noises, "presences," touches in the dark, and weird dreams. (See all of the above again.)

And the end/climax...well, it just all seemed a bit silly and too much of a Friday the 13th/Halloween with the demon walking around with an ax. (I guess that's THE SHINING.)

Worst of all, one college age character actually says, "Hay is for horses!" when he pulls out a gun, stressing that HE'S got a gun to kill the demon.

Hay is for horses?? Ugh.

Crappy dialogue like that, poorly drawn characters -- none of whom we like or care for--and a silly ending with a wise-cracking demon all add up to a big disappointment.

The first Ouija board scene is nicely done. But if you want a REAL modern day ghost story, read JULIAN'S HOUSE!

Ghost stories are sort of a staple with me. I enjoy them when they're well done, in books as well as DVDs, and I especially enjoy them when it's dark or overcast outside. There's something about the mood, the fact that I can almost believe ghosts exist.

I sat down with Alexandra Solokoff's first novel, THE HARROWING, and prepared for a fright fest based on the reviews and the creepy cover. I ended up getting a mixed bag of enjoyment.

The plot revolves around five college students left on their own over the long Thanksgiving holidays. Each of them, as it turns out, had his or her reason for not going home. For Robin Stone, the protagonist of the tale, the reason was her drunken mother. During the first 50 pages, we get a good look at each of these characters. Then, with the fall break in full swing, they lose the power to Baird College where they're in attendance and all the lights go out for the night. I personally really liked the atmosphere of getting locked up in the college and losing power. So far, everything looked good, but it was also too familiar. However, a ghost story has to have a lot of the same earmarks in order to succeed.

However, the group doesn't stay stymied long. They get the fire in the fireplace going and begin searching for something to do. In short order, to no one's real surprise, Robin and the others find a Ouija board. I knew then that something was going to happen because this is the point in all the movies where stuff occurs. But the Ouija board was upsetting to a degree. I don't know how many books I've read that have featured those, and there was even a series of B movies based on those devices (WITCHBOARD, etc.)

Even with the red flags firmly in place at this point, I kept reading. Solokoff's prose style is simple and moves quickly. Those are pluses that keep me turning pages. Unfortunately, the characters never grew past that point. I didn't get any further revelations of their backgrounds, never saw them make any other deeper or more meaningful connections to each other or the story. They just followed their predestined course to get to the end of the book.

That was satisfying in one regard. I got the ghost story I was looking for. But it was unsatisfying because it didn't offer anything new. I will admit that some of the Jewish legends that were mixed into the prose were interesting and entertaining, but they didn't get deep or more fleshed out either. The ending was almost down to paint-by-number, even the final ending, which wasn't a surprise and was totally expected.

Anyone reading this novel in a single sitting as I did will probably ultimately be satisfied. It's an entertaining diversion. But if you lay the book down for any time and start thinking about it, or spend time thinking about it after you've finished, you're going to see how thin it is. The plot and the characters are too familiar, and - as the old saying goes - familiarity breeds contempt.

Still, this was probably written more for younger readers who haven't seen or read a plethora of ghost stories. I think they'll be more satisfied than I was.

However, I enjoyed the book enough to look for Alexandra Solokoff's second horror novel, THE PRICE, coming out in hardcover in February 2008.

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