Brian Keene, Ghouls

Ghouls

Brian Keene

Leisure, February 2007, $7.99

ISBN: 0843956445

It is the first day of summer vacation, in June of 1984, with Timmy Grace, Barry Smeltzer and Doug looking forward to having fun. They have no inkling that this will become the worst summer of their lives when they are forced to try to save the townsfolk. In the olden part of the cemetery, on a headstone is a broken sigel that confined a ghoul for centuries; now the hungry creature seeks nourishment, but can only eat carrion, as that is the Creator's Commandment.

It cannot deal with the sun, so it lives underground in a series of warrens it constructed. It assumes it is the only one of its kind, and so wants human females to mate with to continue its species. It makes a pact with Barry's father, a beast who beats up his wife and son. The human ogre finds him women and cleans up his kills in exchange for booty buried in the ground. Barry and Timmy learn the truth, but no adult believes a kid, so it is up to them and Timmy to confront the two monsters.

Brian Keene is a terrific horror writer, who scares his audience while entertaining readers with a strong frightening tale that makes the supernatural seem plausible because the characters seem real. Fascinatingly GHOULS contains two monsters, one an abusive avaricious human abetting the inhuman. Also interesting is the heroes are regular kids who could easily be sons of the readers. Mr. Keene's star in the horror galaxy is rising to the top with works like this superior thriller.