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The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
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The Girl Next Door (original 1989; edition 2015)

by Jack Ketchum (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,5417911,581 (3.99)62
Fiction. Horror. Literature. Thriller. Suburbia. Shady, tree-lined streets, well-tended lawns, and cozy homes. A nice, quiet place to grow up. Unless you are teenage Meg or her crippled sister, Susan. On a dead-end street, in the dark, damp basement of the Chandler house, Meg and Susan are left captive to the savage whims and rages of a distant aunt who is rapidly descending into madness. It is a madness that infects all three of her sons and finally the entire neighborhood. Only one troubled boy stands hesitantly between Meg and Susan and their cruel, torturous deaths. A boy with a very adult decision to make . . .… (more)
Member:LaurenLandreneau
Title:The Girl Next Door
Authors:Jack Ketchum (Author)
Info:47North (2015), 320 pages
Collections:Your library
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Work Information

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum (1989)

  1. 10
    The Collector by John Fowles (MattMc3)
  2. 00
    Old Flames by Jack Ketchum (MattMc3)
    MattMc3: Specifically, the novella "Right to Life" in the book "Old Flames"
  3. 00
    Die for Me: The Terrifying True Story of the Charles Ng & Leonard Lake Torture Murders by Don Lasseter (MattMc3)
    MattMc3: True-life crime inspired by the book "The Collector" by John Fowles
  4. 01
    Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr. (Waldheri)
    Waldheri: Though Requiem for a Dream is about drugs and The Girl Next Door about abuse, the depressing, bleak and hopeless atmosphere is similar in both books.
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» See also 62 mentions

English (75)  German (3)  Spanish (1)  All languages (79)
Showing 1-5 of 75 (next | show all)
This book was disturbing and unsettling. Very well written. Sad though. ( )
  HazeyRecollect | Nov 13, 2023 |
This book was so very hard to read, especially during the end. It was very well written, but the acts of the main characters were atrocious. Especially considering that the book was based on a true story. It brings into stark light the fact that things like this can and do happen. Daily. Great book, but I think it'll haunt me for a really long time. ( )
  LinBee83 | Aug 23, 2023 |
Pretty disturbing book. It's based on a true story of Sylvia Likens, which makes it even more heartbreaking. It's not something I would read again, but I still reflect on this book every few months and question how anyone could ever do something to such a girl without a definite reason (or any reason at all!!!) ( )
  siamm | Aug 20, 2023 |
This is one of the most hopeless and depressing books I've read. It's probably more of a dark drama than horror. It's inspired by the real-life torture and murder of a teenage girl named Sylvia Likens in 1965. This story would be easier to swallow if it were completely made up. Powerful book, for sure. ( )
  AndrewBee | Aug 1, 2023 |
I got this out the library and read it in around 5 hours. This book will haunt me for a while I think. ( )
  theBookDevourer211 | Jan 27, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 75 (next | show all)
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Epigraph
"You got to tell me the brave captain
Why are the wicked so strong?
How do the angels get to sleep
When the devil leaves the porch light on?" - Tom Waits
"I never want to hear the screams Of the teenage girls in other people's dreams." - The Specials
"The soul under the burden of sin cannot flee." - Iris Murdoch, The Unicorn

Dedication
First words
You think you know about pain?
Quotations
I lay in bed and thought how easy it was to hurt a person. It didn't have to be physical. All you had to do was take a good hard kick at something they cared about.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Fiction. Horror. Literature. Thriller. Suburbia. Shady, tree-lined streets, well-tended lawns, and cozy homes. A nice, quiet place to grow up. Unless you are teenage Meg or her crippled sister, Susan. On a dead-end street, in the dark, damp basement of the Chandler house, Meg and Susan are left captive to the savage whims and rages of a distant aunt who is rapidly descending into madness. It is a madness that infects all three of her sons and finally the entire neighborhood. Only one troubled boy stands hesitantly between Meg and Susan and their cruel, torturous deaths. A boy with a very adult decision to make . . .

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Average: (3.99)
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Tantor Media

An edition of this book was published by Tantor Media.

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