The Ghosts Of Stone Hollow (1978) - Plot & Excerpts
Anyt book by Zilpha Keatley Snyder is prefect to read on Halloween. I read this book with a sick dread of disappointment. So often the things one loved in childhood have a way of being somehow less than you remember. (Lemonheads, anyone?) I loved "The Egypt Game" when I was about 10 and I still vividly remember the chilling thrills of "The Headless Cupid". How would this book impact my technicolor memories of those other tales? In short I loved it. Not a challenging read by any means, I finished it in a few hours. But it captured perfectly that preadolescent anxiety where everything seems possible. The author's true gift is capturing the mind-set of late childhood, the questioning of adults, seeing situations and motivations with a new, frighteningly deeper understanding, and the confusion and pain of losing your real child-hood innocence, "beliving what you're told." This growing awareness parallels nicely with her themes of supernatural/occult situations. She has an uncanny ability to translate to words the feeling one gets only in childhood, that if one says the right word, or holds still long enough, says a prayer, that all will be revealed.
What do You think about The Ghosts Of Stone Hollow (1978)?
