As you read earlier I do love a good horror novel.The only type of story that really seems to scare me anymore is ones dealing with ghosts (and sometimes other venues of the supernatural depending on how well they are written).Mostly due to my own experience with a few and m total belief in them.There is nothing more terrifying than dealing with a spirit that angry or uneasy.I get goose bumps just thinking about it. 

As I mentioned if you do not believe in ghosts, this may have not been for you.The last time I was a bit creeped out by a book was in Bag of Bones (written by his father).Like father, like son, I suppose.How do you fight someone that can force you to do things?Craddock invades Judas’s life and he is everywhere.In his car.On the television.On the radio.He even convinces Judas’s assistant into hanging himself.The only protection they had were the two dogs that Judas had, which could see Craddock and even attack him.

The good.The relationships were the most important part of this story.The ones between Judas and everyone else.Judas and Anna.Judas and Marybeth, and lastly Judas and Craddock.Everything in this novel revolved around how Judas interacted with the other characters.Although his need to nickname them after states was kind of odd.It all started with Florida (Anna), and her “suicide”.She had so many mental issues due to her childhood and what Craddock did to her.It was very disturbing to hear someone would hypnotize their daughter to make them forget that he molested her.That is messed up on so many levels; I get angry again just thinking about it.So by the time Anna came into Judas’s life, she had an issue or two.So when he sent her away because she was getting on his nerves for the most part, she went home and killed herself.Or so you thought early on.

Judas (who loves women into goth) then gets together with Georgia (Marybeth) and it looked like he was falling into the same routine.You could see that he cared for her, but in his own self loathing, he never allows himself to get too close to someone.So, he sends them away after a while, not really worrying about how much he hurt them.But with the box, came the ghost, and it changed everything.Marybeth refused to leave his side and forces Judas to deal with his feelings for her (and also for Anna).Together they tried to fight and eventually flee from Craddock.

Craddock.Man he was evil.He wanted Judas to kill himself and those around him.It wasn’t enough that he died, but he wanted him to kill Marybeth as well.A chilling scene was when Judas actually could not ignore Craddock’s thoughts and grabbed Marybeth by the hair and threw her to the ground.I wondered if he would kill her.Craddock did not just want Judas to hurt, he wanted him to suffer.It was very disturbin.