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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
At This School, Corporal Punishment Takes on a Whole New Meaning!, August 19, 2008
This review is from: The Academy (Mass Market Paperback)
This entry from Bentley Little--the author that horror master Stephen King refers to as "horror's poet laureate"--is a chilling little tale that satirizes the American educational system, vicarious parenting, blind faith, conservative politics, and even military mentality. While some readers will certainly find a few superficial similarities to Little's previous novel UNIVERSITY, this story is actually quite different. Set at a high school rather than at a collegiate institution, THE ACADEMY addresses issues involved with running a secondary school and the school's peripheral institutions and offices. Also, unlike the sentient building of UNIVERSITY, the literal school in THE ACADEMY is not evil per se; rather, it is those operating the school, as well as parents and students that get caught up in the fervor, that become the instruments of a preternatural evil.
As with most of Little's novels, there are genuinely scary moments, and his satirical prose is often as darkly disturbing as it is wryly humorous. Though the story's denouement is a bit less spectacular than it could have been, THE ACADEMY is actually a tight little page-turner that is even better than some of Little's recent works such as DISPATCH and THE POLICY (though it still falls short of surpassing his magnum opus, the brilliant Wal-Mart satire THE STORE).
In THE ACADEMY, fans of Bentley Little will definitely find the horror and dark humor they expect. But even those readers who only occasionally detour into the horror genre can expect a good read.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
SCHOOL DAYS...SCHOOL DAYS...GOOD OLD FASHIONED SCHOOL DAYS..., August 21, 2008
This review is from: The Academy (Mass Market Paperback)
I am a big fan of Bentley Little, as he is truly one of the most intriguing horror novelists around. With his penchant for taking the mundane and weaving it into a no holds-barred horror story, he has little equal in the genre.
That being said, this latest offering by the author is set in a high school that has undergone a transformation. It has gone from being a district school to being an independent charter school, and therein lies the rub. Newly independent, the principal takes independency to new heights. Unfettered and unrestrained, everyday concepts of discipline, learning, and loyalty take on new meaning. The teachers, as well as the students, slowly succumb, one by one, to this novel and horrific approach to education. As they do, the school becomes a very scary place indeed, with survival just a hope in one's heart.
As with all Bentley novels, there are some truly horrifying and shocking moments throughout. Though it is somewhat formulaic and has the usual pitfalls that are seemingly the norm with Bentley's novels, such as subplots that go nowhere, unresolved plot issues, and a race to the finish line at the end, it is the journey that is enjoyable, more so than the arrival at one's destination. So, fasten your seatbelts, as it will be a somewhat bumpy ride. Still, as one gets off this rollercoaster, one can be sure that one would willingly clamber aboard again.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
intelligent entertaining horror tale, August 7, 2008
This review is from: The Academy (Mass Market Paperback)
The school district contains many conservative fundamentalists, who demand censoring books, limiting what is taught, and definitely outlawing evolution. Additionally they insist on not wasting money on poor students. When the principal of John Tyler High School applies to convert it to a charter school she sells it to the teachers and parents, promising higher wages and a better education. By a small margin, Tyler HS becomes a charter school.
Even before the charter was passed, there were some dark zones in the school in which supernatural phenomena seem to occur. The custodial staff bears witness to such events, but they suddenly disappear as do any teacher who opposed the charter concept and student considered "tainted". The personalities of those remaining at Tyler change dramatically and frighteningly. Punishment becomes norm, but these chastisements make the school seem like a rendition prison. Two teachers Linda and Diane, and students Ed, Brad, and Myla see ghosts and hear voices with no one around. They also notice an eerie fog that shows the past when the school had young children having fun in the playground. The quintet teams up to abort the spell the principal has cast but each of them knows that the faculty and student body will horrifically destroy them if they fail.
Using headlines over what to teach in school, Bentley Little designs an intelligent well written entertaining horror tale that sprinkles the curriculum debate with a paranormal extremist position. The story line is fast-paced yet has multiple levels while throughout providing a cautionary undertone that extremism means exclusiveness by leaving people outside the tent. Besides the principal making the law inside the school; the ghosts remind people of the past, and the disappearances add suspense as readers wonder whether the vanishings are mundane or poltergeist in nature. Fans will relish Mr. Little's enjoyable dissertation on education.
Harriet Klausner
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