The Dark Behind the Curtain [Hardcover]

Gillian Cross (Author), David Parkins (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 1987

Colin Jackus senses that something very strange is happening during rehearsals for the school. The cruelty of the play is becoming very real and haunting the play's cast. It is up to Colin and his friend Ann to stop vengeful spirits from making their final move. Ages 10 and up. First U.S. publication.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Probably the best ghost story of my childhood . . . when I think back to my favourite books ever, this is one of them." --Amazon reviewer

"compulsive reading" Junior Bookshelf

"a thoroughly nightmarish and at the same time utterly convincing ghost story" --Times Educational Supplement

"a well-wrought plot . . . vividly-drawn characters, and a unity of setting, oppressively enclosed." --Times Literary Supplement --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Gillian Cross is one of Britain's most prominent children's authors. She has won both the major awards - the Whitbread Children's Novel Award and the Carnegie Medal - and many others. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 25, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192714570
• ISBN-13: 978-0192714572
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,003,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tense, realistic, and intriguing, even for older kids., February 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dark Behind the Curtain (Hardcover)

I first discovered this book when I was in junior high school and enjoyed the way the author blended relatively ordinary youth experiences of cruelty, ostracism, gang-type bonding, and petty misbehavior with a disturbing representation of historical fact. Marshall, the callous but popular young star of a middle school production of "Sweeney Todd", becomes the channel of the play's evil, robbing the students around him of self-respect, fostering suspicion, and creating fear, much as his Victorian-slum counterparts did in days past. The handling of the narrator's relationship with Marshall and with the insecure and unattractive Ann is realistic and well-resolved, and the tension is effectively built, a series of innocuous clues leading to the supernatural conclusion. If the book has any weakness, it is the rather hasty and hey-presto ending, which technically satisfies but does not really do justice to the lengthy buildup.

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the Best Ghost Story of My Childhood, September 16, 2011

By 

Sir Furboy (Aberystwyth, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Behind the Curtain (Paperback)

I read this when I was a lot younger and my memory of it is that it was a wonderful tense and somewhat scary tale that had me thinking about the book for a long time to come.

There is some historical information here which is always educational - but ultimately it was a delicious and chilling tale, mixed with some themes of trust and friendship.

When I think back to my favourite books ever, this is one of them.

Maybe if I re-read it now I would not think so. These days maybe I am less easily excited by a ghost story. But for young adult readers and older children, this is a very good book.