I love to be scared. As a kid, I used to look ahead at the calendar to see if any of the twelve "13th's" fell on a Friday. If any did, I marked it with a big black marker and celebrated with a group of buddies, pizza, coke and a stack of horror videos!

This year, I'll do the same, but will commemorate the event with a "Friday the 13th" Write-off! Participants were asked to write about anything that was scary! I hope you will read each and every participant and get a lovely fright tonight!

The first time I'd ever heard of Douglas Clegg was on Epinions. I'd read a glowing review, and have been looking for his books ever since. In my small town, they aren't easy to find. And when you do find them, the selection is very limited. I'd thought I'd lucked up finding Mischief in a used book store in Chattanooga, but upon finishing, I just felt suckered.

Plot

Harrow, an elite prep school for wealthy young boys, is expensive, impressive and where each man in Jim Hook's family earned his diploma. It also happens to be a bit "haunted." What Jim doesn't know is that his very presence may well be the catalyst for resurrecting an ancient evil.

To make things worse, Jim' has run into an evil group, called the Cadaver Society. Made up of mostly misfits and ne'erdowells, Jim finds himself in need of their help after a small cheating incident. In trying to preserve his position at the school, will Jim unleash a horrible presence on the world?

Character Development

Unconsciously, I will admit to comparing any horror writer to Stephen King. This is supremely unfair because no one could ever come close to King's abilities. Having said this, Clegg's characters in this book are hollow. Each boy sounds like the next, so it is very hard to keep the two apart.

Not to mention that the relationships sound stereotypical. Do you remember Stand By Me the movie or the short story is was adapted from (by Stephen King, of course) The Body? Jim's family remind me of Gordie's family. The big brother is the star of the show, loved by everyone and doing everything right. The little brother adored him, though shadowed by him, spent the rest of his life playing catch up to his memory when he is killed in a car accident along with his father.

Even the mother is all but non-existent. True, Clegg may have wanted it that way, but with no other characters particularly standing out, this lack of development just leaves the entire novel bland.

Plot Development

I'll be honest; I found this book very hard to follow. Not because it was too intricate, but because it was just plain confusing. First, the characters were interchangeable. This made it hard to be surprised when the members of the Cadaver Society were finally revealed.

Another sore point with me is when we are lead down a road, and then never given an answer. For instance, one of the professors at the academy was sent a threatening, and suggestive email from "an old friend." Well, we never find out who the heck sent it. The way it was written made it appear to be a supremely important clue, and yet, it is never mentioned again.

The ending, as well, was terrible. We follow one path, from start to finish, and it doesn't wind much. You will not be amazed.

If you are looking for a book to scare the socks off of you this Friday the 13th, I would kindly suggest you skip this one.

I intend to give at least one of his other books a try before calling in quits with Clegg. If anyone has any suggestions, please comment!

Other books by Clegg:
The Halloween Man
Goat Dance
Breeder
Neverland
Dark of the Eye
The Children's Hour
You Come When I Call You
Bad Karma (writing as Andrew Harper)
Mischief
Naomi
Purity
The Infinite

Here is a list of the other fine participants. Please check them out if you can!

AliventiAsylum
artbyjude
brandon_m
d_fienberg
lambchops
matt2050
Mike_Bracken
Mom2TyZick
peterbryan
Rbradford
remnjava
sampo24
shadow8
SusiDee34
tbthorn
Vormancian
xxxxer

Recommended: No