The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff

The Harrowing
Alexandra Sokoloff

Ok ladies and gentlemen, Halloween is fast approaching and, as it's my favorite holiday, that means I'll be tearing through a lot of fear-inspiring reads. The Halloweeny began with The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff.

The story takes place at Baird College as students travel home for Thanksgiving break. Five students, mostly strangers to one another although connected by a mutual dislike of home, remain behind on campus. With everything closed down and a storm raging overhead, the students inadvertently come together to pass the time. And what better way to pass the time than with a Ouija Board? I’m sure you can see where this is headed.

In fact our word for today, kiddies, is STEREOTYPICAL. Can you say that with me? That’s right. Let’s start with the five kids who hate going home: a veritable Breakfast Club of stereotypes, we have the meathead jock, the nerd, the rebel, the slut, and the depressed loner. We even have, in a supporting role, the rich snob as the meathead’s girlfriend. The plot itself is stereotypical as well, as it isn’t hard to figure out what will happen once the ball gets rolling. Finally, The Harrowing (and what the hell is up with that title, I ask you? Talk about melodramatic) is full of gothic devices: strange rapping, thunder and lightning, scary séances, gloomy castle-like buildings, and more.

You’d think that such a book would warrant a poor review, and I’ve certainly spent the better part of this one commenting on the book’s weaknesses. And yet, I couldn’t help but enjoy it. True, I’m already biased toward the spooky. But The Harrowing is such a fun read that I couldn’t put it down. And, to be fair, there were a few surprises thrown in that I didn’t see coming.

Aside from the above-mentioned stereotypes, there were a few other flaws. A few elements seemed illogical; a few allusions seemed as if they would later be important but were in fact not. However, these flaws are relatively minor. Be advised that this is light reading, as far as illuminating texts are concerned. It’s a ghost story, plain and simple, with a possible lesson of accepting yourself—and that’s pushing it.

In a nutshell: If you’re like me and you enjoy a good ghost story, pick up The Harrowing. Sure, it’s melodramatic and stereotypical, but that’s what the genre is all about.

Bibliolatry Scale: 4.5 out of 6 stars