Combine flesh and blood characters with an eerie atmosphere as moody as a cold rainy day in March and the result is a horror story to be savored until the final page. The terror for young Johnny Dixon begins when cranky eccentric Professor Childermass tells him that St. Michael's Church is haunted by Father Baart, an evil sorcerer who mysteriously disappeared years ago. When Johnny finds a blue Egyptian figurine hidden in the church basement, he takes it home in spite of the warning note from Father Baart threatening harm to anyone who removes it from the church. Then, while praying in the church one night, Johnny meets the mysterious Mr. Beard who gives him a ring. Soon after he begins wearing it Johnny realizes that it is the ring which has power and in turn he is now under the control of Mr. Beard. Readers are kept on pins and needles until Johnny's final mountaintop showdown with the terrifying spectre.
School Library Journal
Vol. 29, No. 9,
May, 1983, pp. 93-94.
No comments:
Post a Comment