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The Night Strangers

by Chris Bohjalian (Goodreads Author)

3.19 of 5 stars 3.19 · rating details · 8,363 ratings · 1,845 reviews

From the bestselling author of The Double Bind, Skeletons at the Feast, and Secrets of Eden, comes a riveting and dramatic ghost story.

In a dusty corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire, a door has long been sealed shut with 39 six-inch-long carriage bolts.

The home's new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin ten-year-old daug...more

Hardcover, 378 pages

Published October 4th 2011 by Crown

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Jan 19, 2013 Txkimmers rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I feel very ambivalent about Bohjalian's novel in the end, and my feelings about it moved along a giant bell curve while I was reading it. Despite the excellent performances of the two narrators (I listened to an Audible version), I had a lot of trouble getting into it, feeling that it spent an inordinate amount of time re-hashing the minute details of the plane crash that traumatized the sad sack airline pilot. I really wanted to be more sympathetic to his situation, but he didn't become intere...more

28 likes · like · see review

Jul 13, 2012 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, october-reading, other-beings, paranormal

Imagine yourself a pilot of a passenger aircraft, a trip you have made hundreds of times something that you become so used to doing. On one occasion you are the captain of a particular plane and not far from landing to your destination, mid-air suddenly a flock of Geese hit your turbines and all driving power is lost of the aircraft. It nose dives and time is everything with no possibility of landing the plane safely on solid ground the only place to land is the stretch of sea beneath you. What...more
Imagine yourself a pilot of a passenger aircraft, a trip you have made hundreds of times something that you become so used to doing. On one occasion you are the captain of a particular plane and not far from landing to your destination, mid-air suddenly a flock of Geese hit your turbines and all driving power is lost of the aircraft. It nose dives and time is everything with no possibility of landing the plane safely on solid ground the only place to land is the stretch of sea beneath you. What can you do? Your best chance is to try to land safely on the sea, which is not something you have been trained for due to being a procedure of a rare occurrence.
It all ends devastatingly bad and the plane hits the water with deadly speed and impact, all is lost 39 people die and you survive. It great to survive but with the guilt of the dead on your shoulders you wish you were the 40th. The aftermath of this disaster comes with many sleepless nights and nightmares; you are bombarded with images in your mind and the press and newsreels showing the incident. The families only have you to blame as the pilot. This all becomes too much for you and you decide to uproot your wife and twins from the city to a village in New Hampshire and escape to a old home near the woods. This village was to be your escape from the city but proves to become an even more greater challenge and struggle to what you just tried to leave behind. With a close knit community where everyone knows your business and there are no secrets, you wish that you never stepped foot on its soil.
The new home the place that was to be your solace, turns out to have a strange hatch door in the basement with 39 bolts sealing the door closed, yes that is 39 bolts as in 39 dead in the airplane incident and if that is not freaking you out enough your twins love the greenhouse which you discover has had a shady past of being used to grow some strange herbs that a group of Shamans have been growing and using and seem to be still living in the village. The nightmares you tried to leave behind becomes ever so worse with noises that go bump in the night.

The author puts you in a really tense atmosphere of fear in this story that flows so well, you will be hooked and read through the pages in no time at all. This is a page turning psychological tale of the highest caliber as the author takes you into the minds of the pilot, his wife, twins and the shamans. A harrowing story that has the makings of a classic horror story just right for October!
Video interview with author in this link
http://more2read.com/?review=the-night-strangers-by-chris-bohjalian"(less)

20 likes · like · see review

Dec 12, 2011 Madeline rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: crap-tastic, ugh

Imagine if someone set out to write a ghost story that was a combination of The Shining and The Haunting of Hill House, with some forgotten-in-ten-years current events tied in...and then the movies The Wicker Man and The Craft came along and vomited over everything. The result is Chris Bohjalian's The Night Strangers.

I can't even do a The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly-style review, because it's all bad. Instead, I will now present the follow list of reasons this book failed me, in ascending order...more

104 likes · like · see review

Feb 06, 2012 Jammies rated it 1 of 5 stars

Bleah. For a so-called "ghost story," this was terribly boring. The writing is technically proficient, but the characters are two-dimensional placeholders, which makes for absolutely no tension in the scary plot developments. Those plot developments are telegraphed loudly in advance, and there's no leavening humor or humanity to make a reader care enough to be scared on behalf of any of the cardboard figures populating the novel. Throughout the read I was irritated by the use of second person si...more

9 likes · like · see review

Dec 17, 2012 Bonnie marked it as dnf · review of another edition

Shelves: seriously-disappointing

I was unfortunately unable to get into this one. I read almost half of this book and the plot was going so slowly that it failed to keep me interested. Plus, the local 'shamans' that kept talking about needing the blood of a twin that had been traumatized in order to complete the ritual? Sorry, you lost me with that.

6 likes · like · see review

Aug 16, 2011 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Never having read Bohjalian before, this was not what I'd expected! At first I found the Jodi Piccoult-meets-Stephen King vibe a little uneven, or queasy, although that didn't stop me from turning pages into the night. By the end, I had to know what was going to happen. The story, which involves a haunted & traumatized pilot who survives a dramatic crash landing, a creepy Victorian house with secrets of its own, a set of young twin sisters, a cohort of small town, New England herbalists, wel...more

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Aug 25, 2011 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Becky by: Pam

I received this from netgalley.com and it wasn't going to be my "next-read" book but by the chatter among a few of my online book buddies...I decided to give it a whirl.

I have not read a book like this for quite a while, probably a couple of years at least. The book started out slowly for me not picking up until about 1/2 way through. It seemed as if Bohjalian was taking his time to tell the story. It seemed that one day took many chapters.

The story centers on a pilot and his family. A "normal"...more

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Oct 30, 2011 M A rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: haunted-house, horror, witchcraft

DISCLAIMERS: I paid full price for this novel (and heartily regret it.) I read this entire novel (and heartily regret that, too.) This is my first (and probably my last) Bohjalian read. In terms of technical quality and professionalism, the book boasts interesting construction, but I still dislike it.

In a nutshell, the beginning took forever for this story to get anywhere, the middle featured some genuine chills and disturbing moments and the conclusion punched me hard in the belly and roused ra...more DISCLAIMERS: I paid full price for this novel (and heartily regret it.) I read this entire novel (and heartily regret that, too.) This is my first (and probably my last) Bohjalian read. In terms of technical quality and professionalism, the book boasts interesting construction, but I still dislike it.

In a nutshell, the beginning took forever for this story to get anywhere, the middle featured some genuine chills and disturbing moments and the conclusion punched me hard in the belly and roused rare fury at the funds and hours I invested in the read. There are very few books I've ever found myself screaming, "Give me my time and my money back!" but "Night Strangers" makes that cut with aplomb.

In "Night Strangers," Bohjalian attempts to combine powerful family drama with psychological horror and supernatural horror a la Stephen King's "The Shining." Despite the scares (some genuine, others cliche to the point they annoy more than frighten,) Bohjalian's storytelling fails due to his inability to construct powerful (or even tepid) emotional dynamics within the Linton family. The family is so emotionally damaged and fractured from Day One and the characters themselves are too wooden and one-dimensional for attentive readers to feel invested in them. I found Reseda, a secondary character, somewhat compelling, but that's about it in a novel with a fairly large cast.

So, without good, strong characters or interesting relationships to engage me, I move on to the plot. This book features some of the most self-indulgent overwriting I've ever read. Bohjalian devotes a huge chunk of word count to describing the Lintons' new house, its oddities, and hints of its sinister history. I love lots of word-painting and strong establishment of setting, but Bohjalian failed to connect these elements with plot and/or characterization in any meaningful way beyond that I felt the house's eccentric construction and decor were as dysfunctional, disturbed, and ineffective as the Lintons themselves. This may have been B's point, but it was too overdone and did little to move the plot forward.

More "description overkill" is devoted to recounting the accident that ended Chip Linton's career as a commercial pilot, a tragedy involving 39 deaths and reducing Chip to an emotionally unstable, guilt-ridden recluse. I am not exagerrating when I say I got sick and tired of reading and re-reading these descriptions and they went on throughout the entire novel. Every few scenes Chip experienced a new memory, a daydream, or a nightmare regarding what he witnessed and experienced. It became distracting and intrusive and -- again -- served no purpose in expanding characterization or plot. Obviously Chip's sense of identity and self-worth were hampered by his accident, but the constant reminders reached a maudlin level. I felt like Bohjalian was more interested in describing every technical detail of how a plane crashes and what the passengers witness and experience than he was in telling me a good story. Am I impressed with his research and technical jargon? Sure. Did it make for a good story? Not so much.

Bohjalian's writing suffers awful transition. In one chapter, Chip wouldn't dream of murdering his daughters. A scene or two later, he's stalking them with a knife without any clear transition explaining the change. It may have been the author's intent to provide an inconsistent, schizophrenic feel to his work, but I found it confusing and distracting. Just one more annoying thing that made no sense.

NOTE: THE REMAINDER OF THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. PLEASE DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU WISH TO AVOID SPOILERS.

(view spoiler)[
I was profoundly disturbed by Bohjalian's efforts to portray the herbalists and their objectives in a morally ambiguous light. To me, they were clearly evil people. Child murder, child abuse, premeditated murder, assault, manslaughter, kidnapping, false imprisonment, and poisoning one's neighbors and one's neighbors' pets are not "good" behaviors or indicative of moral consciousness.

Bohjalian's storytelling always conveyed (to me, anyway) that the herbalists were basically good, civic-minded, productive, respectable citizens and kind-hearted neighbors engrossed in a primarily harmless and beneficial hobby in horticulture. They feel free to manipulate, terrorize, and kill other people, though. And every so often, they just want children's blood for a special tincture to preserve and unnaturally extend their life spans. The author's tone and voice addressing the coven's wrongdoing is disconcerting because NO ONE in the story appears to object to the coven's actions because those actions are morally wrong.

Throughout the novel, several herbalists inform Reseda of their intent to use one of the Linton children in their tincture. Reseda voices mild objections and refrains from reporting these conversations to the police or taking any other steps to protect the Linton children or inform Emily of the potential danger to her children. When Reseda reminds her "friends" of their last murder, they defend themselves saying "The child died, but the tincture worked." The implication is that the child's death was accidental and unintended and the new effort will be non-fatal.

Later in the novel, the coven outright acknowledges their intent to kill Hallie. They need more blood from her than she can "donate" and survive.

The coven agrees to cease murdering/bleeding Hallie when Reseda offers her own blood as substitute. However, when Reseda is accidently killed, the coven does not hesitate to continue bleeding (and ultimately murdering) Hallie.

In brief, the coven had numerous opportunities to reconsider their actions and elected to proceed, knowing full well the price for their tincture was a child's life.

The epilogue's "happily ever after" assimilation of the Lintons among the people who terrorized them, took advantage of Chip's poor mental and emotional health, murdered their child with premeditation and malice, and cannibalized their child is far more upsetting and offensive than the previous, "fizzled out" haunted house and decent vengeful ghost story components. Most horrific is the concept that Chip is now a happy, well-adjusted man. THAT's Chip's miracle cure? His neighbors kill one of his kids and ply him with lots of herbal medication and now he's a happy man? Oooh, and don't forget to feed him and wifey their own daughter's blood so they, too, can enjoy the special benefits of the herbalist's special tincture. See, these herbalists really aren't bad.

I'm sure Bohjalian had some kind of important theme in this story. Perhaps this is all an allegory for stem cells research or something. Either way, the story left me high and dry and angry I ever bothered with it.

I would have been satisfied with the book if at least the epilogue included some suggestion the coven would pay for their unspeakable crimes. Perhaps Emily is not as "bespelled" by their herbal remedies as they wish. Perhaps Garnet is not so much a daughter of the coven as she is a would-be firebrand. Perhaps Chip's new wine celler is meant to harvest a very special vintage for his "friends." Heck, even Hallie's ghost hanging around and wrecking the coven would be fine. But nothing like that occurs. It's just a happy ending for the coven.

Don't read this book if you like the bad guys to pay for their wrongdoing. If, on the other hand, you totally approve of child murderers, this book is straight up your alley. (hide spoiler)]

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Feb 27, 2013 Daven rated it 2 of 5 stars

In a word: silly. Despite an engaging premise (an airline pilot is haunted after surviving a failed water landing which takes the lives of 39 passengers), this novel gradually descends into a canned yarn of vengeful ghosts, a traumatized and potentially murderous father, and a coven of bloodthirsty witches masquerading as real estate agents and aging attorneys.

In the midst spin 11-year-old identical twin girls Haley and Garnett. They fall easily under the spell of the "herbalists" who secretly c...more In a word: silly. Despite an engaging premise (an airline pilot is haunted after surviving a failed water landing which takes the lives of 39 passengers), this novel gradually descends into a canned yarn of vengeful ghosts, a traumatized and potentially murderous father, and a coven of bloodthirsty witches masquerading as real estate agents and aging attorneys.

In the midst spin 11-year-old identical twin girls Haley and Garnett. They fall easily under the spell of the "herbalists" who secretly crave something sinister from them, while their remarkably malleable mother blithely acquiesces to the townfolk calling her "Verbena" rather than her given name of Emily. Meanwhile, husband and early-retired pilot Chip gravitates toward the dank cellar where he stews in the depths of PTSD, and hacks away at a mysteriously bolted coal chute door. Occasionally, hallucinogen-laced baked goods offered by his friendly neighborhood herbalist are numbly accepted and consumed.

Garden-variety episodes of bloodletting culminate with a belly-laughable climax, replete with chanting scorceresses -- "seeds want blood, blood hopes for viscera" -- Oh, I don't know, I can't recall the sordid details. Let it suffice to say that there are jets of blood spray. Oh goody, just what I need with my morning cup of coffee on the drive to work.

Bohjalian spent a significant amount of time researching herbs and "tinctures"; this is not my opinion -- he tells us this in the audiobook interview which accompanies the book. All fine and good; OK, the herbalism is convincing. But I tell you, I can go another lifetime or two without hearing the word "tincture" again. The term, spoken in a gleeful, sing-songy fashion by anyone with even the slightest supernatural bent, becomes the buzzword of the novel: <> <> <> Add eye of newt, wing of bat, fingernails on a chalkboard, a popsicle stick dragged between the teeth, and maybe a Disneyesque hag, and you'll have a commendable recipe for chronic irritation. (less)

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Mar 16, 2013 L rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

I saved this one for a while, never quite in the right mood for "all the trappings of a classic gothic horror story." Until about a week ago. Bohjalian knows his way around the intro to a story. Wow! And then he really got into it. Herbalists. PTSD. Ghosts. Bones in the cellar. Hints of child murder. And more. But to say more about the plot would inherently involved spoiling it. Just know that Bohjalian weaves together supernatural and psychological horror quite effectively, drawing very real ch...more

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Nov 10, 2011 Christine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

From the book decription: “In a dusty corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire, a door has long been sealed shut with 39 six-inch-long carriage bolts. The home's new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin ten-year-old daughters. Together they hope to rebuild their lives there after Chip, an airline pilot, has to ditch his 70-seat regional jet in Lake Champlain due to double engine failure. The body count? Thirty-nine. What follow is a riveting ghost s...more

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May 15, 2013 Wendy Bousfield rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Michele Combs

Recommended to Wendy by: Carol Howell

My first Bohjalian book! Chip Linton, a pilot, has engines knocked out by a flock of geese and attempts to reproduce Sully Sullenberger's "miracle on the Hudson." Chip's plane is overturned by a wave in Lake Champlain, and 39 of his passengers die. Crippled by PTSD, Chip, his wife Emily, and twin daughters move to a farmhouse in remote Bethel, New Hampshire. Bethel is home to a coven of herbalists. The book is at its best when the reader is uncertain about the moral nature of the herbalists. The...more

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May 14, 2013 Kacey rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I am in the mood for a good scary story, I always hope for something that not only tingles my spine but really taps into the psychology of the people involved. I also find that the sense of atmosphere can make the story just as frightening as any actual ghosts or whatever happens to be the fear element.

These are things that I think this book did very well. I love how it showed the thought process of Chip in particular as he struggled with his PTSD and being haunted by three spirits. I loved...more

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May 14, 2013 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars

The premise of this book was very interesting - the family of a pilot whose plane crashed through no fault of his own move to a small New Hampshire town to start over and are befriended by a group of "herbalists" who are creepily interested in their twin daughters. Unfortunately I felt very detached from everything that happened. There was weirdness but not a lot of tension until the end. The characters were bland. The author meant for the reader to question the sanity of the pilot but there was...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Kea Grace rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book was horribly intriguing, and I do not pick those words lightly. The story drew me in: a traumatized pilot who's plane crashed and 39 people on board died moves to an extremely rural area in New England to escape the media and his past. He and his wife purchase an old house with a "history," complete with mysterious doors, secret staircases and a dead body in the basement. The pilot begins seeing (and communicating with) the dead passengers who'd been on his plane, and he suffers a rapi...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Erin rated it 1 of 5 stars

I had no expectations for this book, and it somehow still managed to disappoint me. I picked it up on a whim at a book sale because I remembered hearing about it; I just didn't remember what I'd heard about it. I probably should have paid better attention.

It starts out with a plane crash, which acts almost as a promise of the cool stuff to come. That promise is a lie. Because then it gets boring. Really, really boring. For a really long time. Like most of the book. Oh my god, the plot - if you...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Renessa rated it 1 of 5 stars

What a horrific piece of writing. Basically, the main character crashed a plane and was cleared of any wrongdoing and he is now being ostracised for that by the public as well as the dead passengers who are haunting him. I feel fairly certain that the general public would not do such a thing considering it was a tragic accident. It also astounds me that the mother, a highly intelligent lawyer, would be so stupid as to get involved with the women she does, especially once they start demonstrating...more

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Jan 22, 2013 Mimi Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars

Chip Linton is haunted by the crash of the commuter jet he was piloting. When the plane was crippled by geese striking both engines he attempted to set it down in Lake Champlain, remembering Capt. Chesley Sullenberger's miraculous feat landing his Airbus in the Hudson after a bird strike. Unfortunately a rogue wave from a ferryboat flips Linton's plane and breaks it apart, and 39 people die.

Chip, suffering from acute PTSD, his wife, Emily, a lawyer, and their 10-year-old twins Hailie and Garnet...more Chip Linton is haunted by the crash of the commuter jet he was piloting. When the plane was crippled by geese striking both engines he attempted to set it down in Lake Champlain, remembering Capt. Chesley Sullenberger's miraculous feat landing his Airbus in the Hudson after a bird strike. Unfortunately a rogue wave from a ferryboat flips Linton's plane and breaks it apart, and 39 people die.

Chip, suffering from acute PTSD, his wife, Emily, a lawyer, and their 10-year-old twins Hailie and Garnet (if I am misspelling any names it's because I listened to the audio book) relocate to smalltown New Hampshire from suburban Philadelphia. Emily gets a job in a small law firm, and Chip tries to exorcise his demons through restoring their old Victorian house. Quickly he becomes obsessed with a mystery about the place -- a door in the basement sealed shut with 39 6" iron carriage bolts. 39 - the same number as the body count from his doomed aircraft. What is hidden behind that door? Why the need to overdo its security?

Meanwhile the family has attracted the attention of a group of powerful citizens: fanatically devoted herbalists, older women who take a great interest especially in the Linton twins. Their ostensible reason for involving themselves in Hailie and Garnet's lives is to initiate them into the powers of arcane herbs and tinctures...but a more sinister motivation surfaces.

I won't give away more other than to say that the plot twists are suspenseful and surprising. The ending is a real shocker. How the brain handles trauma is the dominant theme here. All the iron bolts in the world won't render our deepest fears and guilts harmless -- a stronger alchemy is required.

At the end of this audiobook, Chris Bohjalian is interviewed about influences that shaped the novel and he mentions Shirley Jackson's brilliant THE HAUNTING. THE NIGHT STRANGERS succeeds as a similarly creepy psychological study. Fans of the genre might also want to check out Sarah Waters' THE LITTLE STRANGER.

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Jan 13, 2013 Renee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Chip Linton, an airline pilot, makes an unsuccessful emergency landing in Lake Champlain after flying into geese shortly after take-off. Though he attempts to land the way Sully Sullenberger did on the Hudson, the plan somersaults. He survives, but his co-pilot dies, along with numerous others. 39 in all.

After sinking into a pretty deep depression, Chip and his wife Emily move, along with their twin daughters Hallie and Garnet, from suburban Philadelphia to New England. A group of women is quic...more Chip Linton, an airline pilot, makes an unsuccessful emergency landing in Lake Champlain after flying into geese shortly after take-off. Though he attempts to land the way Sully Sullenberger did on the Hudson, the plan somersaults. He survives, but his co-pilot dies, along with numerous others. 39 in all.

After sinking into a pretty deep depression, Chip and his wife Emily move, along with their twin daughters Hallie and Garnet, from suburban Philadelphia to New England. A group of women is quick to welcome them to the town, but something seems amiss. Many of the women in this town -- the same women showing a profound interest in the twin girls -- have an almost fanatical affinity with plants. "Herbalists." The Lintons begin to notice that there are greenhouses all over town so that the women can grow their plants year-round. Those who are not in this group warn Emily that the practice is something similar to witchcraft.

Related to that, Chip Linton finds a mysterious door in his new house's basement, bolted shut with 39 carriage bolts -- the significance of the number isn't lost on him. When he finally tears the door down, he finds human remains inside.

As Chip continues his downward spiral -- influenced at least in part by the sometimes hostile ghostly visitors he keeps seeing in his home who encourage him to do things he might not otherwise do -- Emily and the girls come to learn more about the society of herbalists in their town, as well as a bit about the history of the house itself and its relationship to all of that.

When this book was good, it was very good. There were times, though, when it seemed to drag a little. I wish it were possible for me to give it 3.5 stars because I did really enjoy it, but I didn't particularly care for the ending. I expected a bigger twist, but when I got there, I felt like I'd already known how it was going to end because of details earlier in the book. For me, at least, the ending lacked a certain element of surprise and made the last however-many pages seem kind of pointless since I felt like I already knew the ending.

One thing, too, that really bothered me throughout was that the twins were supposed to be about 10 years old, I believe. Yet they spoke like adults, using phrases like "She's such a pill." They also seemed to have preternatural understanding of many "grown-up" things (including, perhaps, the Occult) which seemed a little less than believable to me. I didn't feel like the twins were really children as far as their actual personalities went. A minor detail, perhaps, but one that was noticeable to me, nonetheless.(less)

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Jan 11, 2013 Nathaniel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Note and disclaimer: It is my general policy not to review books that I listen to rather than read. I feel like if I'm going to review a book, I owe it to the book to have actually sat down and given it my undivided attention. I am going to break my usual policy now, because I listened to this book, but darn it, there are things I want to say about it.
First, this story had great potential, and I was totally sucked in for about half of the book. You've got this pilot who's haunted by the crash in...more Note and disclaimer: It is my general policy not to review books that I listen to rather than read. I feel like if I'm going to review a book, I owe it to the book to have actually sat down and given it my undivided attention. I am going to break my usual policy now, because I listened to this book, but darn it, there are things I want to say about it.
First, this story had great potential, and I was totally sucked in for about half of the book. You've got this pilot who's haunted by the crash in which 39 of his passengers died. Then you've got this creepy house with creepy Easter eggs hidden throughout (a rusty cleaver, a hatchet, and a crowbar, plus the odd house features - the sealed door to nowhere in the basement, the superfluous and rickety back staircase from the kitchen to the second floor, the secret entrance to the attic from the nursery, etc). Then you've got the odd club of neighbor women with their greenhouses and their unnatural fixation on the pilot's twin daughters. And one of the twins has narcolepsy - she goes into deep trances and can't be roused. It's a great setup. I was a little creeped-out, but completely on-board to see how it would all work out.
And how did it all work out, you wonder? Well, it fizzled. You want all of these elements to come together to a great climax in which it matters that there was a cleaver hidden in the hearth grate and that there's a secret door between the nursery and the attic. You want it to matter that the girl has trances. You want the pilot's internal demons and trauma to somehow interact with the external demons that come (I wonder if the seed for this novel was the question, "What if a literally haunted (possessed) man moved into a haunted house?" Think about it. There's potential there, and the novel started to explore it and then totally gave up). Instead, you finish the book and think - about dozens of elements of the plot - "Why did that matter?" The prologue mentions over and over how the door in the basement is sealed with 39 bolts, and the pilot lost 39 passengers. You don't bring that up a dozen times and then never explain it! These things have to matter, and when they don't, the book is ultimately a huge let-down. (view spoiler)
Final note - I've noticed some comments here complaining about the many flashbacks to the crash. I thought those were a highlight of the book - they were really well-written and obviously well researched. The flashbacks let you gain some sympathy and respect for the pilot, and you understand where he's coming from and why he might be struggling with PTSD and depression. And really, if you take out the pilot's trauma, the book is a completely paint-by-numbers haunted house story.

(view spoiler)(less)

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Dec 02, 2012 Pat rated it 2 of 5 stars

What the heck happened to an interesting premise (the PTSD and guilt of a failed "Sully Sollenberger", who needs to live with the consequences of losing 39 passengers in a ditched airplane landing and then being tormented by their apparent ghosts...or are they his hallucinations and will he be another Jack from the Shining?)? The first third, as many have noted is good, sound psychological thriller and potential haunted house story...sadly and bizarrely it becomes a story of Wiccans run amok wit...more

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Nov 21, 2012 Antoinette McCormick rated it 1 of 5 stars

I've never read any of Bohjalian's work before and was hoping for a good ghost story and an equally satisfying scare when I bought this. What a disappointment, considering that Bohjalian had all the right ingredients for a super scary horror souffle: traumatized man, uprooted family, creepy old house with a dark history in an isolated town, and sinister inhabitants. Awesome premise -- dare I say, something that should've been foolproof -- but in Bohjalian's hands, it falls flatter than a pancake...more I've never read any of Bohjalian's work before and was hoping for a good ghost story and an equally satisfying scare when I bought this. What a disappointment, considering that Bohjalian had all the right ingredients for a super scary horror souffle: traumatized man, uprooted family, creepy old house with a dark history in an isolated town, and sinister inhabitants. Awesome premise -- dare I say, something that should've been foolproof -- but in Bohjalian's hands, it falls flatter than a pancake. Instead of a "riveting" "ghost story," what we're given is bad psychodrama.

If you're going to write a "ghost story" (especially a "riveting and dramatic" one), the story needs to HAVE actual ghosts and be... scary.

Chip's "ghosts" are more manifestations of his PTSD -- hallucinations -- than actual spiritual entities, and what happens as a result seems to arise from nowhere. If Bohjalian wanted to document one man's descent into trauma-induced madness -- which would've been another great opportunity to produce some memorable moments -- he needed to do it in increasingly disturbing increments, not all at once. Chip's leap off the deep end happens too quickly and thoughtlessly.

The house itself, is another "missed opportunity." Considering its history, it should have been haunted. Given the build-up around the 39 bolts, there should have been an evil waiting behind that door that would've made one of the "herbalist's" greenhouse statues of Baphomet look like a Happy Meal trinket. Because, seriously, who'd go to all that trouble just to hide a little boy's body? Stuff like that tends to attract unwanted attention... Again, we're let down: turns out, it's just an unfortunate coincidence.

The twins didn't act like children at all and there was no exploration of "the twin thing," something that both Stephen King and John Saul have used successfully in The Dark Half and The Right Hand of Evil, respectively. In fact, the girls seemed as different as night and day. Another missed opportunity.

The "coven" of wanna-be immortal, Satanic gardeners were more ridiculous than revolting (in a johnny-one-note sort of way), and Bohjalian's decision to cast them as such smacked of a total lack of crucial research on his part.

Lastly, if you're headed for the big showdown of good vs. evil (especially in the horror genre), a body count's fine, but most readers like to see good triumph. If it can't triumph, then we at least need to witness one heck of a struggle on the characters' part. The family's ultimate subsumation by the Satanic group was just too easy, too effortless (a flock of sheep springs to mind). Had I not seen it coming a mile away, this could've been the book's only truly creepy moment. Alas...
(less)

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Nov 10, 2012 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I gasped during the prologue and didn't exhale until well after the epilogue.
This masterpiece is half family tragedy, half The Stepford Neighbors. Pilot Chip Linton survives a plane crash that kills 3/4ths of the passengers and crew. In the aftermath, PTSD effects not just him, but his wife Emily, and 10-year-old twin daughters Hallie and Garnet. His psychiatrist calls the dreams Chip is experiencing as "flashbacks", but Chip thinks first they are nightmares, then they are ghosts.
The Lintons hav...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Someone really should have warned me.

I started reading The Night Strangers at the airport. Flying from Cleveland to Detroit — over Lake Erie. Now, if you’ve read the book, you know what a bad idea that is. The Night Strangers starts with an horrific plane crash into Lake Champlain. Great. Good thing I’m not a nervous flyer.

Chip Linton, the pilot, does everything right and that doesn’t make him feel any better, because the outcome is still tragic. He and his wife, Emily, eventually decide to leav...more Someone really should have warned me.

I started reading The Night Strangers at the airport. Flying from Cleveland to Detroit — over Lake Erie. Now, if you’ve read the book, you know what a bad idea that is. The Night Strangers starts with an horrific plane crash into Lake Champlain. Great. Good thing I’m not a nervous flyer.

Chip Linton, the pilot, does everything right and that doesn’t make him feel any better, because the outcome is still tragic. He and his wife, Emily, eventually decide to leave their home in Philadelphia and move to a small town in New Hampshire and try for a fresh start. I got the feeling that was really Emily’s decision — Chip doesn’t seem able to do much deciding and that isn’t at all surprising. He’s carrying a lot of guilt and Emily hopes the quiet and the scenery will help him begin to heal. Instead, they find themselves in the midst of a new nightmare…but by the time they realize what’s happening, it may be too late.

This is a good, scary read, full of twists and misdirection and suspense. It’s clear from the beginning that there is something strange about the house. There is something strange about the community and it’s population of women named after exotic plants and herbs. There is something strange about the greenhouses. You just can’t quite put your finger on what that is.

Their new neighbors are friendly to Chip and Emily, but their reaction to the Linton’s twin daughters, Hallie and Garnet, is spooky. They are fascinated, overly attentive, almost obsessed with the girls.

And let’s face it, Chip is not getting settled in. His tragedy has followed him in a very literal way. He sees his victims; he thought they were just hallucinations at first, but there’s more to it than that.

“When you turn back to Ashley, she is gone. Reflexively you pat the carpet where she was sitting, and it is damp with lake water. All that remains is the paper towel, which you pick up. It, too is wet, and it has the rank odor of jet fuel.”

In addition to Chip’s visitations and Emily’s sometimes bizarre interactions with the women in town, there is the house. Who wouldn’t be unsettled if they found weapons hidden in odd corners throughout the house? And the door in the basement, secured with 39 carriage bolts. Is it a coincidence that 39 is the exact number of fatalities from Flight 1611? And why are the girls so drawn to the abandoned greenhouse?

Plot twists and turns and lots of scary moments make this a real pleasure for horror and suspense fans. The ending will have you guessing — and even I could not have predicted how things would turn out. It’s a great ride, but take my advice: Don’t read it at the airport.(less)

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Oct 18, 2012 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Though I'm often sorely tempted, I almost never give in to the urge to skip ahead to the ending of a book. I like the build-up, the uncertainty, and ultimately, the pay-off.

I wish I had given in to temptation on this novel. Had I known how the book would end, I could have saved myself hundreds of pages and a number of hours reading.

It's not that I subscribe to the school of thought that a book must have a happy ending to be good. But there is something to be said for a satisfying ending, and The...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Midnyte Reader rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio-books, horror

A good ole' fashioned haunted house story? That's what I first thought when I started listening to The Night Strangers. However, it turns out to not quite be a haunted house story, but there is definitely something creepy and strange going on. Whether it is because Chip is the captain of an airplane that crashed as well as one of the survivors or because the town seems to be filled with malevolent people I wasn't quite sure until several chapters into the story.

This book is unique (for me) in t...more A good ole' fashioned haunted house story? That's what I first thought when I started listening to The Night Strangers. However, it turns out to not quite be a haunted house story, but there is definitely something creepy and strange going on. Whether it is because Chip is the captain of an airplane that crashed as well as one of the survivors or because the town seems to be filled with malevolent people I wasn't quite sure until several chapters into the story.

This book is unique (for me) in that it is told through 2nd person narration in protagonist Chip's point of view (ex: You go down the stairs, etc.) and 3rd person for his wife Emily, their children and some of the supporting characters. The second person point of view served to keep Chip at arm's length for me further isolating him. It also helped to create a mystery as to whether he is really being haunted or is suffering from a mental breakdown. I applaud the author because I thought this an interesting choice, and I understand why he chose to craft his story that way. However, it took some getting used to.

The telling and summing up in the book doesn't work for me. A lot seems unnecessary. However, the details of aviation and flying were so well thought out and researched it added authenticity to the story. At the same time, the details of the plane crash are rehashed again and again. The man is obviously traumatized, but there is not a lot of mention of him working things out. He has a psychiatrist, but where were the therapists and the survivor's group? Was he supposed to be portrayed as that stoic? Maybe so, but the constant comparing himself to Sully Sullenberg and him landing his plane successfully on the Hudson and saving everyone to me only added to his guilt ridden state of mind.

I also didn't feel very attached to any of the characters. The most interesting were Chip and Emily's two ten year old twins, Garnet and Hailey, and I would have liked to see more of their point of view, more of their thoughts. I also didn't understand why Emily (and I'm not saying Chip because he is so distant from everything in this book) didn't think the behavior of some of the townspeople was just inappropriate if not creepy. The way they talked about her children would have at least had me searching the internet for the sex offender registry. The plot reminded me of those television movies in the 70s where there is something sinister afoot. It was a bit over the top and at the same time kind of fun and kind of a guilty pleasure.

I liked Mark Bramhall's narration better than Alison Fraser's. Unfortunately, I just couldn't quite buy her interpretations. (I think I'm really picky when it comes to audio narration.)

Also the ending felt a tad rushed and while I kind of wanted to know how it finally ended, it wasn't that climactic. The epilogue especially was at once ironic and unsatisfactory as the story revisits the characters and the town ten years later.

My advice is if you're going to read this, don't go in expecting a traditional haunted house story. The story is more about Chip's ghosts from his plane crash and the effect the incident has on him and the scary people in their new town and what they're up to.(less)

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Aug 19, 2012 stephie kay rated it 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars maybe. It was not what I expected so I'm inclined to say it was just okay (2 stars), but I shouldn't punish the novel just because it wasn't what I expected, so I'll go with 3 stars. What I wanted was a spooky haunted house story. Instead it is a haunted man who has creepy neighbors with a secret. The ending too was unexpected and at first I was extremely disappointed. I read it several months ago so I'm now able to appreciate the ending since I'm more removed from the characters.

I was...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Shelley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book had the potential to be really great, but it fell short for me because of the stereotypical evil pagan elements. The main character was sympathetic, although as stupid as every horror movie character who stands still while evil threatens all he holds dear. An airline pilot who "failed" to prevent a tragic crash cannot recover from his guilt and haunting images of surviving while surrounded by his dead passengers. His depression and vulnerability are believable. That he finds comfort am...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Sandy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So, given that's it's difficult for me to read, or listen to, a book I don't like, I have to give this audiobook four stars for drawing me in enough to make me listen all the way through.

That being said, this is probably one of the scariest books I have read in a long, long time. Horror, in book or movie, is not my preferred genre. But the premise of this book was so intriguing, I had to see it through to the end.

I don't like to put spoilers in my reviews but I'd like to give enough information...more So, given that's it's difficult for me to read, or listen to, a book I don't like, I have to give this audiobook four stars for drawing me in enough to make me listen all the way through.

That being said, this is probably one of the scariest books I have read in a long, long time. Horror, in book or movie, is not my preferred genre. But the premise of this book was so intriguing, I had to see it through to the end.

I don't like to put spoilers in my reviews but I'd like to give enough information to tease others into wanting to find out more. Let's see if I can do that with this title.

I loved many of Chris Bohjalian's earlier works, starting with Midwife, the first one I read. In the past few years, I've found most of his book's themes odd. I've tried to give them my requisite 100 page college try but haven't made it through that far for most of them.

I can't stand listening to the radio on my ride to work, most of the time, so rely heavily on audiobooks to see me through. It's difficult to measure the equivalent of 100 pages in an audiobook so I usually base it getting through the first cd.

Night Strangers is about a pilot involved in a plane crash with only a few survivors. He's "haunted" by some of the passengers. It's hard to tell if it's a psychological or actual haunting. Things get worse when they move to a house in a small town in New Hampshire. They get really creepy. Turns out there's a strong correlations between the fact that he's had a major trauma and that he's moved to this particular house. There's strange "herbalists" who may actually be witches. And an even stranger amount of attention paid to his twin daughters.

Although I didn't like the ending, I admire that the author didn't turn away from writing an ending that didn't sit well with me. Kept the ending more true to the storyline throughout.

Would the author consider it a compliment if I compared him to Stephen King, the King of Horror? King's books are the only horror ones I've read. Can't get enough of my Uncle Stevie, especially since I discovered a very different side of him from reading Entertainment Weekly for the past several years. Made me cry when I found out he was no longer going to be a regular contributor.

On to the next book!(less)

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Jul 29, 2012 Charles rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Enemies. Someone who wants to be mad at a book. People with too much time on their hands.

Shelves: fiction, horror

Disappointing. Bohjalian's characters largely fall out as two-dimensional. The pilot, arguably the main character, appears unconvincing and unrealistic. At the outset, he seems to be a thoroughly practical man and a competent pilot. A terrible plane crash results in PTSD (and something more sinister...), but the transition from father/husband/pilot to creepy, psychotic threat is too jarring to be believable. One redeeming point is Bohjalian's second-person narration, which drops the reader into...more Disappointing. Bohjalian's characters largely fall out as two-dimensional. The pilot, arguably the main character, appears unconvincing and unrealistic. At the outset, he seems to be a thoroughly practical man and a competent pilot. A terrible plane crash results in PTSD (and something more sinister...), but the transition from father/husband/pilot to creepy, psychotic threat is too jarring to be believable. One redeeming point is Bohjalian's second-person narration, which drops the reader into the pilot. Although the pilot remains an unsympathetic and unconvincing character in the larger narrative, these second-person bits are done quite well in the regard that the sense of dislocation, loss, and trauma is communicated in a visceral way to the reader. Emily, the pilot's wife, is also fairly unbelievable and sketchily presented. On the one hand, we are told that she is a successful lawyer who doubles as a "single mom" to her twin daughters, as her husband the pilot is largely absent; however, Emily's naive trust in her new "friends" in Bethel runs counter to this characterization, and she seems more like a flake than any form of competent. The last thing I will say about characters is that the most compelling ones, Garnet and Reseda, resolve in unsatisfying ways. These two characters are the most human and dynamic (if I may stretch and use that word when describing the characters in this book) in The Night Strangers, but in the climax and epilogue they are both thrown away. And that brings us to the epilogue, the giant turd at the end of the book. A generous review would perhaps state that Bohjalian is presenting a cynical view of society and his protagonists. This review will simply say that the epilogue is a piece of shit that unnecessarily damns the entire book. With little effort, Bohjalian could have written a more realistic, and more human, ending. But we are presented with something that feels like an evil cartoon laugh fused to a black-and-white horror flick. Fizzle, plop, fail.

Two stars for a good beginning, pulling off second-person narration, and a couple of almost strong characters. Missing all the other stars because of everything detailed above. (less)

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About Chris Bohjalian

Chris Bohjalian is the author of sixteen books, including The Light in the Ruins, arriving July 9, 2013 from Doubleday. Set in Florence and rural Tuscany between 1943 and 1955, it began as a re-imaginging of "Romeo and Juliet."

His other books include the New York Times bestsellers, The Sandcastle Girls, The Night Strangers, Secrets of Eden, Skeletons at the Feast, The Double Bind, Before Your Know...more Chris Bohjalian is the author of sixteen books, including The Light in the Ruins, arriving July 9, 2013 from Doubleday. Set in Florence and rural Tuscany between 1943 and 1955, it began as a re-imaginging of "Romeo and Juliet."

His other books include the New York Times bestsellers, The Sandcastle Girls, The Night Strangers, Secrets of Eden, Skeletons at the Feast, The Double Bind, Before Your Know Kindness, and Midwives.

He has called The Sandcastle Girls the most important book he will ever write. Published in July 2012 to great acclaim, this story of the Armenian Genocide debuted at #7 on the New York Times bestseller list, and appeared as well on the Publishers’ Weekly, USA Today, and national Independent Bookstore bestseller lists.

USA Today called it “stirring. . .a deeply moving story of survival and enduring love.” Entertainment Weekly observed, “Bohjalian – the grandson of Armenian survivors – pours passion, pride, and sadness into his tale of ethnic destruction and endurance.” And the Washington Post concluded that the novel was “intense. . .staggering. . .and utterly riveting.” The Sandcastle Girls was also an Oprah.com Book of the Week.

It was also a Washington Post, Library Journal, a Kirkus Reviews, and a BookPage "Best Book" of 2012.

Chris's awards include the ANCA Arts and Letters Award for The Sandcastle Girls, as well as the Saint Mesrob Mashdots Medal; the New England Society Book Award for The Night Strangers; the New England Book Award; a Boston Public Library Literary Light; and the Anahid Literary Award. His novel, Midwives, was a number one New York Times bestseller, a selection of Oprah's Book Club, and a New England Booksellers Association Discovery pick. His earlier novels have been selected as "Best Books of the Year" by the Washington Post, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Hartford Courant, Publishers' Weekly, and Salon. His work had been translated into over 25 languages and three times become movies (Secrets of Eden, Midwives, and Past the Bleachers).

He has written for a wide variety of magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Reader's Digest, and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, and has been a columnist for Gannett's Burlington Free Press since 1992. Chris graduated from Amherst College, and lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter.

You can learn more about him on the Q and A on www.chrisbohjalian.com, as well as on Facebook . And, if you like, follow him on twitter as well.(less)

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“My mother used to talk about passages and, once in a while, about ordeals. We all have them; we are all shaped by them. She thought the key was to find the healing in the hurt.” — 6 people liked it

“He defined himself almost wholly in the negative: It was not who he was, it was who he was not.” — 3 people liked it

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