Black Creek Crossing

Angel Sullivan is an outcast. A teenage girl twenty pounds too heavy, features a little too large. She has never been accepted. Meet Seth Baker, outcast. A teenage boy twenty pounds too light, personality a little too effeminate. When Angel and her family move into the strange house in the middle of nowhere

Angel Sullivan is an outcast. A teenage girl twenty pounds too heavy, features a little too large. She has never been accepted. Meet Seth Baker, outcast. A teenage boy twenty pounds too light, personality a little too effeminate. When Angel and her family move into the strange house in the middle of nowhere in the little town of Roundtree, she hopes to find a new beginning. A life separate from the taunts, torments and teasing she experienced in her former life. Unfortunately, on her first day of high school, she learns that new town does not necessarily equal new rules. Enter Seth, a kindred spirit, and the target for the brutality before Angel entered the picture. The two of them begin to lean on eachother for comfort and a sympathetic ear. They both desperately want the bullying to end, but how?

It seems that there is more to Angel's new house than really cool oak finishings. Oh yes, could it be that the strange dreams she have been having since her first night are a message from the other side? Could the black cat Angel discovered in her bedroom closet her first night there be a dead witch from the past eternally linked to the house? Could an unseen entity bent on destroying said entity be attempting to control Angel's father? Yes, yes, and painfully yes.

While all of these plot points are thrown about in the most obtuse and blaise fashion the reader must willfully shut down the logical part of his/her brain. It is recommended that to enjoy this novel we must each tap into that uncharted region of our adolescence when all we wanted was super-powers to hurt our tormentors. At the heart of this book this is all that matters: Bullies suck, parental or peer-based, and the day will come when I get my hand on a witch-book and make all of your sorry butts' pay.

Black Creek Crossing, a novel by John Saul, comes across as disjointed and unorganized, like the author’s stream of consciousness was directing the course of events. What begins at first to be a horror novel seemingly revolving around a house, soon becomes the tale of two pathetic teenage souls at odds with the world and stumbling into the ether of the supernatural. Angel Sullivan and Seth Baker are perfect for each other; neither have friends to speak of and each share a past filled with bully

Black Creek Crossing, a novel by John Saul, comes across as disjointed and unorganized, like the author’s stream of consciousness was directing the course of events. What begins at first to be a horror novel seemingly revolving around a house, soon becomes the tale of two pathetic teenage souls at odds with the world and stumbling into the ether of the supernatural. Angel Sullivan and Seth Baker are perfect for each other; neither have friends to speak of and each share a past filled with bullying and torment. When Angel, her alcoholic father, Marty, and her devoutly Catholic mother, Myra, move into the house at Black Creek Crossing, things take an odd turn when “strange” occurrences happen at the house. Angel finds Houdini, a mysterious cat that plays an important role in the supernatural elements of the story, in her closet and the story sets off into odd twists and turns leading her into the witchcraft history of the house she has moved into. Soon, Angel and her newfound friend Seth begin to dabble in magic, leading to the ultimate tragedy—horrific death.

Black Creek Crossing upholds its duties as a horror novel and fans will appreciate this. The pacing waxes and wanes, but the expectations are that the reader will be intrigued enough to keep going. The denouement is open-ended, another characteristic of horror novels, leaving just enough suspense for readers to have a creepy “what might happen next?” sensation. And creepy sensations abound in Black Creek Crossing. Angel begins her role in child-like innocence. Soon, however, it becomes apparent that the magic is controlling her situation more and more, and she, in turn, becomes a stronger character as a result. The situations Angel and Seth are in are, in horror novel fashion, typically disastrous. The reader finds herself hoping that Angel and Seth will prevail, but realizes that in a story like this one, no one can win.

This book will be well received by fans of the horror genre. While it is not as psychologically gripping, like a Stephen King novel, it has its fair share of pulse racing moments, enough to keep the lights on and the doors locked, anyway.