When the Night Wind Howls

by Pamela F. Service

Ghostly apparitions at the community theater thirteen-year-old Sidonie and her mother join as a way of making friends after moving to a small Indiana town lead Sid to an investigation which uncovers something so sad and so evil it seems it could never be put right--but she determines to try.Thirteen-year-old Sidonie joins forces with a minister and a young technical genius to uncover the secrets of a haunted local theater and battle the forces of evil to save the soul of the handsome leading man

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

153 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Born in Berkeley, California, Pamela F. Service grew up loving to hear, read, and tell stories - particularly about weird stuff. Pamela earned a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley followed by an MA in history and archaeology from the University of London.

She spent many years living in Bloomington, Indiana, writing, serving on the city council, and being curator of a history museum. She has a grown daughter, Alex, who is also a museum curator. Pamela is now living in Eureka, California, where she writes, works as a museum curator, and acts in community theater.

Reviews

[Aelvana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sidonie and her mother have recently moved to a small Indiana town, and as a way of fitting in, they've gotten involved in the community theater. But this theater appears to be haunted. When Sid starts digging into the rumors of ghosts, she finds far more than legends . . .

This is a solidly-written book, but I didn't like it much. I'm not huge on ghost stories, and not familiar enough with theater to recognize the various plays and musicals, so I didn't have a lot invested in the plot. And when the big reveal comes out, I got annoyed by a lot of theological points (some of which is just annoyance at Sid and her minister for taking movies more than Scripture as a guideline for how to deal with the devil).

It was an amusing take on what makes a theater "haunted." Sid, her friend Joel, and the mysterious Byron Vincenti are the heart of the book, and I like how the two kids keep changing their minds about Byron as they figure out more of the problem.

I'm not so fond of the use of witchcraft, the lack of involvement on God's side (for what's supposedly a two-sided dispute, one side is not exactly shown participating), or the spotty use of Christian theology. I realize this is just an updated take on the same play the theater is performing, so it's not like the book is trying to show how to deal with demons as much as it is retelling an old folk tale.

Overall this isn't necessarily a bad book, but I didn't care for it, and won't be reading it again. I rate this book Neutral.

See my reviews and more at https://offtheshelfreviews.wordpress....

[Erica Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delightfully ghosty.

Theatre kids investigate the unusual hauntings on stage…but things aren’t exactly what they seem.

Wonderful writing, an original story, and plucky tween characters to round it all out.