Ghoul by Brian Keene is a horror novel set in 1984 featuring a group of three friends who meet a ghoul who lives under the graves, eating the corpses. The book is part reminiscing about the time in your life that is filled with wonder and the bond of friendship. The other part is about monsters, one beneath the surface, the Ghoul, and the others are on the surface, masked by society. Ghoul reminded me a lot of Zach Cregger’s film Barbarian. The film is all about the question of who is a monster? Ghoul goes deep and in its answer. The book nailed its 1980s setting. It gave me so many flashbacks, thankfully not about abuse, but about my two best friends growing up. We built an underground clubhouse in the woods, not as close to a cemetery, but there was a two-grave cemetery not too far. The pace of the book is really fast. If I did not have to work, I might have read this in a day. The book nails the bond of friendship and the power it has. The book has some brutal scenes of gore, but I found them easier to read than the scenes of abuse. The scenes of abuse are harsh at times, but they are all in the service of the story and the characters. Trigger warnings for animal abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and emotional abuse. Keene’s writing has the stigma of being extreme, but don’t think that he doesn’t write with heart. Keene has shared just how close Ghoul is to his life. Timmy, the main character, is written with such care. The book can also be compared to Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon and The Body by Stephen King, which was based on the film Stand by Me. The book is about the moment you go from boyhood into the man you are to become. Ghoul by Brian Keene was published January 1, 2007.

Plot Summary: Two teenagers are enjoying quiet time in the cemetery when it is interrupted by a monster. The teenagers are missing and thought to have run off together. The preacher’s daughter was the runaway. The town feels the loss as Pat, the teen, was a troublemaker, but was cool and would look out for underclassmen. Timmy sits in his comic-filled room and plays a mix tape Pat made for him. Timmy has two best friends, Doug and Barry. Doug lives in a broken home with just his drunk mom, who is a mess, and Barry lives with his abusive father, who is the caretaker for the cemetery. Timmy has the most stable of parents, but they don’t seem to understand him and his love for comics. The only person who does understand him is his grandpa. His grandpa encourages Timmy to skip chores and hang with his friends. His friends hang out at a clubhouse they built underground on the property of the cemetery called the dugout. This is the one place the kids can come to escape, but Barry’s dad is starting to act more strangely and drunk than usual. The boys notice many of the graves sinking into the ground, and a hundred-year-old headstone broken with symbols all over it. This gives Timmy an eerie feeling. More people go missing, and Timmy thinks he knows what it is: a Ghoul. A creature that lives underground and eats the flesh of the dead.

What I Liked: The book is deep in the question it is asking. Who is the monster? What does it take to become a monster? The way that 1984 is captured is just perfect. The Nietzsche quote works so well in this book. “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.” This quote is why I think the epilogue is perfect. I have read a couple of reviews that said they did not enjoy it. I don’t know if I enjoyed it, but I thought it was the right ending for the story. I love all the pop culture references to comics, movies, and music. The abuse in the book was horrible, but the scene with Timmy and his father, I have never wanted to punch someone more. Not okay, Timmy’s dad. I love how the scene starts with them bonding and ends up with them further apart. I did think it was funny how all the monsters, except the ghoul, shatter their families, and the ghoul is the only one motivated to start a family. The ghoul was pretty gnarly he way it was described.

What I Disliked: I wish the dugout had been described better. Later in the book, it is described more, but it was too late. The first time in the book when the Dugout is mentioned, I thought they were hanging out at a baseball field. I was like, okay, when are they going to get to this clubhouse they are speaking of? I did not like that we never got a scene of the bullies interacting with the boys. It kind of looked like the boys were the aggressors since they put the bike on the train tracks without any interaction from the bullies. I wanted Doug to get a little more redemption.

Recommendations: Ghoul is a very well-written horror story with a lot going on. I was surprised by how many questions the book asked. I was thinking the book wouldn’t have all the layers that it did. The book has those trigger warnings of animal abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and emotional abuse. If you can handle those trigger warnings, I recommend Ghoul to you. I know my wife could not handle the animal abuse scene, so I get that others are not going there. I think fans of the film Barbarian will enjoy this book. Ghoul and Barbarian have the same trigger warnings. Ghoul is my first Keene novel and will not be my last. I do recommend his short story collection Blood on the Page. I’m going to a book signing this month with Brian Keene and will get him to sign the Ghoul.

Rating: Ghoul by Brian Keene. I rated 4.6 out of 5.