The Girl Next Door

When a book makes you feel uneasy but you have to keep reading to know what happens next, then finishing it in a day, you have a winner. I’m new to Ketchum and this comes up as a strong recommendation within the horror community and I can see why. The sympathy, empathy and horror the characters bring up shows the skills Ketchum has. What adds to the pain and sadness of this book is it’s based off a true story. As I have said, you should and will feel uncomfortable as the book progresses but you feel the need to do so.

First off, though 5 stars means "I love it" according to Amazon, this is not a book you can love. Reading it is a harrowing experience, made all the worse by the fact that it is a fictionalised version of true events. Not only that, but that some of those events were left out by the author as he thought they were too much. ** Spoilers follow ** (Sorry, I usually avoid these in a review, but I'm not sure it's possible to write this review without them) Our narrator is a young boy living in a cul-de-sac, where all the kids know each other, and a pair of sisters move in with the family next door (their aunt) when their parents die. The girls - one in particular - is then tormented and abused by the aunt, her children, and the other kids in the neighbourhood. Including our young narrator, Davy. The abuse gets worse and worse as the book progresses, and Davy vacillates between feeling excited and disgusted with everything. The book is essentially about his internal struggle to deal with events no child (or indeed person) should ever have to deal with. So, is the book deserving of 5 stars. Absolutely. It is extremely well-written, and as such, extremely traumatic to read. Is it a book you will love? Probably not. Should you read it? Well, if you have any doubt there are evil people in the world, then yes, read it and understand that this is a toned-down version of what happened. If you are the victim of abuse yourself, I would imagine you want to stay well away from this.

Im actually torn with how I feel with this book, I feel on one hand it sensationalizes and exploits a horrific abusive short life of such a beautiful child. On the other hand it brings it to the forefront and makes us feel real emotions at the cruelty involved and you genuinely cannot put this book down. Jack Ketchum changed some of the characters but followed the true story in some parts. Its written from David Moran's perspective as a fictitious neighbor who is now much older and witnessed these disturbing events. Ketchum describes in graphic detail what these events may have been like from the point of view of one child (David Moran). The Chandler house becomes the neighborhood hangout for the local kids and David takes a genuine liking to Megan as she's a spunky lively fun child. But the Ruth Chandler starts to take a dislike to Megan beginning at simply verbal abuse escalating to harsh discipline, cruelty and extreme torture at her hands and of Ruth's own children who happily joined in with the tormenting; often including Megan's disabled sister in the punishment. She convinced her own children that Megan was dirty and deserved her punishments and eventually they became so extreme it led to her death. This book shows the true horror by using some facts of what actually happened. There actually isn't a full plot as its true-life and there is no explanation to Ruth's increasing madness and cruelty towards Megan. Her children became actively involved and take real enjoyment at being violent towards the two girls and often came up with more and more disturbing ways to torture them. This book is horrific and extremely sadistic and not for the feint hearted, it will break your heart to know that this was based on a true story NOT a completely fictional book...it...really....happened, this child and her sister suffered unspeakable cruelty so you need to decide for yourself whether you wish to read this. But reviewing as a book and storyline it was extremely well written with powerful characters that you genuinely care for or despicably hate. Its a highly emotional read especially as we start to see Meg gradually accept and give up as her captors think up more gruesome, sick ways to torture her. Ketchum shows David showing small acts of kindness and does indeed try to help her near the end, but it was too late and it did frustrate me how he was slightly fascinated by her teenage body with his own sexual awakening and believes he was in love with her, but cannot decide whether to join in the cruelty or get help....this fact alone made me feel sick. I get the sense that he feels his helping her by just being there and watching even though he isn't actively participating as some sort of support to Megan. But this is what makes this book even more horrific and heart wrenching and depraved. David then realizes too late his in too deep and is caught up in this families sadistic games. It is a disturbing, extremely graphic read which will shock you and take you on an emotional roller-coaster so you need to read this at your own risk as once you start reading you wont be able to stop this horrifically engrossing read.

It's been 3 days since I finished this book, and I still can't think of the words to explain how I'm feeling. Did I enjoy it? No. Do I recommend it? No. Could I put it down? No. Is it a 5 star read? Absolutely yes. The book is narrated by David, who was a 12 year old boy when 14 year old Meg Loughlin and her younger sister, Susan, who after finding themselves orphaned moved in next door with his neighbour, Ruth Chandler and her sons. What follows is a shocking tirade of abuse in all its horrific forms. Manipulation, coercion, torture, mutilation, sexual trauma. Meg is subjected to all of these at the hands of Ruth, and also of her boys and other kids from the neighbourhood, all encouraged and coerced by Ruth. Susan is subjected to sexual and physical abuse, often forced to abuse her own sister to avoid worse for herself. What is particularly sickening about this book is that it is a true story. Sylvia Likens was the real life Meg, who was tortured by her carer, Gertrude Baniszewski in 1965. Sylvia died just 3 months after the abuse started, from malnutrition and the effects of her awful injuries. I hope she rests in peace and I hope Baniszewski rots in hell.

The content of the book is actually quite good, it is based off of a true crime case so a lot of it was quite predictable as I know the actual case quite well, but still enjoyable. My main criticism is the fact that this book is published by amazons own print house, and the physical quality of the book is atrocious. It is a print on demand book and the quality control seems to be non existent. Lots of the pages in the book had text that was printed crookedly and was hard to read. The front and back cover was made from a really weird paper that bends ridiculously easily. I read this book once and it’s held up worse than books I’ve read over 20 times.

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum 5⭐ This book contains strong, frequent trigger warnings throughout. This book is based on the true crime case that is the abuse and death of 16-year-old Sylvia Likens. As a true crime lover, and big fan of Bailey, I already knew a lot about this case and what Sylvia went through at the hands of the woman who was supposed to be taking care of her, as well as people she once called friends. Having this knowledge before reading this book didn’t make it any less disturbing or comfortable, even with Jack leaving out some of the most shocking parts of the case, which I have so much respect for. Jack managed to tell the story from the POV of Megan (Sylvia)’s next door neighbour, and so whilst he saw the abuse going on, he didn’t see the worst bits, which I can appreciate are definitely not something that should be published in a book. Having said this, as a reader I still felt the raw emotion and sickness of what he did witness and managed to include the details that always stood out in the case. It’s never easy to rate books like this, but this was an easy 5 star for me, based on the writing style and the respect and research Jack evidently put into this book, and the way he got Sylvia's story out there. I fully recommend this book, but please make sure you are in the right headspace, as it is a heavy one, and one of the worst true crime cases I have come across. If you’d like me to send you the trigger warnings included in the book, please message me and I’m more than happy to give you a heads up. RIP Sylvia Likens 03.01.1949 - 26.10.1965 👼🤍

This book is so profoundly disturbing that I had to take regular breaks just to process it. The Girl Next Door will make you furious—I guarantee it. Ketchum’s relentless narrative exposes how ordinary people become willing accomplices to atrocity, how easily they turn away from suffering. It shows the worst of human nature—how empathy crumbles when it’s needed most. Long after you finish, the story clings to you, especially once you remember: this horror really happened

ack Ketchum died recently and his death reminded me of the one book of his that I read some time ago, Off Season. I remember thinking it was good but really graphically gory and violent. In need of some real horror (I get desensitised with all the horror I watch) I thought I would pick up his most infamous, The Girl Next Door. I expected it to be violent and graphic but it really went above and beyond. David lives next door to his best friends Donny and Woofer. Their mum Ruth is laidback, cool and lets the boys have beers. When Meg and Susan, recently orphaned, move in with their Aunt Ruth, David falls in love with Meg. Susan is a cripple and Meg cares for her sister a great deal. Ruth begins to feel threatened by Meg's beauty and youth. She used to have the neighbourhood boys wrapped around her finger, little toys for her to use to make herself feel wanted and powerful, but now all of that is slipping from her grasp. She struggles with aging and alcohol. And she blames Meg for all of this. At first she begins to punish Meg in small ways, calling her a whore, slapping her occasionally. When the abuse ramps up to feed Ruth's insatiable need to punish for her own failings and disappointments, Ruth uses Meg's love for her sister to forced her compliance. Before you know what's happening, Meg is strung up in the basement where Donny and Woofer, David and various other visiting teenagers are allowed to abuse Meg in some of the most vile and horrific ways. As Meg sinks deeper into the humilation and pain, Ruth sinks deeper into alcoholism and depression and they are both stuck in the situation. Only, it's just Ruth who is enjoying it. David, at first has twinges of guilt but his teenage fantasy and obsession with Meg sort of manipulates him into joining in for a while before he has an awakening and tries to help. This was a deeply uncomfortable read. Deeply uncomfortable. Horror at its finest is when the events are easily imaginable. There is no boogeyman, no ghost, no supernatural stalker - just a screwed up mother with screwed up kids. It does state on the back of the book, that it is based on a true story, and yes, I am pretty sure these things happen, but bloody hell, it's extremely uncomfortable to read. At one point I wondered if I would actually get to sleep after reading. So, difficult to sum up. As a horror story it is hugely successful; it is horrific, scary and affects you as a reader on a visceral level. Did I enjoy it? Golly, I don't know. So, you have been warned.