Daemon Hall, Andrew Nance

Nance, Andrew (2007).
Daemon Hall
New York: Henry Holt and Co.
9780805081718
Genre: Horror fiction

Famous horror story writer Ian Tremblin comes to the town of Maplewood to hold a short story writing contest, offering the five finalists the chance to spend what turns out to be a terrifying and deadly night with him in a haunted house.

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The famous author of horror and ghost stories, Ian Tremblin, comes to peaceful Maplewood to conduct a literary contest and find the next generation of suspense writers. He chooses five finalists and invites them to spend the night at haunted Daemon Hall so that he may judge their writing skills and storytelling. The winner will get published—but only if she or he can survive a night in the haunted house. If anyone leaves, he or she will be disqualified from the contest. The novel’s narrator, Wade, suffers from panic attacks; his fellow finalists include Chelsea, the Goth girl, Chris, a sensitive jock, shy and quiet Kara who hates horror stories, and Demairus, a black teen who tries to be less dysfunctional than the others.
The chapters alternate between reality and each character’s story submissions. Strange activities occur as the finalists read their stories aloud. The plot structure of the stories within a story provide tension as each story reveals each narrator’s secret fears. Chills increase and the tension builds as teens begin to disappear and Daemon Hall unleashes its terror. Readers of the macabre and ghoulish will enjoy the thrills and suspense.