The haunted house. Every town seems to have one – an abandoned house that fuels the imaginations of the local kids, inspiring ghost stories and childish dares, eliciting nightmares. Summitville has one at the end of a dead end street. Many years ago, an entire family was murdered in this house, and it has sat vacant ever since, crumbling slowly into ruins. Now it has caught the attention of a group of five young friends, who have decided to visit the house and tell each other horror stories that they have written there. After each has taken a turn, he or she with the best story wins the “game.”

At first, it seems like a fun but creepy dare to break into the old house to tell stories. However, as time passes, the teenagers begin to notice sounds and perhaps movement in the house, and they get a feeling that they are being watched. The house is abandoned…isn’t it? All they are looking for is a bit of childish fun, but what they get may be something else altogether. There is something about the house that definitely does not want them there, and it is willing to do what it takes in order to make them leave.

Rick R. Reed’s story Dead End Street is a delightfully creepy trip into horror in a small town. While its audience is young adults, this story will appeal to any reader who enjoys the chill that a well-written horror story can bring. This is wonderfully executed, with tension that builds from the very beginning: at first slowly as each young protagonist tells his or her spooky story, and then exponentially as the true nature of the house is revealed and the horror breaks free of the stories and becomes all too real to the teens. Mr. Reed has a talent for grabbing his readers’ attention and holding on tight. This story contains no red herrings and no false turns or annoying teases. What it promises, it delivers. In fact, there were a numbers of times as I read this story that I found myself holding my breath in suspense, hoping that nothing terrible would happen to these kids but terribly afraid that something would.

No doubt about it, Dead End Street is an excellent story. Read it. I dare you. And for your own good, stay away from that abandoned house that exists in your own small town.


Reviewed by: Whitney