The door swings open, when it should be locked. And then there’s the blood. A trail of it leading 17 yr old Lola to discover her father lying in
his study. Is he…? No. He’s still alive. Barely.
While her father is recovering in hospital, Lola is sent away. She hardly remembers her own mother who left her when she was 5 years old, let alone the grandmother she has been sent to stay with. The little town of Harrow Lake is to be her home while her father recovers. Even with never visiting there before, Harrow Lake is already a huge part of her life.
Her father (not Dad, or Pops, or Papa to Lola – but Nolan) is the famous Nolan Nix who made a horror movie called Nightjar that now, even years later, holds a cult following. Not only was Nightjar set and filmed in Hallow Lake, Lola’s mother (A Hallow Lake local) was the star.
Now standing in her mother’s childhood bedroom in her grandmother’s house, Lola finds all the dresses her mother wore in the movie. Apart from her almost black eyes like her father’s, Lola is the spitting image of her mother – even more so when wearing the movie dresses.
When she looks around town, she meets Cora, a confident resident who isn’t shy about telling Lola about the town legend of Mr Jitters who has a taste for human flesh. He also just happened to like Lola’s mother. Lola brushes it all off, but knows the town has a terrible history. Years before there was a landslide, taking many lives. Mr Jitters was the town drunk apparently left to die in an underground air pocket, surrounded by bodies of townsfolk. Cora isn’t the only resident to warn Lola about strange happenings in the town. Not to mention the possibility of sink holes appearing beneath you at any moment.
The longer she stays, the more Lola’s family foundation tilts beneath her. She can’t get in touch with her father miles away in hospital, and her cold and aloof grandmother keeps gets her confused with her mother. Her belongings vanished moments after she arrived and her mother’s image as the girl in the movie is splashed all over town.
What did happen to her mother? Why did she leave Lola behind.. or did she? A local called Carter wants to help and they begin researching her mother’s past, to find Mr Jitters isn’t the only monster in Hallow Lake.
The more Lola digs, the more she pieces photos, memories, dreams and nightmares together. But it has triggered a return of her imaginary friend Mary-Ann, (her only friend as a small child of a famous movie producer.) Mary-Ann brings a warning. Mr Jitters is on his way!
Quick Review
Lola is a spoilt, rich brat in the opening of this story, her latest hobby being stealing things for fun. The discovery of her famous movie producer father covered in blood in their apartment rocks her to her core.
This is just the beginning to discovering what really happened in her own and her missing mother’s past.
Gripping. Freaky. Fans of Stephen King’s IT will appreciate the creep factor.
Author – Kat Ellis
Age – 13+
(Horror, Scary, Movies, Intrigue, Secrets, Family, Small town, Imaginary friend, Legend, Murder, Creepy, Action, Nightmares, Grandparent, Loss, Mystery, Thriller)