It's 1984 (if you ever forget that, Keene will remind you on the next page), and Timmy, Barry, and Doug are looking forward to summer vacation. Unfortunately for them, there's a ghoul living under the church cemetary that likes to eat dead bodies, and has recruited Barry's father (a monster in his own right) to obtain women for it, through whom it wishes to further its race. Sounds bad enough. But remember, this is Brian Keene we're talking about. So things are bound to get worse...much, much worse...
"The Rising" hooked me on Keene; it was one of the most original, scariest books I'd read in ages (the ending was a true horror classic; surprisingly, the sequel didn't ruin anything). "Terminal," "City of the Dead," and "The Conqueror Worms" (title lovingly borrowed from Poe) continued that reign of no-holds-barred horror, the kind that Stephen King doesn't even dare write anymore (well, ok, maybe every once and a while). Keene uses real-life characters; the hero of "Worms" wasn't some worm scientist, he was a seventy-year-old redneck who just happened to get caught up in the midst of things. Keene's characters are three-dimensional, so much so that they take on a life of their own.
That's why I was slightly disappointed with "Ghoul." I guess I should expect it--this is, after all, a formatted novel. The whole "coming of age" horror novel has become a subgenre all its own, with everyone from Dan Simmons, Mr. King, and Ray Bradbury chipping in (hell, Dean Koontz, a non-horror author, even wrote one). Granted, Keene does bring his own unique touch to the tale, but it doesn't show until the last hundred pages or so. Until this, it's by-the-numbers...with a slight twist. You'll be able to predict most of it, although it's still a ride worth finishing (this IS Brian Keene, after all). If only he hadn't thrown in so many nostalgic moments...you won't ever forget the novel takes place twenty years ago. Still...it's a fiendishly good time, and a novel you should definitely take the time to read.