Deep and Dark and Dangerous: A Ghost Story

by Mary Downing Hahn

Book Overview

Mary Downing Hahn is at her chilling best in this supernatural tale, where the long-buried secret of a young girl's death in a canoe accident relentlessly makes its way to the surface of an idyllic vacation.

A family secret is at the root of Mary Downing Hahn's story of supernatural events in Maine. Thirteen-year-old Ali is eager to spend her vacation with Aunt Dulcie, helping to care for her little niece, Emma, in the lake house where...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0547076452
• ISBN13: 9780547076454
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 10 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 7

Customer Reviews

Rereading

Decided to reread this since i couldn't remember anything& read this back when i was in middle school. Such s good read i couldn't put the book down, was even sneaking into the break room at work to read more 🤣

fantastic!

another amazing chilling book by Mary Downing Hahn. A perfect representation of guilt, a wonderful example of what it's like to live with a depressed parent, and an awesome ghost story. Perfect for kids age 10 and up.

fantastic book and scary

I loved the way that Mary Downing Hahn wrote the book. I liked the way that at some parts of the book it left me curious. It is one of the best books that I have ever read. I gave the book five stars because the book was very interesting . It was so hard to put the book down. I think that Mary Downing Hahn did a awesome job of writing the book.

My 12 yo loved this book

My son got this for Christmas ( what he asked for). He really loved it and read it right away. I have personally not read it. He is at that age where they are into creepy vampire type stuff. Didn't seem like too offensive a book and he read it all at once where he skips around with other books.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

If you're looking for a good mystery/ghost story, then look no further. DEEP AND DARK AND DANGEROUS by Mary Downing Hahn offers mystery, suspense, and some great ghost action. Recently, Ali stumbled across an old photo of her mother and aunt when they were young girls. There was something odd about the photo. It appeared that another girl had been part of the picture but her part was torn away, leaving only the letter `T' to give any hint to her identity. Ali's mother swears she has no idea who was in the picture, but she isn't very convincing - which leaves Ali full of questions. Ali is surprised when her Aunt Dulcie and cousin Emma come to visit. Aunt Dulcie is her mother's older sister, but she's entirely different. Ali's mom suffers from chronic migraines and periodic depression while Aunt Dulcie is the strong, independent type. There have been numerous times in Ali's life when she has wished her mother was more like Aunt Dulcie. Ali shows Aunt Dulcie the old photo and is surprised that her reaction is much the same as her mother's. How could they both not remember a picture taken at their family's vacation spot in Maine? Dulcie is an artist with a big show coming up in the fall in Washington, D.C. She has decided to renovate the old family lake house and work on her paintings there. However, the lake and her almost five-year-old daughter make a dangerous combination, so Dulcie is hoping to take along her thirteen-year-old niece, Ali, as a babysitter. Ali's mother tries to put her foot down and says absolutely not, but she is outvoted and Ali packs her things for a summer at the lake. Arriving at the cabin during a typical Maine rainstorm doesn't dampen Ali's spirits. She's looking forward to playing and swimming with Emma in the lake and sort of being her own boss. Ali's mother has always been a bit overprotective, and her bizarre reaction to Ali spending the summer at the lake house just convinces Ali that her mother has a problem. How can a beautiful lake, a cozy cabin, and the great outdoors be a bad place to spend the summer? Ali also secretly hopes to uncover the mystery of the photo and the missing girl whose name might have begun with `T'. It doesn't take long for some strange things to begin happening. The most unnerving is the presence of a slim, young girl in a faded blue bathing suit who introduces herself to Ali and Emma. At first she appears to be a possible companion for the girls, but then she starts acting irritable and mean. She refuses to reveal her last name or where she lives, and she seems to be developing an unnatural hold on little Emma. Emma wants to do everything this strange girl named Sissy does, but at the same time Sissy treats Emma with cruelty. When Ali attempts to seek out more information about Sissy and the mysterious girl from her mother's and aunt's past, she is met with one obstacle after another. Could this rude little girl have some connection to the mystery of why her mother refuses to

Hahn is noted for her fine ghost stories with their unpredictable twists of plot

Just before summer Ali finds an old photo in the attic - one which contains a puzzling family member, who's been torn out of the picture. She'll have much opportunity to investigate during her summer in Maine in the house where her mother used to vacation - but an encounter with a moody girl next door and her mean spirit leads to an encounter with a spirit who drowned under mysterious circumstances when Ali's mother and aunt were kids. Hahn is noted for her fine ghost stories with their unpredictable twists of plot - this joins others as an outstanding read.

A sure hit for fans of ghost stories

Deep and Dark and Dangerous: A Ghost Story, by Mary Downing Hahn, pulled me in from my first glimpse of the cover, which shows a girl under water, her hair floating around her white face. And it did not disappoint. Deliciously creepy, this book reminded me of the Lois Duncan stories that I loved as an early teen (my favorite, and one I still re-read periodically, is Down A Dark Hall). 13-year-old Ali finds an photograph in one of her mother's old Nancy Drew books. The picture shows Ali's mother, Claire, and her mother's sister, Dulcie, outside of an old family cottage in Maine. A third girl has apparently been torn out of the photograph, leaving only an arm, a shoulder, and some strands of long hair. Her initial, according to the torn back of the photo, is T. When Ali asks her mother about the photo, however, Claire denies any knowledge of a girl whose name starts with T, or any memory of the photo. Claire retreats into her own emotional fragility, and gives Ali no information about the mysterious photo. Dulcie, however, soon appears on the scene, and invites Ali to spend the summer with her up at the old cottage, babysitting Ali's four-year-old daughter Emma. Ali jumps at the chance to get away from her over-protective mother, and stay with her beloved aunt and cousin. Besides, she's never been to the cottage, her mother having stopped visiting it as a child. Despite Claire's apparently irrational misgivings, Ali, Dulcie, and Emma head to Maine for the summer. Things start out idyllic, but soon Ali and Emma meet a mysterious little girl, Sissy, out on the shore of the lake. Sissy both fascinates and torments Emma, and creates conflict between Ali and Emma, and, indirectly, between Ali and Dulcie. Sissy hints at a tragedy that occurred in the lake thirty years earlier, the reason that Ali's mother and aunt have never been back to the cottage. A long-ago crime is brought to light. And that's when things start to get deep and dark and dangerous. This is a highly atmospheric story. Even when describing sunny days at the lake, Hahn never lets the storm clouds get far away. Certain creepy images recur through the story, most notably a bundle of bones below the surface of the lake, appearing in paintings by both Emma and Dulcie. Emma and Ali both have nightmares, and Ali is drenched by more than one storm, literally and metaphorically. Much of the book is about the relationships between Ali, Emma, and Dulcie, and the wrench that Sissy's presence throws into their peaceful existence. Dulcie, in particular, gradually morphs from cool, beloved aunt to a strained, unjustly snappish creature who reminds Ali of Claire. Hahn's expert hands keep things from ever getting too dark to bear, however. She alternates dangerous escapades with afternoons playing Candyland, and introduces a kindly neighbor to gives Ali some perspective. Hahn's writing is straightforward, creating strong impressions through nouns and verbs, without needing much description. He