The Haunting of Marshall Heights
The Haunting of Marshall Heights
By Amy Cross
The Sexton’s musings (spoilers are likely):
This is set up in parts with chapters within the parts. There are no specific characters that are speaking here. It's told in third party style which is pretty standard. Right from the very beginning there is very little easing-in time. The prologue is rough. It closes with a head on collision between two trains. One not moving and the other moving very fast. It's insane. Not to mention that we are already seeing a ghost with grizzly history based on what happens. So if you are a fan of horror then we are off to a good start.
Megan Booth (sister of Rose)
Megan is actually the older of the two sisters yet she seems the more immature to me. I suppose she is just more quiet than her sister Rose. I think she is a character that people can probably relate to as she is not over the top. Though she comes through when it's most important. She disobeys the “don't open the door at 3am” rule; however, the person telling her these rules turns out to be using this rule to his advantage so her gut is not steering her wrong. I think her connection with Jennifer steers her in the right direction. When she goes to the police, I got so angry at them! Fucking horror story cops are the worst. In this case it is pride that is allowing more and more people to die in Marshall Heights. I was surprised where she landed at the end of the story. It's an interesting course of events.
Rose Booth (Sister of Megan)
Rose is fierce, when it comes to her sister. She did not seem all that concerned about her Aunt, but her sister she knows well. I like rose with the exception of her skepticism. In fact, both she and Megan seem to have that problem. Even when it's staring them in the face. Literally! Jennifer continues to bang on her door at 3am and Megan cannot seem to come to terms with the fact that this is not a living person. The same happens with Rose, when she hears fighting coming from one of the lower units. She does not hesitate to go bang on their door. Even though she has been told that there is no one living there, she still thinks that the person who answers is living. In the end, Rose saves both her sister and Beth despite being injured. You see, she is the body that Ellis Hathaway has chosen to inhabit. Now, I could make a joke here but I chose to not trigger anyone today (wink wink). Here is one thing that confuses me about the fate of this character. She does get hurt during the fight with Ellis and Michael. She gets stabbed pretty badly in the leg. This said, she makes it out of the complex. Then during the last chapter we find Megan and Rose in the hospital. Later, it sounds like Rose has become a ghost. Like she was only able to be there because it was close to 3am. Cross also eludes to the fact that the hospital is another location where the veil is thin. This made me think that perhaps Rose did not survive her injury. Any thoughts on that Ghoulies?
Charmian Bell (Mother of Beth)
There is never any question that Beth is her world and I completely understand why she is doing what she is doing. She is just not taking care of herself which is not helpful to their situation. To the outside world though, it's child abuse. The outside world is skeptical, closed minded, and cruel because in this case abuse is not the reality. She is saving her. I think her loss is tragic! I will say, however that she dies saving Beth which I suspect is the way she would want it. The unfortuante part is that she is also leaving her alone which puts her in danger. Luckily Beth is a smart kid and ends up with someone to help her in the end.
Beth Bell (Daughter of Charmaine)
A smart kid who is living in a bad situation. Her father was killed in an accident and her mother, while a wonderful mother, is falling apart herself. Beth plays with a friend named Tony. We find out later that Tony is a ghost and when the all of the shit is getting ready to hit the fan he tells her that she is also dead. Turns out that she is not, but he is trying to get her to kill herself so that they can play forever. The little shit! It's very sad that she loses her mother but she is not alone. She still has her grandparents.
Michael Powers (Marshall Heights Manager)
Yeah this dude...at first I liked him. I thought he was a little awkward but working alone in a huge apartment complex can do that to a person. Unfortunately, it turns out he is obsessed with Ellis Hathaway. He wants to follow in his footsteps. He is trying to bring him back so that he can learn from him. Learn how he managed not to get caught for such a long time. Honestly, jokes on him because it was nothing more than police incompetence and corruption. Sorry dude no magic bean to be found here. He is a two faced shithead and completely off his nut! Very manipulative. As management of this kind of facility goes he needs to go. He killed all the people who were paying rent. If I were the property owner I'd have a shit-fit! Don't kill the hands that pay you!
Jennifer Hathaway (our main ghost)
Even though she is frightened, she fights her demon and wins. At first I thought she was the going to be the antagonist, but it turns out to not be the case. Unfortunately the win does not last long and she throws herself in front of a train. Her demise has an interesting description. I can almost see it happening. There are some obnoxious parts involving her because all she can seem to focus on is that she can feel her father pushing on the barrier. That he is almost free. She does end up coming through in the end but up to that point she has a hard time letting go of that long enough to help prior. Honestly, I don't know what took her so long to get rid of him. She knew what he was doing. She could have saved many lives. This said, I also understand that she was also a victim of his as well. Lucky for her, he completely underestimates her. She enacts a great plan to get rid of him.
Ben (friend of Rose, physics guy involving the paranormal)
I kinda like this guy. He seems to know what he is talking about and he has research to back him up. At least to a certain degree. I mean we are talking about theoretical physics here so everything is hypothetical but it's really interesting. Plus the paranormal is really all physics. This guy is the person you want to have with you during an investigation. He also seems to give decent advice that Rose does not listen to, but it's still good advice. He does not play a huge role but he's part of the story for a reason.
Ellis Hathaway (bad ghost, father to Jennifer, serial killer)
We don't really see much of this dude until the very end when he finally makes it through the barrier. It is interesting that he flew under the radar for so long while he was alive. Who knows how many people this guy killed and the reason he was never known was because the head of the police force fucked up and hushed the fact that he made a mistake. In fact the police act like Marshall heights does not even exist. I really hope he gets his ass handed to him. I hope he get sued and jailed. Ellis sounds most intimidating until you read the section where he was killed by Jennifer. There, he just sounds like a pathetic drunk. I do think that is the cops had done a thorough, detailed, and serious investigation he would have been found out. Unfortunately hubris wins here.
Closing thoughts:
The moment that incited my anger the most was the police. I did enjoy when Rose let the one guy have it. She shut him up really fast. He had no comeback other than her needing to leave. It was most amusing. The betrayal of Michael was some what upsetting however when you look back at the things he was saying and doing you can see that there was more to him than the awkward apartment manager.
Over all a good story. There is very little gore and very little cussing (you know if that kind of thing upsets you). I think this is once that almost anyone could enjoy. The twists are pretty good and not overly predictable. Worth a read.
