Billy Calder was dealt an unfortunate hand in life. An orphan, Billy was forced to get a job at age 15 simply because he wanted to prepare himself for getting out of the Home for Unfortunate Boys.
He is late to his first shift with Adam Colne, the night manager of the local Castle Prison. Though Billy had already has his training, he was not aware that he would become a night watchman. Someone had specifically asked for him during the evenings--Long Neck Netty. Colne warns him of the ghost prisoners, the ones who were executed for being witches or criminals, and how they terrorize the regular prisoners...and staff.
Billy is given a harsh warning to never enter the Witch Well. In it resides a monster unfathomable, in which Colne and Colne alone must feed, due to the danger of the witch. This warning is ignored when Colne is out sick, and the gateskeeper is too much of a coward to feed whatever is in there.
Fast paced and quick to read, this 98 page book is somewhat predictable as far as ghost stories go.The illustrations add to the story by showing the spooky atmosphere of this 17th century England world. Some of the illustrations don't fit the description of the characters (our protagonist is described as having curly hair, when is definitely sporting a Bieber hair-do), but they overall add much more meat to this otherwise tiny story.
This book also contains chapters. I really, honestly, could not tell you why. It seems like it should just be one tiny, long book, and that would be okay. The suggested age range for readers of this book is 12-16 years old, but I honestly think it's just for the subject matter alone. There is a gruesome scene that not even I was expecting! It's written at the level of a third or fourth grade student.
All in all, The Ghost Prison is a quick, fun spooky read, with the biggest twist happening at the end. Maybe save it for October, and ease on in to the spooky books for Halloween.
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