Lois Duncan is know as a best seller in Novel books. She has been writing since she was

twenty years of age. Lois has forty best-selling books for young people and adults. She

has one a high acclaim and was chosen by the American Library Association to receive “

Best Books For Young Adults Award”. Among her many stories, eleven have been most

popular suspense stories for young people. Her personal favorite story of

is a Non-Fiction story on her own daughters murder called “ Who Killed My Daughter”.



Down A Dark Hall by Lois Duncan is a story that takes place in a boarding school

in upper New York, during the 1970’s. Kit , a fourteen-year-old girl has to go away to a

boarding school called "Blackwood School for Girls." At first, she was looking forward

to it and she was sure her best friend Tracy would be there with her. But it ended up her

best friend didn’t pass the test to get into the school. She begged her Mom and Dan (her

new stepfather) not to make her go. There was no way to get out of Blackwood so she

was forced to go.

Kit didn’t want stay in Blackwood because she thought the place was strange and

also felt the school was haunted. Kit also had unknown psychic powers. Blackwood had

only one phone which was locked up. After talking to her parents, she realized that the

letters she wrote didn’t get sent to them. They got only the letters that showed nothing

was wrong with Blackwood.

Kit was walking down the stairs and by the mirror she saw an image. It was a

ghost. She started screaming at the top of her lungs. After that incident, she wrote a note

to her friend Tracy, and put it in Natalie, the Kitchen Helper’s, pocket and asked her for

help. The students faced the ghosts that possessed them by putting their school papers

that they were forced to write in the fireplace. Then the ghosts were released which

started a fire in the school. All the girls got out except one, Lyndah. Kit rescued her in the

nick of time but the school was burned to the ground. Kit never encountered spirits again

and she left her psychic powers behind.

This story is full of major characters. Kit is the Protagonist and her real name is

Kathryn Gordy. Kit’s best friend Tracy Rosenblum did not get accepted but kept in touch

with her by the mail. Kit lives with her mother and now her stepfather, Dan Rheardon. At

Blackwood , Kit met her 3 fellow students who’s names were Sandra Mason, Lyndah

Hannah and Ruth Stark. Sandra is considered a second Protagonist and is a very dynamic

character along with Ruth. Lyndah is a static character and remained static until the

Denouement when she answered the other girls and got out. Jules, Madams son who kit

has a crush on, is a music teacher and helped get the girls out of Blackwood disobeying

his mothers orders. The Antagonists of the story were Professor Farley and Madame

Duret because they knew of all danger in Blackwood.

The theme for this book is " Don’t Give Into Peer Pressure." For example, her

parents made her go to Blackwood or how the ghosts possessed their bodies. I thought

this book was very interesting! I would recommend it to people who like mysteries and

believe in the "super natural."

My personal opinion of this book was that it was very interesting and coming

from me, a person who hates to read, I give it an A! This story had more twists and turns

than a rollercoaster and at not at one point did it get boring. Lois Duncan’s choice for a

setting for the story gave it the perfect mood for erie imagery. From the Exposition until

the Denouement, DOWN A DARK HALL was truly a great book!

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