Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

Follow the Author

Jack Ketchum

The Girl Next Door Paperback – 1 November 1989

by Jack Ketchum (Author)

954 ratings

See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Amazon Price

New from

Used from

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$68.24

$58.31

—

Paperback

"Please retry"

$22.75

$17.09

—

Audio CD, Audiobook, CD

"Please retry"

$57.35

—

Special offers and product promotions

Buy this item and get 90 days Free Amazon Music Unlimited. After purchase you will receive an email with further information. Offer valid for a limited time only. Terms and Conditions apply.” Learn more here.

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

David Foster Wallace
2,358
Paperback
$22.75
Alma Katsu
1,166
Paperback
$16.19

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Product details

Publisher : Grand Central Pub (1 November 1989)
Language : English
ISBN-10 : 0446349097
ISBN-13 : 978-0446349093

Customer Reviews:
954 ratings

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Customer reviews

5 star		62%
4 star		20%
3 star		10%
2 star		3%
1 star		5%

How are ratings calculated?

Review this product

Write a customer review

Top review from Australia

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

S G T

Think your childhood was bad. At least you survived yours

Reviewed in Australia on 3 April 2018

Verified Purchase

(Spoiler alert) Sadly based on a real case history. Think your childhood was bad. At least you survived yours.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

salemskye.com

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 March 2018

Verified Purchase

ack Ketchum died recently and his death reminded me of the one book of his that I read some time ago, Off Season. I remember thinking it was good but really graphically gory and violent. In need of some real horror (I get desensitised with all the horror I watch) I thought I would pick up his most infamous, The Girl Next Door. I expected it to be violent and graphic but it really went above and beyond. David lives next door to his best friends Donny and Woofer. Their mum Ruth is laidback, cool and lets the boys have beers. When Meg and Susan, recently orphaned, move in with their Aunt Ruth, David falls in love with Meg. Susan is a cripple and Meg cares for her sister a great deal.

Ruth begins to feel threatened by Meg's beauty and youth. She used to have the neighbourhood boys wrapped around her finger, little toys for her to use to make herself feel wanted and powerful, but now all of that is slipping from her grasp. She struggles with aging and alcohol. And she blames Meg for all of this. At first she begins to punish Meg in small ways, calling her a whore, slapping her occasionally. When the abuse ramps up to feed Ruth's insatiable need to punish for her own failings and disappointments, Ruth uses Meg's love for her sister to forced her compliance. Before you know what's happening, Meg is strung up in the basement where Donny and Woofer, David and various other visiting teenagers are allowed to abuse Meg in some of the most vile and horrific ways. As Meg sinks deeper into the humilation and pain, Ruth sinks deeper into alcoholism and depression and they are both stuck in the situation. Only, it's just Ruth who is enjoying it. David, at first has twinges of guilt but his teenage fantasy and obsession with Meg sort of manipulates him into joining in for a while before he has an awakening and tries to help.

This was a deeply uncomfortable read. Deeply uncomfortable. Horror at its finest is when the events are easily imaginable. There is no boogeyman, no ghost, no supernatural stalker - just a screwed up mother with screwed up kids. It does state on the back of the book, that it is based on a true story, and yes, I am pretty sure these things happen, but bloody hell, it's extremely uncomfortable to read. At one point I wondered if I would actually get to sleep after reading.

So, difficult to sum up. As a horror story it is hugely successful; it is horrific, scary and affects you as a reader on a visceral level. Did I enjoy it? Golly, I don't know. So, you have been warned.

14 people found this helpful

Bristol Book Blogger 📚📖📓

Very well-written and gripping

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 March 2020

Verified Purchase

I only remembered watching the film adaptation midway through reading the book, which I found much better as it allows you to use your imagination. For it's uniqueness and the fact it's one of the first novels based on a true crime story (aside from Natural Born killers) I saw as a teen, it's narrated by a boy who is able to tell the reader what is happening from a third-person perspective, and therefore prevents the material from appearing too graphic. It's certainly not gratuitous, and is handled sensitively, while retaining realism. It's described as like watching a car crash, continuing to read as if you have one eye shut to the words and I consider this a very apt description.

4 people found this helpful

Georgia Lomas

Utterly heartbreaking

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 February 2020

Verified Purchase

I haven't been very well this month so I haven't had the energy or motivation to pick up a single book.. That is until my dad started telling me about a young girl called Sylvia Likens who tragically died in Indiana US in 1965 after being brutally tortured to the point of her death by a woman called Gertrude who was taking care of her and her sister, Gertrude's children and shockingly some of the neighbourhood kids. I then went researching and found that there was a book written based on this story and low and behold, I already had it in my wishlist so I picked bought it straight away and read it in 2 hours.

This book tells Sylvia's tale from the perspective of a next door neighbour, the names are changed and there are quite a few differences but my goodness, what an emotional, impactful book! I don't cry often at books but this one got me. Well, the original story left me absolutely gobsmacked and this book was just the cherry on the cake.

I will say that this book is gruesome! Gruesome and graphic and it's not for the faint hearted, I can see why some people may feel uncomfortable reading it, but I really loved this book all the same, it completely captures what this poor girl went through and even then I think the author stepped back a notch whilst writing.

Again i really loved this book and devoured it in 2.5 hours, It's definitely a twist on anything I've read before and although sad it's definitely one I'll keep close to my heart from now on

Plenty of trigger warnings in this book including graphic child abuse, rape etc

2 people found this helpful

Mike N

A book nobody could "love", but worthy of 5 stars nonetheless

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 February 2018

Verified Purchase

First off, though 5 stars means "I love it" according to Amazon, this is not a book you can love.

Reading it is a harrowing experience, made all the worse by the fact that it is a fictionalised version of true events. Not only that, but that some of those events were left out by the author as he thought they were too much.

** Spoilers follow ** (Sorry, I usually avoid these in a review, but I'm not sure it's possible to write this review without them)

Our narrator is a young boy living in a cul-de-sac, where all the kids know each other, and a pair of sisters move in with the family next door (their aunt) when their parents die. The girls - one in particular - is then tormented and abused by the aunt, her children, and the other kids in the neighbourhood. Including our young narrator, Davy.

The abuse gets worse and worse as the book progresses, and Davy vacillates between feeling excited and disgusted with everything. The book is essentially about his internal struggle to deal with events no child (or indeed person) should ever have to deal with.

So, is the book deserving of 5 stars. Absolutely. It is extremely well-written, and as such, extremely traumatic to read. Is it a book you will love? Probably not. Should you read it? Well, if you have any doubt there are evil people in the world, then yes, read it and understand that this is a toned-down version of what happened. If you are the victim of abuse yourself, I would imagine you want to stay well away from this.

One person found this helpful

Diane Coe

This Just Didn't Deliver It For Me!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 February 2017

Verified Purchase

I researched this book well and read lots of reviews before purchasing it....I hyped myself up for a horrendous read...but I'm afraid it just didn't deliver it for me! the first 75% of the book I found rather boring,there was some nasty bits but nothing that I haven't come across before(I'm a addictive crime/true horror/gore etc addict!!) The last couple of chapters made me wince a little and I did feel sorry for Meg and Susan.... But I don't understand why some people wanted to throw the book in the bin or couldn't finish it...maybe they haven't read some of the books in my gruesome collection? I've just ordered The Basement By Kate Millett as I want to read another account of this story!Some might call me strange but I enjoy reading these kind of books.It's well worth the read if you want to get to know the story from Jack Ketchum's point of view,but I'm sure there are much better accounts of this story/crime out there.

2 people found this helpful

See all reviews

Follow the Author

Similar authors to follow

The Girl Next Door Paperback – 1 November 1989

Special offers and product promotions

Customers who bought this item also bought

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Product details

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Customer reviews

Review this product

Top review from Australia

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries