The Silent Scream (Nightmare Hall, #1) By Diane Hoh
High on a hillside overlooking Salem University, hidden in shadows and shrouded in silence, sits Nightingale Hall. Nightmare Hall, the students call it. Because that's where the terror began.
Jess is eager to start college--until she arrives at her off-campus dorm.
She can see why everyone calls it Nightmare Hall. Especially when she learns the dark secret hidden within the house.
A girl named Giselle hanged herself there. In Jess's room.
But was it really suicide?
Or was Giselle murdered?
Echoing through the house, Jess can still hear the sound of Giselle's last scream. . . The Silent Scream (Nightmare Hall, #1)
Diane Hoh ✓ 7 review
Silly and fun, just as I remember English My first Diane Hoh book did not disappoint.
I kept guessing the wrong killer - which was the point of course. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because the MC, Jess, frustrated me by not noticing the connected details sooner. Plus, her love interest was a gap-toothed hippie with gaslighting issues (“don’t pay attention to what’s in front of you” - basically). Otherwise I thought it was a fun read! English More like a 3.5
Entertaining and a pretty quick read. Kept me guessing and I'm glad to have revisited this series. Will definitely be continuing. English This was a really nostalgic read. It's been more than 10 years since I first read this and my feelings have clearly changed. I wasn't as intrigued or scared as before. I also think that the main character needs to rethink her life choices. However, the ending that this book gave made me realize why I did love reading this series. Heh 😏 It was just so... Sneaky. 😏😏😏 I love it. English I finally got around to reading the first book in the Nightmare Hall series after reading a few of the later ones first and I find it kind of funny how it is suppose to set up this whole series for things to come in the thriller/horror/supernatural plots.
So a girl named Giselle McKendrick is found by the house mother in her dorm room on the off-campus housing called Nightingale Hall...hanging from a light fixture of apparent suicide Her housemates eventually move out to other places and the building stands empty until nine months later when a new crop of Salem University freshmen show up.
We have three girls: Cath, Jess and Linda with three boys: Jon, Ian and Milo. There is also Mrs. Coates, the house mother, and a handyman named Trucker. The first day they are there Mrs. Coates has a bad fall and dislocates her hip so the kids are on their own with occasional visits from Mrs. Coates' friend to bring them care packages.
Things get spooky when Ian tells them that a girl died in the house and Jess is living in her old room. It only freaks her out a little bit but then Jess discovers the room is always cold that she can't even wear shorts and a t-shirt. It's when doors start to slam on their own, muddy footprints appear out of nowhere in the halls and the college kids' belongings start to vanish and become vandalized.
Jess believes it is Giselle from beyond the grave, haunting the house due to taking her own life. but pretty soon Jess thinks maybe it is Giselle trying to tell them...she was murdered instead.
We then go into trying to discover who really killed Giselle, pointing fingers, red herrings, good misdirection, a twist and then an ending where I was left confused. I won't spoil it but the conclusion doesn't really seem to set up why strange things happen at either the school or in this off-campus housing unit.
In any case, I thought The Silent Scream was good and might have given it 5 stars if the ending (not the payoff but the actual last chapter and pages) didn't leave me feeling a little perplexed. English
Jess Vogt arrives at her off-campus dorm which overlooks Salem University, eager to begin college. The dorm is old, dark, and dreary. Jess's room seems to have a cold draft and is always chilly. She finds out from her fellow residents at the dorm that a young and pretty student named Giselle had previously stayed in her room and committed suicide in it by hanging herself. This gives Jess the creeps. Strange things are also happening at the dorm---rooms are being broken into, doors slam and windows shatter for no reason... Jess is also getting clues that maybe Giselle didn't commit suicide and could possibly have been murdered. But by who? Jess can't see her fellow residents at the dorm doing anything like this. The more she investigates, the more she is convinced Giselle was murdered...
This was a fun old read from the 90's. It was meant for teens/young adults but I also enjoyed it. It was fast paced and provided a few chills. I really liked the creepy dorm setting. It had an interesting cast of characters. A very entertaining read. English In this first Nightmare Room book, a YA thriller by Diane Hoh and part of the Point Horror series, we have our main character Jess moving into a rental house along with some college roommates. She discovers that a previous college student apparently hung herself in the room she's staying in. Soon enough, evidence pops up that could prove otherwise. Will Jess figure out the truth behind this hushed-up suicide...?
I didn't much care for this book. It wasn't terrible - the writing was competent enough, the characters were okay... the story just never really grabbed me. It felt a bit one dimensional and only barely held my interest enough to finish the book. The love interests between the college students was pretty shallow and seemed tacked on. The mystery aspect never provided any true suspense or tension. It was just sort of a bland reading experience. Oh, and the climax of the story, the big reveal and the final kill... it was goofier than hell. It was the most WTF cause of death I've read in a book in a long time. If you don't care to read this book or have it spoiled, well, here you go:
So... yeah. I probably definitely won't be reading anymore books from the Nightmare Hall series. Again, not necessarily terrible, just not my cup of tea. I'll stick with Fear Street for some cheesy teenage slashing fun. English I remember having the first couple of books from this series as a teen, as I’m working my way through all the Point Horrors it was fun to revisit this one again.
It’s a great introduction that launches Nightmare Hall, as Jess moves into her new dorm room it really feels like the reader is joining the other students at college too.
Jess soon finds out that her room has a dark past as former student Giselle was found hanging from the light fixture.
Unsettling Jess is convinced that Giselle is trying to communicate with her, the strange girl in the photo booth picture was really creepy.
Did Giselle really commit suicide? It’s a good mystery that pays off, it’s a good start to the series.
The rest of the series is available on Amazon KindleUnlimited, it will be interesting to see how many more of these I can recall whilst I progress through them. English
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Just as many bodice ripper authors ended up publishing smutty versions of the Gothic and Regency romances they read as girls, all of my published books are basically smutty versions of the YA pulp I read growing up. Nightmare Hall, as well as the other Point Horror novels, are a huge part of the inspiration behind my Horroscape series, with each book highlighting a YA horror/thriller trope I loved (can you guess which ones? lol).
I remember reading THE SILENT SCREAM when I was a kid and thinking that I was reading some really good shit because this is one of the few books that actually had college-age characters instead of teen or middle grade ones, so it gave the books a really mature feeling that made them feel extra edgy.
In this book, a girl named Jess is starting her first year at college. She's living off-campus in a place called Nightingale Hall along with a bunch of other coeds: artistic Milo, low-key Ian, tightly-strung Cathy, athlete Linda, and the repair guy, Trucker.
Right away, you know this isn't going to be a chill year. The book opens with a pretty graphic description of the house mother finding out that one of her female residents hung herself. Then Jess finds out that she actually got the dead girl's room and weird things start happening. Objects turning up missing or destroyed, spooky letters, and all kinds of unexplainable creepiness.
And the question: Did Giselle, the dead girl, really take her own life?
Part of the fun of these vintage YA is the dated pop culture references. I loved seeing Tom Selleck and Kim Basinger referred to as sex symbols in this book. Also, the students at this school use typewriters and have to go to the school computer lab if they want to use a computer. The story also held up pretty well. I knew who the bad person was from the beginning, which took out some of the fun of trying to figure out whodunnit, but the mystery was well crafted and well written.
Looking forward to reading the rest of the series! I only ever read the first book!
3.5 stars English Well written YA retro novel exploring an unusual house with a group of opposites 'dorming' together. The villain wasn't a big surprise, but there were red herring finger pointing to misdirect. No bodies, but sabotage in the rooms, interesting personalities, a ghost, and it's an easy, quick read. English
