Ghost Prison

By Joseph Delaney

Once I felt someone touch the back of my neck. It felt like the tip of an ice-cold finger. But when I turned to look there was nobody there.

Night falls, the moon rises, and fifteen-year-old Billy starts his first night as a prison guard. But this is no ordinary prison. There are haunted cells that can't be used, whispers and cries in the night...and the dreaded Witch Well. Billy is warned to stay away from the prisoner down in the Witch Well. But what prison could be so frightening? Billy is about to find out...

Praise of Joseph Delaney:

"Delaney's mastery of suspense will grip even reluctant readers with his dramatic, beautifully paced proses."—The Times (London)

"The Last Apprentice series continues to be one of the best written of the last several years."—Booklist

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: Oct 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781402293191

Joseph Delaney

Joseph DELANEY is the author of the internationally best-selling The Last Apprentice series, which is now a major motion picture, Seventh Son. He is a former English teacher who lives in the heart of boggart territory in Lancashire, England. His village has a boggart called the Hall Knocker, which was laid to rest under the step of a house near the church.

Book preview

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Reviews for Ghost Prison

[lillibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars for this novella that, just short of 100 pages, reminds me of a Victorian style Goosebumps. A creepy tale of a haunted prison that will surely please all the fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. What's most frightening here, though, are the fantastic black and white illustrations that alone are enough to give one the heebie jeebies. Also of note are the author's and illustrator's comments at the end where they describe their own real life ghostly encounters. Jinkies!

[pussreboots · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The Ghost Prison by Joseph Delaney is a first person account of a night guard at a prison. Billy's job is to help feed a prisoner who is more monster than person, and to keep watch on the ghosts of prisoners who have died while serving their sentences.This is a very short book and heavily illustrated. It's really more like a short story repurposed as a tween horror because the main character fits into the age group. As introduction to the horror short story genre, it's an acceptable stepping stone to the likes of Poe, Lovecraft, or du Maurier — if it were taken as part of a larger collection.But as a standalone it lacks punch beyond what Scott M. Fisher's dark and moody illustrations bring. The surprise ending is anything but. It's drawn from the same sort of story telling of the summer campfire, lacking even the twists and turns of an R.L. Stine book.

[michelleannlib · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is quite a tale. It feels like a story that is best told around a campfire. The book is definitely not for the faint of heart.

[krau0098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got this book as a gift for Christmas. I am a big fan of Delaney’s Last Apprentice series and was excited to read this novella. It was a well done novella very spooky and ironic.Billy is leaving the orphanage to start a job as an overnight Prison Guard. Everything goes pretty well. He adjusts to the creepy noises and ghosts, that is until a plague kills the senior guard and Billy has to take over feeding the mysterious beast in the Witch Well.This is a very creepy, spooky, and darkly funny young adult novella set in the same world as The Last Apprentice but with different characters. Billy is a practical character and is grateful for the work he is doing. He tries to do things by the book, but everything goes bad when a big portion of the population dies of a plague. The Billy is alone on the night shift and has to deal with the creature in the Witch Well by himself. The creature in the Witch Well must be fed, if it’s not the consequences could be grave. But what is the creature in the Witch Well and what will happen to Billy when he goes in there?The story is very engaging and I was surprised out how attached I was to Billy and how involved I was in the story by the end. This is a super quick read, but I didn’t put the book down once because I had to know what was in that Witch Well…I enjoyed the story a lot and loved the illustrations throughout. The story wraps up in a way that is darkly humorous and creepy all at the same time.Overall I definitely recommend this for fans of creepy historical horror and ghosts. The novella will be too scary for younger children but middle grade and older will enjoy the creepiness, the excellent illustrations, and the dark humor.

[teamdewey · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Good for lower reading level of Teens