Ten-year-old Harvey Swick is paralyzed by the doldrums of a gray February until a creature named Rictus beckons him to Holiday House. In this magical sanctuary, every morning is Spring, every afternoon is Summer, and every evening ends with Thanksgiving and Christmas. Harvey spends his days eating sweets and playing with other children, unaware that Mr. Hood, the invisible master of the house, feeds on their souls. For every day Harvey spends in bliss, an actual year passes in the outside world, stealing his life and turning his parents into elderly strangers. To escape, Harvey must outwit four ancient servants and confront the predatory illusions holding him captive.
Readers who enjoy dark fables and gothic horror find this book a cautionary tale about the cost of avoiding boredom. It serves those interested in how nostalgia can be used as a trap and how childhood resilience functions against ancient, supernatural malice. The reader walks away with a concrete understanding that time is a finite resource and that permanent pleasure is a form of stagnation. It provides a grim look at the dangers of trading reality for a convenient, manufactured paradise.
- Published
- 1992
- Language
- EN
