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''Down a Dark Hall'' is a 1974 young adult
gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
by
Lois Duncan Lois Duncan Steinmetz (April 28, 1934 – June 15, 2016), known as Lois Duncan, was an American writer, novelist, poet, and journalist. She is best known for her young-adult novels, and has been credited by historians as a pioneering figure in th ...
. The book follows Kit Gordy, who is sent to a
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
where only four students are admitted including herself. The students suddenly develop new talents, with Kit waking up one night playing a musical piece she has never heard. After they are told that they have been channeling the spirits of talented historical figures, Kit tries to escape the school before the bond between the spirits and the students becomes permanent. Duncan began working on the novel based on the suggestion of an editor who had never seen a gothic novel written for young adults. One version of the novel that she submitted to the publisher was returned to her for revision because all the victims in the story were female whereas all the spirits they were channeling were male. The publisher was worried that feminists would not like this idea, so after Duncan made one of the spirits a woman the book was accepted for publication. A revised edition of the novel was released in 2011 with updates to modernize the novel. Critical reception to the book was mostly positive, with staff at the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
adding the novel to their Books for Young Adults list. A film adaptation of the book starring
AnnaSophia Robb AnnaSophia Robb (born December 8, 1993) is an American actress, model, and singer. She began as a child actress on television, making her leading debut as the titular role in '' Samantha: An American Girl Holiday'' (2004). She made her feature ...
and
Uma Thurman Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress and former model. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 an ...
was released in 2018.


Plot

Kit Gordy is forced to go to a boarding school in
Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
named the Blackwood School for Girls. She arrives at her home for the school year with her new stepfather and her mother, who are ready to go on their honeymoon. Madame Duret is in charge of the school, having previously run schools in France and England before moving to the United States to open Blackwood. The girls at the school begin to discover new talents, which manifest most prominently as they sleep. Lynda, who exhibited no artistic ability before attending the school, begins to paint landscapes on a professional level, signing them "T.C." Ruth finds herself able to practice high-level math and science. Sandy, Kit's closest friend at Blackwood, writes
sonnets A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...
she says were dictated to her by a woman named Ellis. One night, Kit wakes up at the school's piano playing a piece she has never heard as Jules, Madame Duret's son and Blackwood's music teacher, records her. Kit demands to know what is happening at the school and why the students suddenly possess these new skills. A conference with all the students and teachers is quickly arranged so that Kit and the other students can hear the answers to these questions. Madame Duret explains that she is using the girls to channel the spirits of talented individuals from the past so that they can carry out the work they could not finish before their death. She confirms Ruth's suspicion that
Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...
under her pen name Ellis Bell has been contacting Sandy. Kit also realizes that Lynda must be channeling
Thomas Cole Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for his romantic landscape and history paintin ...
, whose painting she saw in Madame Duret's office. Several days later, the girls discover that many of their letters to their friends and family have been withheld from them. Kit and Sandy also determine that if they do not leave Blackwood before Christmas vacation, the psychic bonds will become permanent and they will never be free from the harassment of the dead. In an effort to escape the school, Kit slips a letter to Blackwood's former cook and tells her to get it to Tracy Rosenblum, Kit's best friend. The lights go out during a thunderstorm one night, so Kit sneaks off to Madame Duret's office to call for help. However, the phone line is dead and Jules quickly finds her in the office after Madame Duret sends him out to search for her. Kit convinces him to access Madam Duret's files so they can see what happened to her previous students. Jules looks through the files and discovers that out of the twenty girls at her previous schools, four died and the rest were sent to mental institutions. He finally agrees to help the girls escape. Jules and Kit confront Madame Duret with their findings as Sandy and Ruth look on. Sandy and Ruth throw work they completed into the lit fireplace, angering the spirits and causing the fire to quickly spread across the house. Once they make it safely outside, they realize that they left Lynda in her bedroom. Kit goes back to save her, while Ruth and Sandy throw rocks at her window to get Lynda's attention. Kit convinces Lynda to jump to safety from outside her locked door, but soon realizes that she is trapped in the burning house. An apparition of Kit's father, who died in a car accident when she was little, leads her out of the house. Tracy's family is waiting outside to take her home, having received a phone call from the ex chef that she was being held against her will.


Background and publication history

''Down a Dark Hall'' was originally published on September 26, 1974 by
Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...
in hardcover. Duncan began writing the book after an editor, who had never seen a
gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
aimed at young adults, suggested she try coming up with one. ''Down a Dark Hall'' is the only gothic novel that Duncan ever wrote. A challenge that she had while writing the book was creating new descriptions for Blackwood's upstairs hallway each time Kit used it to walk to and from her room. She dealt with this problem by describing Kit's journey across the hall at various times in the day. Duncan modeled Kit after her daughter Kerry. One version of the novel she submitted to the publisher was returned to her for revision because all of the victims in the story were female while all the spirits the students were channeling were male. The publisher was concerned that feminists would have a problem with this idea, so Duncan changed the spirit of the dead poet from
Alan Seeger Alan Seeger (22 June 1888 – 4 July 1916) was an American war poet who fought and died in World War I during the Battle of the Somme, serving in the French Foreign Legion. Seeger was the brother of Charles Seeger, a noted American pacifist ...
to
Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...
, after which the book was accepted for publication. For a scene in the novel which discussed how Madame Duret aged a painting, Duncan consulted her artist friend Betty Sabo, who explained how the process works and reviewed her manuscript to make sure she described it correctly. ''Down a Dark Hall'' is dedicated to Betty Sabo and her husband Dan Sabo. On April 19, 2011, a revised version of the novel was released with changes to modernize the content. ''Down a Dark Hall'', along with ''
Stranger with My Face ''Stranger with My Face'' is a young adult horror novel by Lois Duncan, first published in 1981. The novel is about Laurie Stratton, who is seen by others in places she knows she could not be. She discovers that she has an identical sister named ...
'' and '' Summer of Fear'', was the second group of 10 novels by Duncan to be updated. Duncan introduced cell phones in the revised edition, which presented a challenge because it meant that characters could just call for help. To explain away the cell phone, Duncan writes in the story that the school had no cell phone service. Duncan also changed the last name of Kit's mother and stepfather from Rheardon to Rolland because she felt that she had overused the surname Rheardon while updating some of her young adult novels. An audiobook version of the novel was released by
Listening Library Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase of ...
in 1985, and another, narrated by Emma Galvin, was released by Hachette Audio in 2011. A reviewer from ''AudioFile'' liked Galvin's narration, stating that she "eerily portrays the sinister school, staff, and faculty, as well as the terror of the students as events become more and more mysterious."


Major themes

Cosette Kies states in ''Presenting Lois Duncan'' that ''Down a Dark Hall'' is about loss of personal identity and possession. Deborah Wilson Overstreet, writing in ''
The ALAN Review ALAN, The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents is a teachers organization in the United States, an independent assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Founded in November 1973, ALAN is made up of teachers, authors, libraria ...
'', says that the book explores the importance of taking responsibility for one's own self. In the novel, Kit demonstrates responsibility by actively being involved in her escape from Blackwood and helping the other students escape.


Reception

Staff at the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
included the book in their 1975 Books for Young Adults list, which represents the popular reading choices of the
junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...
and
senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...
high school students they surveyed in Iowa. Gloria Levitas from ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' thought that Duncan's "off hand treatment" towards Kit's romantic feelings let her focus on the character's intelligence and rationality. She felt that the "result is highly original; a gothic novel that is more a commentary on the dangers of education than on the perils of unrequited love." A reviewer from ''
Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
'' stated that Duncan is able to portray frightening ghosts in the story without focusing too much on their distinguishing features. In a review of the 2011 revised edition, ''
Tor.com ''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction. From 20 ...
''s
Mari Ness Mari Ness (born ) is an American poet, author, and critic. She has multiple publications in various science fiction and fantasy magazines and anthologies. Her work has been published in ''Apex Magazine'', '' Clarkesworld'', '' Daily Science Fictio ...
thought that updating the novel to the 21st century created problems with the book. She felt that it did not make sense that a school that states it provides advanced science lessons has no Internet access and said Kit's mother could have researched the school and its teachers online before sending her daughter there.


Film adaptation

Stephenie Meyer optioned ''Down a Dark Hall'' for film in April 2012.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began in October 2016 in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
and ended in December 2016. Filming took place over four weeks in Barcelona and two weeks in the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
. It was released on August 17, 2018 with a
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in theaters and a digital release through
video-on-demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
. The film grossed $2.71 million during its theatrical run. The film was directed by
Rodrigo Cortés Rodrigo Cortés Giráldez (born 31 May 1973) is a Spanish film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, writer and occasional actor. He is best known for directing the 2010 psychological thriller '' Buried''. Early life Rodrigo Cortés was born ...
and the screenplay was written by
Chris Sparling Chris Sparling (born March 21, 1977) is an American filmmaker from Providence, Rhode Island. Career Upon graduating from Roger Williams University and Bridgewater State University with degrees in Criminal Justice, and after writing, directing, ...
and Michael Goldbach. It stars
AnnaSophia Robb AnnaSophia Robb (born December 8, 1993) is an American actress, model, and singer. She began as a child actress on television, making her leading debut as the titular role in '' Samantha: An American Girl Holiday'' (2004). She made her feature ...
as Kit Gordy and
Uma Thurman Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress and former model. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 an ...
as Madame Duret. On review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 50% based on 26 reviews, with the site's critics consensus reading: "''Down a Dark Hall'' is more stylish than scary, although its foreboding atmosphere may raise a few goosebumps among younger viewers."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Down A Dark Hall 1974 American novels American young adult novels Paranormal novels American gothic novels Novels by Lois Duncan American novels adapted into films Little, Brown and Company books