''The Girl Next Door'' is a 1989 horror

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

by American writer

Jack Ketchum Dallas William Mayr (November 10, 1946 – January 24, 2018), better known by his pen name Jack Ketchum, was an American horror fiction author. He was the recipient of four Bram Stoker Awards and three further nominations. His novels inclu ...

. It is loosely based on the 1965

murder of Sylvia Likens Sylvia Marie Likens (January 3, 1949 – October 26, 1965) was an American teenager who was tortured and murdered by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski, many of Baniszewski's children, and several of their neighborhood friends. This abuse in ...

. In 2007, it was adapted into the film '' The Girl Next Door''.

Premise

Two teenage girls are left in the care of their aunt, and they suffer systematic and escalating abuse at the hands of their aunt and her children.

Synopsis

The story takes place in 1950s

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and is told in flashback form by the narrator, David. Ruth, a single mother and an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

(amongst other things) has three sons: Willie, Donny, and Ralph. Ruth has gained the trust of the neighborhood children by allowing them to come freely into her home, play as rough as they wish, and even drink an occasional beer with her. Her nieces are Meg, a teen girl for whom David develops feelings and Susan, a young girl who was severely injured in a car accident and still experiences complications from it. Both come to live with their aunt after the sudden death of their parents. At first, all seems well. However, Ruth's mental state has been deteriorating over time, and the burden of having two more children to care for seems to accelerate her descent into madness. Ruth begins verbally abusing Meg. After an incident where Meg hits Ralphie when he touches her breast, Ruth beats Susan for "being in connivance" with Meg. When Meg tries to tell a police officer about the abuse, Ruth locks her in their

bomb shelter A bomb shelter is a structure designed to provide protection against the effects of a bomb. Types of shelter Different kinds of bomb shelters are configured to protect against different kinds of attack and strengths of hostile explosives. Air ...

, allows her boys to strip her, then leaves her bound and gagged all night. She starves her and allows the other children to burn her, beat her, and even

urinate Urination, also known as micturition, is the release of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. It is the urinary system's form of excretion. It is also known medically as micturition, voiding, uresis, ...

in Meg's face over the course of months, making them feel that because they have the permission of an adult, their actions are okay. David realizes that he must do something before he loses the first girl he has ever loved. Despite his efforts, his plan to rescue Meg is foiled when Meg tries to bring Susan with her and Ruth catches them. As punishment, Ruth allows her son Donny to

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

Meg. Willie also wants to rape her, but Ruth refuses to let him, saying it is

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...

for him to do so after his brother. Eventually, under the suggestion of Ralph, Ruth carves the words "I FUCK / FUCK ME" into Meg's stomach. She then decides she will end all sexual desire on Meg's part and gives her a

clitorectomy Clitoridectomy or clitorectomy is the surgical removal, reduction, or partial removal of the clitoris. It is rarely used as a therapeutic medical procedure, such as when cancer has developed in or spread to the clitoris. It is often performed on ...

. After one final act of torture, Meg dies, causing Ruth and her children to triumph over getting rid of her. With Meg dead, Susan now becomes Ruth's family servant and must work in her residence to please her family's most precious desires. However, it isn't long before the police arrive to rescue Susan and arrest Ruth and her family for Meg's murder. David sees Ruth wearing Meg's mother's wedding band. Remembering a promise to get it back to Meg, he vengefully pushes Ruth down the stairs, killing her. The officer realizes David did this intentionally, but, knowing how evil Ruth was, the officer claims the fall as nothing more than an act of

justifiable homicide The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law is a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide). Generally, there is a burden of production of exculpatory evidence in the legal defense of justification. In most countri ...

, and David is pardoned. As David grows up, he uncovers the whereabouts of some of the other children who helped to torture Meg. After reading of a brutal crime spree perpetuated by one of the now-grown children of Ruth, David is left to wonder what has become of the children that he was unable to track down.

Film adaptation

A feature film based on Ketchum's novel was released in 2007. Entitled '' The Girl Next Door'', the film stars

Blanche Baker Blanche Baker (born December 20, 1956) is an American actress and filmmaker. She won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the television mini-series ''Holocaust''. Baker is known for her role as Ginny Baker in ''Sixteen Can ...

Blythe Auffarth Blythe Auffarth (born April 23, 1985, in Pleasant Valley, New York Pleasant Valley is a town in Dutchess County, within the Hudson Valley of New York, United States. The population was 9,799 at the 2020 census. The town is centrally located i ...

William Atherton William Atherton Knight (born July 30, 1947) is an American actor, best known for portraying Richard Thornburg in ''Die Hard'' and its sequel and Walter Peck in ''Ghostbusters''. Early life Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son ...

, and Daniel Manche. It was directed by Gregory Wilson from a screenplay by Daniel Farrands and Philip Nutman. After a successful series of screenings at film festivals around the world, the film was released by

Starz Home Entertainment Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television ser ...

on December 4, 2007.

External links

''The Girl Next Door'' film official websiteJack Ketchum Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Girl Next Door, The American crime novels 1989 American novels American novels adapted into films Novels by Jack Ketchum American horror novels Fiction set in the 1950s Novels about rape Leisure Books books Novels based on actual events