Description:

> "It's something of a Romeo and Juliet story. There was a young couple in Salem, long ago . . . And the girl's mother, she hated the boy. When the witch-hunting began, mother, daughter, and suitor all ended up at the Blackthorne hanging."

Now, ages later, in the cold, dark heart of the Victorian era—an age of black clothes and black moods—one train is bound for Blackthorne, near Salem, where a winter carnival awaits. The cars are full of the promise of fireworks, sleigh rides, and skating. But for Tess and Tobias Goodraven, this train will take them to a place much darker than they imagined.

Even a seasoned pair of ghost hunters like Tess and Tobias didn't expect a witch like Old Mother Malgore—a witch who stalks the forests, silent as snowfall, hunting, hungering. When the train derails and the casualties climb, the Goodravens must bridge the gap between past and present tragedies if they have any chance of quieting the souls of the living, the dead, and the haunted.

In J. P. Hightman's richly woven story of ghosts and witchcraft, the simple is sinister, the dead stalk the living, and the only real weapon is love.

### From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—The year is 1892, and Tess and Tobias Goodraven are not your typical newly married couple. Avid musicians, they are also 17-year-old ghost hunters, possessing a special talent that enables them to feel the presence of spirits and communicate with them. On a mission to put to rest the spirit of Mary Dutton, a victim of the Salem witch trials, the ghost reveals to them that there is evil associated with the trials that needs to be dealt with. They learn that three "witches" escaped and fled to nearby Blackthorne where they were caught and executed, and they board a train bound to a winter ice festival there. When it derails, killing many passengers, the Goodravens realize that they are in grave danger. Hightman's dark and intricate story is full of plot twists and turns in which the dead stalk the living. It will leave readers dazed, disturbed, and, like any true ghost story, full of terror that keeps them on the edge of their seats.—*Donna Rosenblum, Floral Park Memorial High School, NY*
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### From Booklist

Growing up in 1892 New England, Tess and Tobias Goodraven love to chase ghosts. But their trip to Blackthorne, Massachusetts, a sleepy, somewhat abandoned town in the shadow of Salem, turns out to be a more gruesome than fanciful adventure in a community brutally haunted by its own occult legacy. Old Widow Malgore still roams there, festering in the environs as a horrific wraith ready to wreak havoc on any who dare disturb the area. When a herd of elk smashes into the train that the Goodravens ride into town, readers and passengers alike know that this is no ordinary accident. Malgore has declared war on any who try to probe Blackthorne’s secrets. Murder and mayhem abound, affecting nearly everyone as Tess and Tobias try to break Malgore’s power and liberate their own tragic pasts from ghostly happenings. Fans of horror and spirit-world stories will be entranced by this vivid, spooky offering. Grades 6-10. --Anne O'Malley