Jess Vogt arrives at her off-campus dorm which overlooks Salem University, eager to begin college. The dorm is old, dark, and dreary. Jess's room seems to have a cold draft and is always chilly. She finds out from her fellow residents at the dorm that a young and pretty student named Giselle had previously stayed in her room and committed suicide in it by hanging herself. This gives Jess the creeps. Strange things are also happening at the dorm---rooms are being broken into, doors slam and windows shatter for no reason... Jess is also getting clues that maybe Giselle didn't commit suicide and could possibly have been murdered. But by who? Jess can't see her fellow residents at the dorm doing anything like this. The more she investigates, the more she is convinced Giselle was murdered...

This was a fun old read from the 90's. It was meant for teens/young adults but I also enjoyed it. It was fast paced and provided a few chills. I really liked the creepy dorm setting. It had an interesting cast of characters. A very entertaining read. ( )

This is the first in the Nightmare Hall series. It was originally published in the 1990's but it still holds up. There were a few references that could have been updated to make it a bit more current but that did not bother me. It is not super scary but I did get a few goosebumps while reading it. And the mystery is pretty good. There is talk of suicide and some violence and suspense. If you are concerned about language or sexual content, there really is none in this book. I will probably read more in the series. I really love books like this occasionally. ( )

The Nightmare Hall series is a young adult thriller/horror series that spans 29 books. The series is set on the campus of the fictitious Salem University and each novel focuses on a different group of students and their experiences. I found a book in this series when I was in high school and I couldn't put it down! Over the span of my high school and college years I hunted down every book in this series and finally completed the collection. The majority of the book are very entertaining and fast paced. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys young adult suspense, horror, and supernatural books. ( )

The first book in Diane Hoh's mid-nineties paranormal young adult series featuring the haunts of hijinks of Salem University focuses on Jessica Vogt, a college freshman with a roommate from hell...literally. When strange things start happening at her off-campus dorm--Nightingale Hall, a secluded brick house that shares the series' ominous monicker--Jessica learns her room is the one in which former student Giselle McKendrick hanged herself. But was Giselle's death really a suicide, as the campus officials claimed?

I don't know about you, but I've got chills.

Okay, not really. But when I was eleven, and my best friend Shawna loaned me this book to read, I did.

Of course, back then I was more apt to overlook such annoyances as the glittery prose used to describe the protagonist, her shiny hair, and her navy-blue eyes, or the ellipses...that plague...almost every...paragraph..

(What was the deal with the early nineties that everything had to be all neon and spandex and adjectives every other word? Seriously.)

Bottom line: I was happy to see how well this story had held up over time. Is there better YA fiction out there today? You bet. But there's still something very special about Hoh's work. ( )