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Hauntings: Smallville Book 3    by Nancy Holder Amazon.com order for
Hauntings
by Nancy Holder
Order:  USA  Can
Aspect, 2003 (2003)
Paperback
* *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

My sons and I enjoy this series very much - about a modern teen Superman living in a Smallville distorted by the Twilight Zone effects of the meteor crash that started it all. This episode mixes in some Ghostbuster scenes, but with more horror than humor.

The story begins with a science lab experiment that leaves Janice Brucker riddled with guilt and her daughter Ginger fatherless; they move to Smallville (Janice has taken a job with Lex Luthor) and rent a haunted house that belongs to Governor Hiram Welles. In the meantime, Chloe is adding to her Wall of Weird strange happenings and disappearances in a cursed cornfield, which is powered by a large green meteor.

Ginger develops a crush on Clark (which makes Lana examine her own feelings for him) and is seriously spooked by angry, aggressive ghosts in the mansion her mom rented. When she calls on her new friends to help, they investigate and attempt a seance. In the meantime, Lex Luthor's continued obsession with harnessing the power of the meteor through technology results in another lab accident that drains Clark's powers. Finally, the young ghostbusters uncover a haunting secret in a climactic cornfield confrontation.

I enjoyed Hauntings on many levels. It's a thrilling horror story whose characters have depth - in particular, Clark's and Lana's feelings for each other, and Lex's conflict between friendship, his own ambitions and family loyalty, developed nicely in this episode. Whether you're already a fan or new to Smallville, don't miss Hauntings.

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