The Reformatory is a tense historical horror novel about a boy sent to a reform school in 1950s Florida. Robert Stephens Jr is twelve and living with his older sister Gloria when a momentary fight with a rich White boy results in a judge sending him to The Gracetown School For Boys, a segregated reform school that is haunted by the many boys who have died there. Robert can see these ghosts, and he must use that power to survive, even when the ghosts have their own motivations and the school governor wants to stop these spirits who could reveal his horrifying actions.
This is very much a horror novel when a lot of the horror is the horrifying reality of reform schools and the system that sends children there, making it charged with a sense of fear that isn’t just due to ghosts. The supernatural element is then woven into that in a very effective way, a reminder that there are lingering traces of terrible things happening, and that ghosts might most haunt those who deserve it. There’s a lot of historical and political stuff particularly in the earlier two thirds of the novel, which cuts a lot between focusing on Robert and on his sister Gloria trying to fight for justice for him. The narrative holds back on Robert’s story for a while, giving small amounts whilst showing Gloria’s attempts to free him, and then as it draws towards its conclusion, you see a lot more of the horrors of the reform school close up.
Long and intense at times, The Reformatory keeps you on the edge of your seat whilst combining events based on real historical ones (there’s an afterword going into this) with a supernatural edge.
Fiendfully Reading 
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