Genre
Horror Fiction / Mystery
Setting and Context
Modern-day suburban area.
Narrator and Point of View
The novel is narrated in first-person by the protagonist.
Tone and Mood
Disturbing, Sad, Tragic, and Horrific
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the young man who remains anonymous while the antagonist is the obsessed stalker from his childhood.
Major Conflict
The unnamed protagonist tries to put together the missing pieces of his mysterious childhood unearthing disturbing truths about an obsessed stalker. The series of deaths and disappearances that he vaguely remembers turn out to be the doings of the stalker/Penpal with an unhealthy fascination.
Climax
The climax occurs when Josh’s father exhumes a coffin with the corpses of his son and the adult male who hired him to cover the holes in the backyard.
Foreshadowing
“I tumbled into the crater. It was only a few feet deep, but it had a fairly large perimeter. I was puzzled. I remembered this place vividly from that night– the topography of this particular area was etched deeply into my mind – but I didn’t remember the hole.”
The statement foreshadows the hole that the stalker would eventually bury himself alive alongside Josh.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The narrative alludes to horror films including Scanners and Day of the Dead.
Imagery
“I stood up to orient myself, and I caught a flash of some trampled shrubs that looked like a path, but the woods were thick behind it, so I turned to look elsewhere. I didn’t recognize this place. I played in the woods by my house all the time, and so I knew them really well, but I had only been in them when it was dark once before. I had run through my woods straight to my house at the last edge of dusk countless times without even having to think about how to get there. But there’s a big difference between dusk and dark, and as I stood there taking in all that there was to see in the dim light, it started creep into my mind much more forcefully that these might not be my woods after all.”
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
Besides Josh and the narrator being best friends, the narrative draws a parallel in their appearance which will play a role in the final climax.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
“…there were very few places you could sit and see the whole screen.”
Screen is a synecdoche.
Personification
“He would look up at us, excited by the sound and then horrified at how we could orchestrate such a cruel ruse – a can-opener with no tuna made no sense to Boxes.”
