Richard & Judy Introduce The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas

The Devil’s Corridor in Wiltshire is one of England’s so-called ghost roads. It may be fictional in Claire Douglas’s creepy novel, but there are many real-life examples (‘The Ruskington Horror’ allegedly lurks on a lonely stretch of road near Sleaford in Lincolnshire). Four girls are in a late-night car smash on The Devil’s Corridor. One survives. The other three? They vanish into thin air. You’ll love trying to work out what happened to them.

Richard's Review:

Britain has a long history of ‘road’ ghosts. Spirits who linger over troubled spots, sometimes appearing on or next to the highway to startle and even terrify innocent travellers trying to make their way. One such is the wonderfully-named ‘Ruskington Horror’, a pale figure who for years has haunted a lonely stretch of road near Sleaford in Lincolnshire.

Claire Douglas has tapped into this rich tradition to create her own spectre-infested stretch of highway, The Devil’s Corridor, which she sets in rural Wiltshire. The road has a history of weird happenings including mysterious, unexplained deaths, sightings of hooded figures, and the eerie sound of a child crying, but only in the night. No weeping bairn is ever actually found, of course.

And so, the stage is set for a terrific, spooky story. We loved it.

Judy's Review

The tale begins with a journey, interrupted. Four young women are sharing the same car home after a night out clubbing together. It is pelting down and Olivia, the designated driver, is struggling to see the road ahead or hear her friends’ slightly drunken chatter over the drumming of huge raindrops on the car’s roof.

‘WATCH OUT!’ The shouted warning comes too late. Olivia just has time to see a figure standing in the middle of the road ahead before braking, swerving and spinning the car upside down. The last thing she hears before losing consciousness are her friends’ screams. When she comes round a few minutes later, they have vanished. No one ever sees them again.

Twenty years later, journalist Jenna Halliday is investigating the enduring mystery and the legend of The Devil’s Corridor. It will lead her into great danger - and provide the rest of us with a rattling good read!