This Boy

What if the thing moving in the dark was not trying to frighten you, but simply trying to say hello?

When Becky and her two children, Sophie and Greg, move into a beautiful Victorian house beside an old mill pond, they expect a fresh start. What they find instead is a pair of missing car keys that walk on their own, wet footprints that appear on polished walnut floors, a red balloon that follows Sophie up the stairs, and a childlike giggle that no one can explain.

Then comes the photograph. Reflected in the patio glass is the faint image of a grey boy in Victorian clothing, with empty eyes and an expression of unbearable loneliness. His name, they will discover, is Joshua Bench. He was ten years old. He drowned in the mill pond over a hundred years ago. And he has been waiting ever since.

In This Boy: A Modern-Day Ghost Story, Pop (Gary Crowther) delivers a ghost story unlike any other. There are no exorcisms, no demons, no violence. There is a lost child, a grieving family, and a choice that will change everything. When the paranormal team arrives with their cameras, their electromagnetic readers, and their medium, the evidence is undeniable. But the real question is not how to remove the ghost. The real question is whether this family has room in their hearts for one more.

You will laugh at Greg's birthday crown. You will shiver at the footsteps on the landing. You will cry when Becky hears a whispered voice say, "Goodnight, Mum. Love you." And you will never look at a red balloon the same way again.