The Girl Next Door

In a quiet American suburb in the 1950s, two teenage sisters, Meg and Susan, are placed in the care of their aunt Ruth. Susan is still recovering from the injuries of a car accident.

Ruth is a single mother of three boys, and her home slowly becomes a place of cruelty as she and her sons turn on the girls, while the neighbourhood looks away. The story is told in flashback by David, a boy next door who befriends Meg and has to face what he saw and did not stop.

Jack Ketchum's 1989 horror novel is loosely based on the 1965 murder of Sylvia Likens and is known for its unflinching, deeply disturbing depiction of abuse.