Line #16 Literature/TheHaunting


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3707494.jpg]]
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3	''The Haunting'' is a 1982 LowFantasy children's novel by Creator/MargaretMahy. Barney Palmer is an eight-year-old boy who lives with two older sisters, Tabitha and Troy, his father, and his pregnant step-mother. He also has had several imaginary friends who weren't very imaginary, and are probably ghosts. Then, one day, a child in old-fashioned garb appears, plaintively declares that "Barney is dead. I'll miss him terribly!" and then disappears. Barney learns that a great-uncle he'd never met, his mother's sister, also named Barney, has passed away, and the family secret that his great-uncle had kept for many decades about Great Uncle Cole, the brother who drowned at an early age, is about to be revealed.
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5	The book was the [[http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/livingarchive/title.php?id=76 1982 Carnegie winner]] as the year's best children's book by a British subject.
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7	No relation to [[Film/TheHaunting1963 either of the films by that name]], nor is it related to [[WebVideo/TheHaunting the web series]] but it did receive a television film adaption called ''Film/TheHauntingOfBarneyPalmer'', which was made in New Zealand and featured Ned Beatty as Great Uncle Cole.
8	----
9	!!This work exhibits the following tropes:
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11	* AbusiveParents: Barney’s great-grandmother was this to Cole, but also to her other children, forcing them to be exactly as she wished them to be. They’re explicitly compared to chess pieces.
12	* AffablyEvil: Cole is a genuinely nice and kind man with what he thinks are Barney’s best interests at heart... too bad he wants to help him by taking him away whether he wants to or not. At the end of the book he didn’t do it, not because he realized that would be wrong and cruel but because [[spoiler:Troy comes voluntary]]. It’s made worse in the adaptation; whereas in the book they all talk it out, (although Cole is on the edge of letting loose a inner hurricane, according to Barney), in the movie [[spoiler:He floods the house]].
13	* DeathByChildbirth: Barney's mother died having him. He lives in guilt that [[MaternalDeathBlameTheChild he killed her]], but he later learns that [[spoiler:she had a heart defect and was aware of the danger of childbirth, but chose to do it anyway]]. Also, no one actually blames him for it, not even her family.
14	* EvilMatriarch: Barney's great-grandmother is a crotchety old woman who strongly contrasts against her more friendly children. [[spoiler:It's revealed that she attempted to eradicate Great Uncle Cole's talent because of her fear of her own talents]].
15	* GoodParents: A foundation of the plot is that, no matter what happens, Barney's parents are always there for him, ready to fight for him.
16	* ISeeDeadPeople: This seems to be part of Barney's talent and curse. [[spoiler:In actuality, there's a double subversion. There are no ghosts, only illusions, and Barney's childhood friends were the product of Troy attempting to keep him amused]].
17	* IKnowWhatYouFear: Cole shows Claire her worst nightmare to convince her he is a magician. Later, with a variation of that power, he brings her (unborn daughter’s) nice dream to life.
18	* LowFantasy: [[spoiler:Magic exists, and runs in Barney's mother's family]], but it's rare and most people refuse to believe, finding other explanations.
19	* NewParentNomenclatureProblem: Barney always calls his step-mother by her given name. He loves her deeply but just doesn't see her as his mother.
20	* NoSocialSkills: Cole appears to think that showing up as a kids mirror image is a friendly gesture to get the kid to calm down about his impending and announced arrival. Also he seems to think it’s comforting to know that someone could be there to take him away within a couple of seconds, but is instead approaching slower to ‘give [Barney] time to get used to him’. Basically anything that involves him.
21	* ParentalNeglect: [[spoiler:One of the tactics that Cole's mother tried to use to dissuade him from his talent was acting like he didn't exist and destroying any documents of his existence]].
22	* PoorCommunicationKills: Barney spends the better part of the book worrying about Claire, because no-one told him exactly why his mother died in childbirth: [[spoiler:She had a weak heart and knew the risk of having children and did it anyway, which isn’t a problem for Claire, as her heart is fine]].
23	* SecretKeeper: Tabitha, of all people, is this for a while to Barney, who is terrified Claire finds out he’s haunted, as he thinks that knowledge could complicate her pregnancy and result in her death.
24	* TheReveal: [[spoiler: The magical energy that drew Cole to Barney turned out to be not from him, but from Troy.]]

Context Literature / TheHaunting