All The Lovely Bad Ones

“The truth of it was Corey and I tended to get in trouble wherever we went. Bad ones—that’s what we were. Well, not really bad. We preferred to think of ourselves as pranksters. But like the camp staff, adults (including Mom and Dad) didn’t find our antics as funny as we did.” 

Hahn immediately clarifies what she means by “bad ones.” Travis does as well, stating that he and Corey are pranksters. Hahn thus begins to amass different meanings of “bad” that occur throughout the text. Sometimes, bad can simply mean mischievous.

“As Corey and I followed Grandmother out of the library, we glanced at each other. Without saying a word, I knew my sister was thinking exactly what I was thinking. Rappings and tappings, footsteps, doors opening and shutting—we could do that. And more. Bringing ghosts back to Fox Hill would be like playing haunted house all summer long.”

Despite their endless bickering and arguments, Corey and Travis are quite close. They can communicate with each other wordlessly and often know what the other is thinking. 

“Corey grinned. ‘Ghosts are about to reappear at the inn,’ she said. ‘In fact, I predict the Jenningses will have their own experience with the supernatural before they leave.’” 

This is the catalyst for the rest of the events that take place in the novel. Travis and Corey’s decision to begin playing pranks on the guests directly lead to the awakening of Fox Hill’s ghosts.

“‘They believed the granny story, didn’t they?’ Corey smoothed the gown. ‘People like the Jenningses are easy to fool because they want to see ghosts. You don’t have to convince them—they already believe. All I have to do is go outside tomorrow night wearing this and they’ll think they’re seeing a real ghost.’” 

Corey is a master storyteller and is well-versed in telling tall tales to the people around her. It is evident that Corey and Travis often work together to pull off their pranks.

“‘Wouldn’t you be scared?’ I was hoping she’d say yes and faint in my arms or something, but she merely shrugged. Without even looking at me, she said, ‘Ghosts can’t hurt you.’”

Travis upholds stereotypical views of gender, hoping that Tracy, who is less scared of ghosts than he is, will faint away. He thinks this in hopes that she will be impressed by his own strength. Tracy, on the other hand, is nonplussed by ghosts, subverting his expectations.

“‘Hey,’ I called. ‘I see you.’ My voice sounded loud in the quiet evening—and a little high pitched, almost as though I was scared. Which, of course, I wasn’t.’”

The novel’s first-person perspective greatly skews the events’ portrayal and allows Hahn to employ dramatic irony. Though it’s clear to the reader that Travis is terrified, Travis doesn’t admit it.

“With a shiver, I left the grove and hurried back to the inn. I told myself I’d heard a squirrel or a bird. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had been watching me.”

This quote foreshadows the importance of the grove, as it’s where Miss Ada hanged herself and where she meets the devil. The grove is one of the central settings in the novel, with many of the experienced supernatural phenomenon occurring in or around the area.

“Again, I sensed someone close by, not just watching me this time but following me. Someone silent and swift, darker even than the night. I wanted to look back, just to prove nothing was there, but I didn’t dare.”

Travis senses a supernatural presence in the darkness while he and Corey are busy pranking the inn’s guests. Hahn begins to hint to the readers that there may actually be supernatural elements at play in the Inn.

“She headed toward the inn, but instead of following her, I stood there, contemplating the row of stones. ‘Forty-one,’ I read, ‘forty-two, forty-three, forty-four.’ My eyes moved from stone to stone. There were twelve of them. And many more in other rows, all numbered.”

Travis’s discovery of the graveyard foreshadows the eventual reveal that the inn was a poor farm. Hahn also uses this moment to set up the eventual search for Miss Ada’s ledger so as to rightfully uncover the names of the 67 people who are buried on the property.

“Upstairs, Miss Duvall screeched joyfully, ‘Sobs, rappings, laughter, footsteps, a blue light—a classic visitation!’”

Each phenomenon that Miss Duvall lists with delight can be directly linked to a trick that Travis or Corey plays. Though she claims to be a genuine psychic, Miss Duvall is just as blind to the truth of the situation as the other guests.

“‘It’s those grandchildren,’ Mrs. Brewster said. ‘Soon as I saw ‘em, I knew they’d stir things up. Bad ones—that’s what they are. I can spot ‘em every time. They’ve got her up and about. And the little ones, too.’”

Mrs. Brewster’s character appears uncaring and even cruel. She thoughtlessly calls Travis and Corey “bad ones,” but it is not until later in the text that Hahn reveals Mrs. Brewster’s true meaning. Martha does not mean that Travis and Corey are wicked people, only that they are mischievous children.

“At last, she looked at me, her face full of worry. ‘Maybe they think we woke up the ghosts. The ones that used to be here.’” 

Corey’s realization begins the siblings’ grappling with the consequences of their actions. By beginning to acknowledge that they may be responsible for waking up the ghosts, they prepare to fix the situation that they caused.

“I watched her go, hair swinging, shoulders squared, obviously upset. ‘Don’t be stupid,’ I shouted. ‘You aren’t a catalyst. They’re crazy—and so are the Brewsters!’”

Travis is frequently depicted yelling or shouting at Corey after they get into an argument. Though they often get over their arguments quickly, Travis does not seem to care much for his sister’s feelings. He is dismissive of her and even sometimes purposefully mean. At the end of the novel, it is his sister’s presence that ends up saving Travis’s life.

“Across the room, Chester’s voice rose. ‘I tell you, the little girl’s responsible. It’s the same with poltergeists. They feed off the psychic energy of young people. Especially if the child is disturbed.’” 

There are several instances in the novel where someone’s words greatly hurt another. Chester’s choice of words here, and the carelessness with which he says them, severely impacts Corey. Despite witnessing this moment firsthand, Travis attempts to joke with his sister, only serving to wound her further. Through this, Hahn conveys the importance of choosing one’s words carefully and with sensitivity to others.

“You and your sister may have begun this as a game, but the ghosts are awake now. Putting them back to sleep will not be easy.” 

Miss Duvall’s warning to Travis marks a change in the tone of the novel. Travis and Corey are eager and happy to play tricks on the guests before this. After this, however, the siblings must contend with the repercussions of their actions and learn to take responsibility for the things they’ve done.

“Mrs. Frothingham sobbed into a wineglass. The wives were done with ghosts. No one wanted to see another one. In fact, they wished they hadn’t seen the one they just saw. The husbands laughed and talked too loud, already beginning to doubt they’d really seen a ghost.” 

Hahn draws a sharp gendered line between wives and husbands. Rendered into single entities, the different guests become defined only by their genders and their relationships with their partners. The difference in how Hahn portrays men and women as responding to their fears fits into traditional, stereotypical views of gender.

“Grandmother stared at us as if we were monsters. ‘Why did you do this? What kind of children are you?’ ‘Bad children,’ a kid’s voice whispered. ‘Lovely bad children!’” 

Grandmother refuses to acknowledge the existence of ghosts. By refusing to do so, she continuously blames the work of the ghosts on Travis and Corey. She is thus absolutely horrified by their behavior. Her initial refusal to see the truth that is in front of her makes her a character foil to Miss Ada.

“With a bellow of rage, Mrs. Brewster barreled into the room, her chest heaving. ‘Behave, bad ones, behave!’ she screamed. […] But it wasn’t us Mrs. Brewster was looking at. Her eyes were focused on the swinging chandelier. ‘Stop it this minute!’” 

Travis and Corey realize that Mrs. Brewster knows about the ghosts and can see them. This moment marks a shift in the novel. Prior to this, Travis and Corey believe that they must hide what they know from the adults at the inn. With this reveal, Travis and Corey go to Mrs. Brewster for information about the ghosts.

“That boy and girl are bad ones,’ she muttered, ‘full of pranks and mischief, just like you.’ She cocked her head like a robin listening for a worm to turn in the earth. ‘No, it ain’t punishment they need,’ she said. ‘No more than you needed it.’” 

Mrs. Brewster is the first adult in the novel to acknowledge that “bad” children do not need punishment. Despite her cold countenance and obvious dislike of Travis and Corey, Mrs. Brewster’s empathy and kindness becomes obvious. Unlike Miss Ada, Mrs. Brewster does not think that the children in the text are deserving of punishment because of their “pranks and mischief.”

“The whisper I’d been expecting now ran around the walls. ‘Bad, bad, bad. She was the bad one. Bad beyond telling, bad beyond belief.’” 

Travis has come to almost expect the whispers from the ghosts. He has gone from doubting the existence of ghosts to acknowledging their existence. The ghosts are quick to tell Travis who the real antagonists of the story are. Despite his previous assumptions, the ghosts responsible for the pinching and giggling are not the most dangerous things at the inn.

“Gaunt, ragged people lined up for watery soup and hard bread. They worked outside in pouring rain and wind, in the cold of winter and the heat of summer. They shivered in dark, cold rooms. They went coatless and barefoot in the snow. They coughed and wheezed and sickened and died. And all the while, Mr. Jaggs and Miss Ada passed their days in warmth and comfort and dined on fine food. They ordered beatings and whippings for the farm inhabitants and then slept soundly under feather quilts. They went to church in Sunday finery. They entertained guests. They complained of the detestable poor in their care and the county money wasted upon them.” 

Hahn contrasts the stark difference between the overseers’ lives and the living conditions of the people at the poor farm. By providing Travis and Corey with an in-depth look at what conditions at the farm were like, Hahn is also able to provide readers who may be unfamiliar with them with more information. This vision also gives Travis and Corey much needed backstory and context; after seeing this, they are both more eager to help the ghosts.

“In horror, Corey and I watched her take the cane to Seth again. When she was through, she called Joseph. ‘Take these boys outside and leave them there till morning. I want the name of every child who ate that cheese. Perhaps a night in the cold will loosen their lips.’” 

The ghosts reveal how they died to Travis and Corey. Though Miss Ada later insists that she was forced to punish them, this scene makes clear that she actively chose to torture them for daring to be hungry. Both Miss Ada and Joseph, her henchman, are complicit in killing the innocent children.

“When he was done, he marked each grave with a small white stone. As he trudged away, his work done, the camera zoomed in on the stones: 27, 28, and 29. No name, no date—just a number. Slowly, the camera moved back and panned the scene. The stones stood in a row with many others, each marked with a number.” 

The people who died at the poor farm are ripped of their names and left with “just a number.” This scene shows the reader the predominant motivator behind the children’s desire to have proper burial stones with their names upon them. By showing this vision to Travis and Corey, the ghosts convey the loss of their identity and humanity.