I know, I know: I just reviewed another Chapman book a few weeks ago. What can I say? He's got me hooked!
Inspired by the Satanic Panic movement of the 80's, Whisper Down the Lane is about a lie that spirals out of control, eventually becoming a terrifying reality for all involved.
"Imagine a fib you told as a child. A little white lie. Now imagine that lie taking on a life of its own. Imagine having no control over it. If you ever did. Imagine it spreading. Growing. Imagine the consequences of that lie affecting everyone in your life. Imagine it consuming everything around you—your teachers, friends, family—until there's nobody left."
Sean Crenshaw was only five when the first lie started. He didn't know what he was doing, really, he thought it was a game: his mom asked the questions, and he had to give her the answer she wanted to hear. So, he did. Sean answered all his mom's questions about his teacher, Mr. Woodhouse, and the things that went on in his class.
Then, his mother made him tell the principal. Then a police officer, and another, and another. Eventually, it turned into a full-scale investigation, with Sean's story getting a bit more embellished each time he told it.
At this point, other students got involved, each one building their own story based on Sean's.
It reminded him of the game of telephone they would play in class, or as Mr. Woodhouse called it, Whisper Down the Lane. Students would sit in a circle and whisper a sentence to each other, until the sentence came back to the person who started off. In most cases, it was a completely different sentence, getting a little more convoluted each time it was passed along.
In the same way, Sean's story grew and evolved the more he told it, and the more people got involved. What Sean didn't realize at the time was that this wasn't just a game: everyone believed it. Believed him.
"People will believe anything when they're afraid. Especially when it's their own children at risk. And when you put a face to their fear? Give it a name of someone they know? Someone from their own community, maybe? Well... that person becomes a monster in everyone else's eyes. It doesn't matter if he's innocent or not. Not anymore. Because all anyone will ever see when they look at that person again is a monster."
Thirty years later, Sean Crenshaw is dead.
Now going by Richard Bellamy, he's managed to create a new identity, a new life in a new town. However, he's never been able to escape the guilt of his past. How many lives had been ruined because of his lies? Teachers lost their jobs, their homes, families were torn apart, people even died, and it was all because of him—because he didn't know how to stop the fire once it started.
Luckily, Richard's life is different. He has a great job, a loving family, and a beautiful home. There's nothing that could ever link him back to Sean—or so he thinks.
Richard arrives at work one morning to a gruesome sight: a dead rabbit strewn across the grass, seemingly killed as some sort of ritual sacrifice.
Sticking out from the torn-open ribcage is a card with a single name scrawled on the envelope: Sean.
"I keep asking for forgiveness from ghosts. I need to ask myself the same thing..."
Little by little, Richard is forced to relive the horrors of his past from a new perspective as someone frames him for the very things Sean made up thirty years ago. Richard's life, career, and family begin to unravel as he's forced to live through the same chaos he caused in others' lives—but that may not be enough.
Clearly, someone out there is determined to make Sean pay for what he did, and won't stop until things have come full circle.
“What happens if you believe in a lie, believe it with every fiber of your body? Does it become real, somehow? Does the lie become the truth? Your truth?”
I finished this so quickly that it surprised even myself—I just couldn't put it down!
Chapman did an incredible job demonstrating the manipulation tactics that were used during the Satanic Panic, encouraging people, especially kids, to twist the truth or even creating memories that were entirely fabricated.
I will include a strong trigger warning for the death of animals, but you probably gathered that already. Just be advised if you're especially bothered by that sort of thing, even if it's fictional.
If you've read Whisper Down the Lane, if you want to based on this review, or if you're just a book lover who somehow found their way here, I want to hear from you! Join me and my community of book lovers on Discord so we can discuss all sorts of bookish things.
Most importantly, I think the greatest takeaway from this book is simply to do your own research, form your own opinions, and don't just blindly believe something because you're told that you should. While we've come a long way since the 80's in many ways, modern day cancel culture really isn't much different from Satanic Panic. Lives are still being ruined every day because of misinformation, and now it can spread faster than ever.
However, the truth eventually prevailed back then, and it can now, too—but it's up to us.
As always, thank you so much for reading! Be sure to subscribe down below if you haven't already, so you can be notified when I post in the future—it helps me out a lot!
'•.¸♡ Until next time! ♡¸.•'