Game Over

Dinsmore is a slow little town with not much for teens to do, other than going to weekly youth group meetings and the local video arcade. Joe is the current champ of all but a few of the games available and his girlfriend Lorinda is beginning to feel that he likes his games more than he likes her. However, this relatively small relationship issue is nothing compared to what happens with Everett Blacke opens the Hades Video Arcade ("!!Take a Chance!!"). Playing his games is a little too real for some of the players, who see the faces of their nemeses on the figures in the game. It's fun at first, but big trouble awaits those who venture into the Virtual Reality room. Joseph Locke is the (now retired) Young Adult pseudonym of adult horror author Ray Garton. Locke's byline can be found on originals and media tie-ins, but now Garton even writes those under his own name. Game Over -- an entry in the Bantam Starfire series which also includes Locke works 1-900-Killer, Vengeance, Kiss of Death, and Petrified -- is a fun (if overly simplistic) examination of the temptations of evil and what can be done to resist it. Joe slowly realizes what is happening in his town as several murders are committed with the killers shouting, "I win!" at the tops of their lungs. The mysterious Mr. Blacke (with his goat-head cane) tries to lure Joe and Lorinda into the Virtual Reality room, but their local Pastor Crane, leader of the youth group, teaches them how to deal with the feelings that spawn evil deeds. This sort of sinks what could have been a truly gripping climax into proselytization. Locke (Garton) writes at a quick pace, however, and any flaws (such as a distinct lack of subtlety) are swept away by the speed of the read.

A story of how video games can be quite immersive. Better keep a closer eye on what video games your kids are playing. The Columbine high school shootings are a tragic reminder.