Little Girls

by Ronald Malfi · 1990

Little Girls, by Bram Stoker Award‑nominee Ronald Malfi, is a chilling horror novel that follows Laurie Genarro as she returns to her childhood home to settle her estranged father's estate. The house, once ruled by a cold, distant father who recently exorcised his own demons, is filled with unsettling remnants—broken moldings, nailed‑shut windows, and a forbidden room at the top of the stairs. As Laurie, her husband Ted, and their ten‑year‑old daughter Susan settle in, strange occurrences begin: a laughing voice in a moldy greenhouse, a girl glimpsed running through the yard, and an uncanny new playmate named Abigail who mirrors a dead neighbor from Laurie’s past. The story weaves childhood trauma, family secrets, and supernatural dread, keeping readers guessing whether the horrors are real or a product of Laurie’s deteriorating sanity.