Lost Boys – Orson Scott Card (1992)

Lost Boys, written by Orson Scott Card and published in 1992, is a chilling, emotionally layered novel blending psychological horror, domestic drama, and religious faith. Set in a small town in North Carolina, it follows the Fletcher family as they navigate unsettling events, including the mysterious disappearances of young boys, while grappling with work pressures, social tensions, and the deepening isolation of their son, Stevie. The novel stands out not only as a suspenseful mystery but also as a profound exploration of family, faith, and sacrifice.

Plot Summary

Step Fletcher drove his family down the winding highway, his hands tight on the steering wheel, the weight of a new life pressing on his shoulders. With DeAnne, his pregnant wife, beside him and their three children sleeping in the back of their weary Renault, the Fletchers were heading to Steuben, North Carolina, for a fresh start. But the car was not the only thing breaking under strain. Step, once a successful game designer, was now bound for a technical writing job at Eight Bits Inc., a company that seemed eager for his skills but eager too to control him. The move was meant to stabilize their finances and bring peace to their home, but in Steuben, peace would prove an elusive stranger.

Their new house stood small and unimpressive among red-brick neighbors, its blue carpet clashing with their old furniture. Step set to work, meeting the eccentric young programmer Bubba and the insecure supervisor Dicky Northanger, while DeAnne focused on unpacking and helping the children adjust. Yet even as boxes emptied, a heaviness settled over the family, centering on Stevie, their eight-year-old son. Sensitive and introspective, Stevie struggled to face a new school and its unforgiving routines. He clung to his mother, begged to stay home, and when the day came, walked into the classroom with a brave face hiding quiet dread.

Stevie found escape not among his classmates, but in the flicker of a computer screen. Step, once immersed in the world of games, saw with unease how his son became absorbed in a mysterious game, one that seemed to draw him deeper each day. At first, the game was just pixels and code, something familiar and manageable. But then came the imaginary friends. Stevie spoke of boys whose names he whispered late at night, names unfamiliar to his parents but carrying an uncanny weight. As the weeks passed, news spread of boys missing from Steuben – boys whose names matched those of Stevie’s companions.

Step’s job became a suffocating maze of office politics and veiled expectations. Dicky flaunted his authority, while Ray Keene, the company’s founder, wielded his power with calculated charm. Bubba, brilliant and rebellious, became Step’s unlikely ally, a glimpse of creative fire in a world of profit and deadlines. But it was at home where Step’s true battles raged. DeAnne, ever the anchor, grew anxious as Stevie withdrew further, retreating to his room, whispering to the screen, his eyes dark with something no mother’s touch could soothe.

The town of Steuben, with its polite smiles and unspoken tensions, offered no answers. Teachers dismissed Stevie as shy, neighbors kept their distance, and Step found himself wandering deeper into doubt. He remembered his own father’s quiet endurance, his failure and stubborn pride, and wondered if he too was failing, if his son was slipping beyond his reach. But in the quiet moments, Step and DeAnne clung to each other, sharing whispered prayers and late-night talks, their love tested but unbroken.

As Christmas approached, the town’s unease sharpened. Parents watched their children with wary eyes, and the empty chairs at dinner tables became unbearable reminders. Step, driven by a growing dread, began piecing together the whispers and the silences. Stevie’s game, once a harmless escape, was more than pixels – it was a door. His imaginary friends were not imaginary. They were the lost boys, calling from somewhere beyond reach, and Stevie, in his innocence, was drifting closer to them.

Step and DeAnne faced the truth with the raw courage only parents can summon. Step confronted his own helplessness, his own inadequacy, and realized that love was his only weapon. No contract, no clever code, no office triumph could shield Stevie. On a cold winter night, as the town held its breath, Step reached for his son, not with anger, but with the fierce gentleness that had always been his hidden strength. And in that moment, when darkness pressed at the edges, a father’s love became the thin line against a terrible loss.

The search for the missing boys had led nowhere, but on Christmas Eve, the hidden horror was uncovered. The evil that had haunted Steuben did not wear a stranger’s face, but that of someone trusted, someone ordinary. The man responsible for the disappearances had been preparing a place, drawing children into the shadows. And now, Stevie was next.

Step found himself racing against a horror he had no weapons to defeat. But this was not a battle of fists or strength. It was a battle of presence, of standing between his son and the pull of something unseen. When the moment came, it was not fury but sacrifice that saved Stevie. Step faced the dark and gave himself wholly, the father shielding the child, the man confronting the monster not with power, but with love.

In the aftermath, Steuben counted its losses. Families mourned, the town reeled, and the Fletchers, though broken, remained together. DeAnne’s arms encircled the children, and Step, battered but unbowed, learned the quiet truth his own father had once known – that to protect a family is to carry wounds the world never sees. Stevie, the boy who had once been lost in screens and whispers, was drawn back into the circle of his family’s love, his small voice joining once more in laughter and conversation.

As spring crept into the North Carolina hills, the Fletchers faced the future not with certainty, but with endurance. Step’s job, his debts, his regrets – they remained. But within their modest home, something unshakable had taken root. They had faced darkness, they had been tested, and they had held fast to each other. And in a world where evil waited in quiet corners, that was no small triumph.

Main Characters

• Step Fletcher: A devoted father and husband, Step is a former game designer turned technical writer who struggles with feelings of professional failure and disillusionment. Pragmatic, witty, and deeply moral, Step shoulders the weight of his family’s well-being and becomes increasingly protective as Stevie’s behavior grows worrisome. His love for his family drives his determination to uncover the dark truths in their new town.

• DeAnne Fletcher: Step’s wife, DeAnne, is nurturing, religious, and resilient. Pregnant with their fourth child, she manages the home and children with quiet strength. DeAnne’s deep-rooted faith and maternal instincts ground the family, even as she grapples with fears for Stevie and the strains on her marriage.

• Stevie Fletcher: The Fletchers’ sensitive, introverted eight-year-old son, Stevie struggles to adjust to life in Steuben. As he becomes increasingly absorbed in a mysterious computer game and surrounded by invisible friends, his parents’ concern mounts. Stevie’s innocence and otherworldly connection are central to the novel’s emotional and supernatural core.

• Dicky Northanger: Step’s insecure supervisor at Eight Bits Inc., Dicky is petty and controlling, embodying the corporate dysfunction that frustrates Step. Though not a villain, Dicky represents the bureaucratic and ego-driven obstacles in Step’s professional life.

• Bubba Roland Saladin Gallowglass (Bubba): A gifted young programmer at Eight Bits, Bubba is eccentric, brilliant, and socially unconventional. He becomes an unlikely ally to Step, offering technical expertise and a refreshing contrast to the corporate figures around them.

Theme

• Family and Sacrifice: At its heart, Lost Boys is about the bonds of family. Step and DeAnne’s commitment to their children, particularly in the face of Stevie’s distress, illustrates the depth of parental love and the willingness to sacrifice personal ambitions for loved ones.

• Faith and Moral Struggle: The Fletcher family’s Mormon faith shapes their worldview, providing both solace and conflict. The novel examines the tension between religious ideals and the harsh realities of evil, testing the characters’ beliefs without offering easy answers.

• Isolation and Alienation: Stevie’s withdrawal into his imaginary world mirrors Step’s professional and social isolation. Both father and son face loneliness and misunderstanding, highlighting the alienating effects of loss, failure, and supernatural intrusion.

• Good vs. Evil: The novel explores the nature of evil, both mundane and supernatural. From predatory human behavior to the presence of dark, unseen forces, Lost Boys asks how ordinary people confront darkness and whether goodness can prevail.

• Technology and Escape: Computers and games symbolize escape, both creative and destructive. Step’s past as a game designer and Stevie’s immersion in his game world reflect technology’s double edge—offering refuge but also deepening disconnection.

Writing Style and Tone

Orson Scott Card’s writing in Lost Boys balances intimacy with dread. His prose is detailed, psychologically astute, and often tender, especially in depicting the inner lives of Step and DeAnne. The dialogue is sharp and natural, capturing both familial warmth and the prickly edges of conflict. Card uses domestic minutiae—the small rituals of family life—to ground the supernatural elements in emotional realism, making the novel’s darker turns all the more jarring.

The tone oscillates between warmth, melancholy, and creeping horror. Card masterfully builds a slow, suffocating sense of dread, embedding the terror in ordinary moments—a child’s fear, a father’s regret, a community’s polite indifference. Rather than relying on overt scares, the novel unsettles through suggestion, psychological tension, and the mounting sense that something precious is slipping away.