Gina, I remember that when I was reading it, it scared me so badly at times, that I had to put it down and walk away. I was honestly too frightened to go further. I loved the friendship that developes between "the losers" and how they banded together to do what the adults were too frightened to do. Hang in there, we HAVE to discuss the ending. I remember accepting it as completely plausible while I was reading it; however, when my brother and I were discussing the movie (he hadn't read the book), he almost fell out of his chair when I told him how the book ended.