“Neverland” by Douglas Clegg

From Douglas Clegg, “New York Times” bestselling author of “Isis,” comes a southern gothic tale of family secrets and games of innocence turned to darkness.
For years, the Jackson family has vacationed at Rowena Wandigaux Lee’s old Victorian house on Gull Island, a place of superstition and legend off the southern coast of the U.S. One particular summer, young Beau follows his cousin Sumter into a hidden shack in the woods—and christens this new clubhouse “Neverland.”
Neverland has a secret history, unknown to the children…
The rundown shack in the woods is the key to an age-old mystery, a place forbidden to all. But Sumter and his cousins gather in its dusty shadows to escape the tensions at their grandmother’s house. Neverland becomes the place where children begin to worship a creature of shadows, which Sumter calls “Lucy.”
All gods demand sacrifice…
It begins with small sacrifices, little games, strange imaginings. While Sumter’s games spiral out of control, twisting from the mysterious to the macabre, a nightmarish presence rises among the straggly trees beyond the bluffs overlooking the sea.
And when Neverland itself is threatened with destruction, the children’s games take on a horrifying reality—and Gull Island becomes a place of unrelenting terror.