Summary

“The Black Phone” follows a boy named John Finney, who is kidnapped one day while attempting to help a man look for his glasses. The man, whose name is Albert, sprays wasp killer in Finney’s face and shoves him into the back of his van, which turns out to be a coal chute that leads into a basement. Though Finney did not know it at the time, he quickly becomes sure that the man who has captured him is a notorious serial killer called the Galesburg Grabber. Once downstairs, Finney takes note of his surroundings, which include only a mattress and a black phone on the wall. Albert explains to Finney that the phone does not work but occasionally rings, and then retreats upstairs. Finney realizes that someone else is in the house with Albert and...