Jason is a quiet boy, but when he finds his cousin Shelby's old ouija board, he finds plenty to say . . . and none of it pleasant. Unaware of his own considerable psychic gifts, Jason and his cousin are soon forced to contend with the particularly nasty spirit of a long-dead Confederate soldier and a curse that has sown discord in the family for generations. Gripping and suspenseful, The Dead Man is at once a tale from the crypt and a story about how the ""ghosts of the past""--once they emerge into consciousness--have the tendency to force a reckoning that can make or break family ties.