In my “Blast from the Past” readings comes Midnight Club, a wholly depressing novel 
about a group of teens in a hospice facing their own mortality. Every one of these kids is dying, and they know there is absolutely no chance to even extend their time. While the back blurb hints at ghost story, the real plot is about these kids, because they are still kids, trying to deal with horribly grown up things, trying to handle their own deaths and those of their closest friends.
A group meets at midnight every night to tell stories, many of which take on violent or very dark undertones. Ilonka (a true romantic even though life saw fit to strip her of her whole family before smacking her over the head with terminal cancer) chooses to tell stories of a mysterious Master, and past lives and hope that while their bodies will die, their spirits will live on.
In a way the blind devotion of Ilonka to The Master is quite creepy as well. It mirrors her stubborn belief that she can defy death if she just wishes hard enough.
There’s not really much redemption in these pages, just acceptance, which does tend to bring a little peace. But then, there’s nothing like putting yourself in other people’s shoes to remind you how green the grass on your side really is.