Although I absolutely love the movie, I wasn't impressed by the book. Not quite as spooky, and too many details were so different from the movie that I couldn't get used to it. It might appeal to others, though, especially if you've never seen the movie starring Kevin Bacon! ( )

This book isn't a traditional horror novel but it does have a ghost and some horrifying moments.

Tom Wallace gets hypnotized one night and in the aftermath finds himself open to unexplained psychic phenomena. He has become something of a medium; receiving visits from a ghost and experiencing moments of predictive ability. He ultimately becomes fixated on learning why the ghost is visiting him. Along the way he has to deal with his wife's fear of him and concerns that this new ability will destroy their lives.

What I found most compelling about this novel is that it reveals the monsters that live inside all of us. No matter how good we may think we are, inside our own minds we think terrible things and may be capable of horrific acts. Following Tom as he comes to understand this, we are as fascinated and repelled by these revelations as Tom. This book is a quick but very enthralling read, opening up facets of human nature that we may often prefer to avoid. ( )

At an ordinary dinner party, looked forward to with no great excitement by the inhabitants of a quiet suburban street, Anne’s brother Phil attempts to hypnotise her sceptical husband Tom. Subsequently, Tom develops strange psychic abilities. For me, Matheson’s depictions of the way in which this effects the relationship between Tom and Anne are some of the best parts of this very readable novel. I was less interested in the parts of the story that dealt with Anne and Tom's neighbours and their relationship, and the resolution of the ghost story elements of the plot - although these were probably also quite well done. Not a bad book, but not entirely my cup of tea. ( )

Fiction, Science fiction, Psychological thriller, Horror, Paranormal, A friend hypnotizes Tom Wallace, an ordinary man leading an ordinary life, and that night Tom can't sleep, He sees a strange woman in the room with him, a ghost, First published by Lippincott, Philadelphia and New York, 1958, 220 pp., First Italian edition titled: "Io sono Helen Driscoll", Mondadori, Urania, June 1959, Film version 1999: "Stir of Echoes", directed by David Koepp, starring: Kevin Bacon as Tom, Illeana Douglas: Lisa, Kevin Dunn: Frank, Zachary David Cope: Jake, Kathryn Erbe: Maggie, Conor O'Farrell: Harry ( )

I like the story but feel it's too short... otherwise an interesting dive into what it must be like to be in the mind of a man, with uncontrollable sensitivity to the thoughts and feelings of those around him. ( )