Courtney Crumrin is not a happy camper. Her mom and dad, after years of living beyond their means, have at last found a solution to their financial difficulties. They're moving to the burbs, into the home of their rich uncle. Professor Aloysius Crumrin. Old man Crumrin's huge Victorian mansion is par for the course in the well-to-do neighborhood of Hillsborough. However, as Courtney soon discovers, Uncle Aloysius has a sinister reputation throughout the district, and he and his home are shrouded in dark rumor. And while this new arrangement allows her parents their much-desired boost in social status, Courtney feels as though she's landed in a nightmare. one where she is an outcast among her new spoiled classmates. And if that weren't bad enough, the moldering old mansion seems to house even stranger creatures than Mom and Dad or Uncle Aloysius.

They crawl about the dark corridors, just out of sight. They crunch bones in the corner. And sometimes they'll climb up on the bed and watch Courtney while she sleeps. Mom and Dad don't notice them. He calls them "the Night Things."