There's a subgenre of haunted-house stories that might be called "psychics investigate haunted houses," most prominent (and best) among them being Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and Richard Matheson's Hell House. Add to that short but illustrious list Elsewhere, by William Peter Blatty, best known of course for his novel The Exorcist. Elsewhere is more a long novella than a full-length novel - I read it in a couple of hours - but it packs a punch and paints some very memorable images and scenes in the mind's eye of the reader. Joan Freeboard, high-powered realtor in Manhattan, takes on an unusual commission - a mansion set on an otherwise empty island in the middle of the Hudson, a beautiful building in a beautiful setting that somehow never remains sold for very long, due to its reputation as being a haunted place. She enveigles/coerces well-known author Terry Dare and British psychic Anna Trawley to join her, along with ghost-hunting college professor Gabriel Case, in investigating the house and, hopefully, laying the rumours of ghostly haunting to rest once and for all, so that she can sell the mansion and earn a huge commission. Only the investigation doesn't turn out the way she expects....I much enjoyed this short but complete novel, and although I should have, I didn't see the twist ending coming - a fine recommendation for a scary story in and of itself! I'm not sure I'd pay $20+ again for the hardcover edition, but pick it up when it comes out in paperback, you'll be glad you did. ( )

Firstly, I have read many great GHOST stories in the past and I am sure , will come across some great ones in the future...this is NOT one of them! Let me start by saying, I don't like being ripped off. This Novella {200 pgs} was/is being touted as a NEW book by Blatty. Not on any of the sellers sites, does it say, this was a previously published work from 1999!!! That doesn't bother me as much as this story is so derivative & unoriginal...it calls to mind Shirley Jackson's great story, "The Haunting of Hill House". As a matter of fact, one scene is entirely ripped from the pages of Jackson's story....and the Big Twist?...Saw it coming a mile away. Do not waste your time or money, if you must read this out of curiousity, get it from the library. Imagine,they are selling this drivel for $25, I got it from my book club for $9.99....and I still overpaid! Hey Mr. Blatty,You owe me $9.98!.... I gave it one star...only because of Blatty's name. Also, not to give any plot points away, but the Big Twist {?} was used in a film that came out in 2001. Blatty should have sued them. ( )

A haunted house story with a twist. Trying to sell a famously haunted house real-estate agent Joan Freeboard assembles a team of spiritual experts to spend a week in the house and prove that there are no ghosts. However, the idyllic place does have a gruesome past and they soon start seeing signs that not everything is as it seems. An intriguing story which has many interesting twists and turning points. ( )