Clare McNally

When her dog snatches her science project and runs away with it ten-year-old Cassie Larchmont follows her dog to an old Victorian mansion near the lake (Hollenbeck House). Her mother has told her to stay away from that house. (It is said that a crazy old woman, Myrtle, lives there and murdered her two children long ago and no one ever found their bodies.) When Cassie catches up with her dog an old lady (Myrtle) comes out of the mansion and mistakes Cassie for someone called Ellen and starts show more coming after her. Frightened, Cassie runs away and trips, falls, and hits her head. She then hears a childish voice telling her to not be afraid and that they will help her. She is then helped to her feet. When Cassie turns to thank her rescuer she sees no one there. Cassie then goes home.

That night Cassie wakes up from a dream, looks out of her bedroom window toward Hollenbeck House, and sees Myrtle, dead and hanging from a tree. Cassie wonders if she saw someone else in the dark, near the tree by Myrtle’s body.

Some of Cassie’s friends (Diane and Lisa) come to Lake Solaria (where Cassie lives) during the summer with their families. Cassie loves spending time with her friends. One day she meets a mysterious new girl named Nicole who is dressed in very old clothes who wants to be Cassie’s friend. Cassie introduces Nicole to Diane and Lisa. One day the girls get together and go over to the old Hollenbeck mansion. Nicole says she knows how to get inside and she says there is something wonderful in the house. When they enter the house it is old, decayed, and dirty but Nicole leads them to a special, secret room filled with so many toys and dolls…a dream room. The girls love it and play with the toys, but since Myrtle just died here and their parents don’t want them going to the house the girls make it their secret club/room and plan to go to the room in the house often.

As time goes by the girls start to wonder why Nicole shows up out of the blue and leaves suddenly. They never get to meet her family or see where she lives. And why does she wear the same strange old clothes all the time? Then bad accidents and deaths start happening around Lake Solaria/Hollenbeck House. A police detective is on the scene trying to find out who is responsible for all this. But the more he looks into the evidence and Hollenbeck House, the more he begins to think that this may be something more frightening and beyond their control.

This was a really great, spooky read. Nicole was a totally creepy little kid. I liked the cast of characters, some were good, some were bad. I couldn’t wait to finish the book to find out what was going to happen. The setting on the lake and Hollenbeck House was eerie.

A captivating and compelling read from the 1980’s. show less

The author, Clare McNally, grabs the reader from the first chapter then takes the reader on a journey into the creepy zone!

The second book to the Van Buren saga of ghosts in the house continues with another bad entity roaming the halls. This entity is more terrifying then the previous one that the Van Burens encountered in the first book.

The Van Burens thought their nightmare was over and the house finally felt like a "home". But they were very wrong as an evil ghost named "Janice" has come show more to take revenge on them. When things start happening in the house, they try to lay aside their fears and they just think that the house is settling or they try to make excuses for what is happening around them. Little do they know that "Janice" is there causing havoc and she would like nothing better than to see the whole family dead. As the terror escalates, the family tries to figure out why the ghost means them harm, and when they finally figure out what the ghost wants, the family has to come together to keep their sanity and to protect each other.

The book moves at a fast pace and I couldn't hardly put it down. It takes off in the first chapter and keeps rolling along to the last chapter! I stayed up one night reading it till near 2:00 a.m. Very atmospheric and has creepy tones throughout the whole book! I would finish one chapter and wanted to keep reading the next chapter to see what happens next!

Though it is not a "leave the light on" kind of book, it did draw me into the book and kept me intrigued all the way to the end. Four stars for this one. show less

I thought this was a quick read. It flowed good and the characters were well developed. Who doesn't like a good ghost story with lots of twists and turns. Good read.

For Doreen Addison, proprietor of an orphan's home known as Addison House, it comes as a nasty surprise to her to hear that the building will soon be sold. She must find a suitable house for herself, her assistant and the six children she fosters, and she must find a home fast. Doreen's search leads her to a beautiful, large house, secluded and rather inexpensive - just the right place for eight people to live.

Apparently, the house has been vacant for twenty years; and there were show more disturbingly dark stories of murder and suicide told about it. While Doreen was curious about all the rumors she had heard, and secretly wondered what had happened there so long ago, the house was still just what she was looking for. It was the perfect place to set up a children's home.

Soon after Doreen and her young wards move into their new home, unusual things start to happen. At first it was just a crazy old man living in the woods and a dead cat found on the back porch. But then the children began seeing strange things; and hearing blood-curdling screams at night. Several of the children report seeing a beautiful woman dressed in black, and there is a terrible accident down in the cellar.

Doreen starts to believe that something just isn't right about the house. However, her nightmare really begins as children mysteriously disappear. She soon finds herself confronting an ancient and malevolent power far beyond her understanding.

Only one thing can possibly save her and the children from utter destruction: she must discover the dark secret of the mysterious woman in black. Doreen alone must put an end to the repetitive grisly drama of obsessive love and hate...a tableau of twisted passions that has replayed for decades. Come home once and for all...if you dare.

I must say, that after reading Ghost Light by Clare McNally many years ago, I was eagerly looking forward to reading Addison House almost as soon as I received it. This book started out very strongly and I had such hope that it would continue to be a really great story. I was so disappointed.

To be perfectly honest, I thought this book ended up being almost too frightening. Don't get me wrong, I really love reading old-fashioned horror; the creepier the better. Yet, Ms. McNally seemed to be writing the horror book to beat all horror books - one epic horror novel designed to scare the pants off every reader in the world. She seemed to take tiny bits of ten different types of horror and throw them together in one giant cauldron, then she stirred them up to see what came out.

It felt so much like 'kitchen sink'-style horror writing to me, that I wasn't quite sure what was supposed to frighten me and what wasn't. At a certain point, I just stopped caring about the history of the haunting because it was just so intricate that it became thoroughly confusing to me. I had to give this book a C+! show less