Realtor Joan Freeboard, trying to dispel the title mansion's creepy reputation, arranges for a psychic, a parapsychologist and a noted author to move into Elsewhere with her and declare it ghost-free. Isolated by a storm from civilization, they become absorbed by the house and its growing sense of strangeness; exploring its secrets exposes their own.
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[A PALE PINK TELEPHONE wedged at her chin, Joan Freeboard edgily stood at her desk while she rustled through message slips, frowning and impatient, as if searching for the one that would explain why she'd been born]***
(Tor Books, 7 April 2015, first published 1989, 220 pages, ebook, #popsugarreadingchallenge 2019, two books that share the same title #1, bought from @AmazonUK)
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I read The Exorcist decades ago but had no idea Blatty had written other books. I will seek them out. Elsewhere is great. I'm a huge fan of haunted house stories. Shirley Jackson's famous book is among my favourites. Elsewhere has all the markings of a great haunted house story. I enjoyed how subtle and unsettling the story is. I hate haunted house stories when they're too in your face and dripping with blood, gore and other unpleasantness. Subtle is the way to truly scare me. I really liked the way the book ended. The revelations weren't surprising but Blatty did a good job of bringing this creepy little tale to a conclusion.
