For a long time I thought I had every Barbara Michaels book ever written, but one day, with too much time on my hands, I decided to check my collection against the bibliography on Michaels' website. Turns out I was missing not one, but two books, which I bought immediately. One of them was this one, and I'm so glad I checked the list that day!
The house next door stood empty for years, an eerie mirror image of Pat Robbins' well-tended home. Until the day the Friedrichses moved in. Pat's teenaged son fell head over heels for Kathy, his new neighbor. But in a furious battle of wills, Kathy's father made his message clear: stay away. Even the house seemed to be warning them of the deadly secrets among its shadows--and the evil within its heart.This and Ammie Come Home are the books I measure the rest of BM's ghost stories against. An A.
I liked the history behind the ghost, the characters, the teamwork involved in finding out as much as possible about what or who the ghst might be and about what happened allthose years before. Those are the best things about the book.
On the minus side, well, although it's aged pretty well, there are some parts, especially of Josef's behaviour, that seemed a little old-fashioned. But that was just a small quibble.
I must also say it was terribly chilling. I just couldn't stand to be alone when I finished it!