The Dwelling is a compelling supernatural chiller in the style of Stephen King, although author Susie Moloney proves in this, her third novel, that she is in some respects a more literary writer than King, while also capable of writing solid material worthy of a film treatment. Without a doubt this is one of the best written and most unsettling haunted house novels I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Unlike other such novels, such as Straub's Ghost Story or Marasco's Burnt Offerings, what sets The Dwelling apart are the framed plot structure and the secrets behind the hauntings, which originate from many different sources, not just from the past tenants of the house itself. Yet in spite of initial impressions to the contrary, it is not episodic. Moloney's novel has a flawless internal logic that prepares the reader for a very credible and fulfilling ending.

The main character, Glenn Darnley, is a seasoned real estate agent, recently widowed. She is assigned to sell the house at 362 Belisle, but seems only peripherally aware that it has something strange about it. In fact, the house is a real estate agent's nightmare on many levels. Yet she manages to sell it to a young couple whose careers are headed in opposite directions, and whose marriage itself is on the verge of disaster. Their story forms the second part of the novel. After they are driven from the house by supernatural forces, Glenn finds herself as the listing agent once again.

The third part of the novel introduces us to the tragic lives of a newly divorced woman and her unpopular, overweight son. Strange events occur to them as well, such as an ancient bathtub with huge clawed feet that fills itself with water reddened by the ghostly blood of a suicide victim. Just like the couple we meet earlier in the story, their lives are almost as sad and desperate as those of the ghosts that haunt the domicile. When something happens to the mother and son, house once again is listed on the market, and once again Glenn is tasked with finding a buyer.

In the next part, the house's newest buyer is an author of mystery/horror novels who hasn't completed one in several years because of a drinking problem. His alcoholism is alienating him from his son, his son's mother, and the woman he is in love with. He is so confounded by alcohol that in his mental haze he almost fails to notice the supernatural presence in the home...at first.

Marriage and the breakdown of relationships is a recurring theme in Moloney's cavalcade of hauntings. Glenn mourns the death of her husband, the first buyers' marriage is almost breaking down, the second buyer is a recent divorcee and the last has failed at all of his relationships even though he has never married. The intangible horrors of their regret, guilt, condemnation and isolation actually compete with the more tangible horrors of the house.

The characters are instantly recognizable archetypes--the ambitious career woman, the kid who is the scapegoat at school, the drunken author--but never stereotypes. Like King, Moloney has a knack for conjuring these `everyman' characters in literary 3D and making them as recognizable as the people in our neighborhood that we see yet never really know. The terror in their circumstances arises from their own fears and weaknesses, the negative energy that feeds the spectral inhabitants who are the true owners of the house at 362 Belisle.

William Peter Blatty is, of course, the author of such horror classics as The Exorcist and Legion, and for the surreal Twinkle Twinkle "Killer" Kane (which is better known for its film adaptation The Ninth Configuration). While not the most prolific novelist, it is always exciting when a new Blatty book appears in print because he writes literary horror stories that delve into the metaphysics of our existence, usually with symbolism and themes from his Roman Catholic background.

Set in 1993, Elsewhere is a haunted house novella published by Cemetery Dance Publications that assembles the usual eccentric characters that populate these kind of stories. In this case we have Joan Freeboard, a rich New York City real estate agent who lives in Central Park west; her friend Terence Dare, a famous author; a British psychic named Anna Trawley; and Dr. Gabriel Case, a psychologist, professor and paranormal expert. Freeboard is offered the opportunity to sell a mansion on an island on the Hudson River that has a reputation for being haunted. If she can sell it, she makes a huge commission. Her strategy is to assemble a group that can debunk its haunted reputation, then have her writer friend (who owes her many favours) write about it in Vanity Fair, which will then, she presumes, help her find a buyer.

Regardless of this being a very circumspect and specious strategy for selling a home, the characters are quickly gathered on the island where they meet the mysterious Dr. Case, who has preceded their arrival. Strange fugues of memory and time shifts begin happening, and "ghosts" are sighted. Suffice it to say that anyone who has seen The Others or The Sixth Sense will be able to predict what is coming halfway through the novel. A kind of epilogue at the end of the novella includes an equally derivative incident with a priest.

Diehard fans of Blatty will no doubt want to read this slight book, but Blatty as a novelist is capable of so much more, even at his advanced age. We have more hope for his long-awaited novel Dimiter which is scheduled to be released next year by Forge Books.