It took me a little while to get into this book, but once I'd made the initial effort, I enjoyed it.  It tells a fairly complex story of a house which was once used as a base for horrific murders; which caught they attention of a young boy at about the time other youngsters are disappearing; and he disappears as well, although not before he apparently meets an astonishingly beautiful girl who seems to live in the abandoned house.  There are familiar characters from other Straub books - the narrator is Timothy Underhill, and his friend the super slueth Tom Pasmore makes an appearance too.
   The writing is smooth, as you'd expect from Straub.  I thought the plot was a little thin, particularly the way Tim and Tom solve the mystery of who is doing all the abducting - but it didn't really matter.  At its heart, this is a ghost story which explores the motivations of some of its characters better than the average ghost story.  In my opinion, it isn't a masterpiece, but if you get the chance to borrow a copy, I wouldn't try to dissuade you.