A Cold Blue Light

If you only judge a story by its plot, you will probably pan this book for being remarkably similar to Shirley Jackson's 1959 classic "The Haunting of Hill House". Having re-read both fairly recently, this novel by Marvin Kaye and Parke Godwin, the ace writing team that brought you "Masters of Solitude", wins hands down as a horror story. Basic scenario: neurotic young heiress with a troubled past has inherited a spooky, isolated mansion. Previous psychic investigation has revealed no conventional ghosts - just a "constant": a patch of cold, blue light on the floor of the upstairs landing.To investigate further what she might be moving into, she assembles a small team of professional and amateur psychic investigators to stay in the house for the weekend. All are quirky individuals, drawn in great detail. All have their own ways of doing things. Most are skeptical of the methodology of at least one of the others. The human-human interactions are as fascinating as the human-supernatural. Very soon after arrival, strange things start happening. There is much more to the house than the blue light. As events and stresses develop, not just the uneasy alliances between the investigators but their very personalities start to undergo changes. Each undergoes unique experiences which are tailor-made to their own psychological weak spots. As readers, we get a riveting overview of the true nature of the situation, and can only read on, spellbound and horrified, as the investigators miss opportunities to compare notes and pool experience, and the casualties mount.... Although the horrors are more explicit than in "The Haunting..", they are not schlocky ghost train horrors but remain predominantly psychological/atmospheric. One of the best ghost stories ever written.