Its plot follows a family who move into a summer home where each member is plagued by unusual experiences and personality changes.

Published by Delacorte Press, the novel had originally been conceived as a screenplay before Marasco rewrote it into a novel.

[3] The Rolfe family (Marian, Ben, and their son David) rent an isolated summer home in the remote North Fork of Suffolk County, New York at the extreme eastern end of Long Island to escape New York City and get away from their Queens apartment for the summer.

Upon moving in, however, each member of the family is plagued by bizarre experiences, personality shifts, and inner turmoil that seems to be stemming from the house itself.

The New York Times declared that the novel "terrifies," writing that the "style is just opaque enough to keep us guessing what's real and what's imagined.