The Brownstone Author:Ken Eulo A striving young actress, Chandal Knight and her theater-director husband Justin are planning to leave Manhattan to find stardom in Hollywood when two old ladies on their block offer them the opportunity of a lifetime—to take over the entire ground floor of their brownstone, rent-free for the first six months. For a couple who is strugglin... more »g financially the offer seems like a miracle and the old sisters are so kind and eager for them to move in, Chandal gives in and the couple stays on in New York. Chantal adores their new home, with its high ceilings, fireplaces and large rooms, but it is not long before she begins to hear voices, see moving shadows out of the corner of her eye and sees that the old sisters are very… well, strange. Justin seems to be drifting away into a new passion, photography, which takes him into the darkness of the brownstone basement for hours on end, but its not until Chandal sees his photographs that the dark mosaic of inexplicable events starts taking on a terrifying shape.« less
I read this about 20 years ago, when it was still in hardcover, and I thought it was great. Eulo presents evil building like a crescendo. The two sisters living in the decaying brownstone are creepy, and that Justin falls under their spell and drags his wife into this demonic morass is terrifying. This novel has the makings of an unbelievably great movie--think about a developer or managing agent wanting to buy a block of brownstones and turn them into coops--and this one representing the Gate of Hell is among them. Eulo's ability to describe the sinister is outstanding. Now that I live in NYC, whenever I walk by the brownstones on my block I think of his novel. I'm looking forward to a second read of this soon.
AMAZON.COM READER'S REVIEW