Old school horror to a fault, I was in a nostalgic mood for a classic haunted house read—and the first half of The House of a Hundred Whispers really quenched that thirsts: familiar, cookie-cutter characters (a horror prerequisite), eerie setting, effective haunting (not to mention the grotesque, yet imaginative gore), and a pretty interesting lore.

However, the way the story was resolved threw me for a loop. A quick browse online I saw people noting Graham Masterton's use of humor, which was noticeably amped up in the second half—a shift I was not particularly prepared or in the mood for. If the beginning of The House of a Hundred Whispers is comparable to the film The Changeling, it ends like the parody Scary Movie: characters making silly, illogical decisions, certain scenes feels overly sleazy and exploitative (do we really need the almost-gang rape?), and the final confrontation with the 'entity' is downright silly.

I want to continuing checking out novels from old school horror authors, but so far my experience has been rather rocky (no luck with Bentley Little either). I'll still keep Graham Masterton on my radar, as I'm aware this title is probably among his best (might pick up Mirror next).