In 1927 the infamous millionaire occultist Emeric Belasco disappeared without a trace, leaving behind dozens of dead bodies in the rambling, isolated mansion known as Hell House. In 1931 a team of parapsychologists entered Hell House in order to solve the riddle of Belasco's ultimate fate, only meet with horror, insanity and death. The doors to Hell House were closed and locked for nine years. Now, in 1940, another team of psychic and scientific experts, including the 15 year-old "Ghost Boy" Benjamin Franklin Fischer--the most gifted physical medium in modern history--has returned to explore the secrets of the most haunted house in the world--only to find Hell House eagerly awaiting its newest guests.
This novella was written, with permission from Richard Matheson, as a prequel to his classic haunted house novel, Hell House (1971), and originally appeared in the tribute anthology He Is Legend (Gauntlet Press, 2009).