The Devil's House (1974)

Julia Tremonte

Pinnacle Books

Young couple considers moving to the New England countryside to escape the hustle and bustle of New York City. Husband enthusiastic, wife less so. Turns out husband has already bought a weird old house in the woods, which makes wife mad, but then "her sense of betrayal faded away as she thought of how she would rearrange the furniture in the house and add little touches of her own." Weird neighbors visit: "by the way, did you know a Satanist once lived in your house who murdered a young girl and upon his arrest and execution vowed to return for revenge?" Wife soon left alone while husband is at work. Voices in basement. Shadows and figures seen, culminating in fainting spells. Bedridden wife begs husband to break lease and return to city. Neighbors return near Christmas time and discuss pagan origins of the holidays. Kindly country physician visits to nurse wife back to health. Husband away again. Wife finds old letters in attic, including one from the girl who had been murdered by the Satanist. Hears strange noises emanating once again from basement. It's a Satanic ritual. Stabs hooded Satanist with kitchen knife. It's her husband! Husband and weird neighbors are all descendants of the Satanist--they picked her many years ago for this sacrifice. Suspicious physician arrives just in time with police. Wife wonders what it would be like to married to a country doctor.
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