The house next door to Pat Robbins-eerily identical to the home Pat shares with her college-aged son, Mark-has been empty for years, the darkness within seeming to warn all to stay away. Now new tenants are moving in: affable Josef Friedrichs and his lovely daughter, Kathy, who has stolen Mark's heart on first glance. But something is not right-something old and secret lurking in the shadows that fresh paint and new furnishings cannot mask or exorcise. There is evil alive in the heart of the house next door-and it means to feed on the fears of two families . . . and drag Kathy Friedrichs with it into peril.