Book excerpt: Josef Barrington becomes a wealthy man because he takes heed of the voice in the night. When he obeys the command to build a special stairway in his mansion, he thinks the stairway is another step toward his destiny. However, it soon becomes apparent that the stairway has become the device of his destruction. On a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, Peter White is flying his airplane over East Ridgeville when he spots an old, ill-kept mansion. When he makes inquiries about the property, he learns that its known as the Barrington Haunted Castle. Thinking he might purchase the property, he takes his girlfriend, Claire Whitley, to East Ridgeville to see the Realtor. There, they hear that Josef Barrington had killed his wife and three children almost a hundred years ago and was duly hanged. Peter and Claire go out to inspect the mansion and discover a strange stairway in the living room. Although they think of the stairs as the whim of a crazy, old man, they are forced to change their minds one stormy night when the stairway becomes a gateway to the bizarre. They soon realize that Josef Barrington did not kill his family. The stairway and what lay beyond were instrumental in their disappearance. And Peter and Claire are about to meet the same fate.