This is more two and a half stars, rounding up to three I think. There were a few creepy moments, but it's all a bit choppy and oddly-structured, with the focus continually being dragged off the actual haunting. I can understand the flashbacks being a means of fleshing out the main character and his motivations, but it just crossed the line to wandering from the point to me, and the often very short chapter lengths didn't help. Furthermore, the family inhabiting the haunted house were, from the get-go, so very odd and off-putting that the truth about them was no surprise at all. That the protagonist spent so much time not picking up on this is consistent with his character, but it didn't make me feel much sympathy for him. Finally, the ending was pretty abrupt and not that convincing, seemingly there for shock value only.

Which sounds like a litany of complaints on my part, but there were some good things in here. The family was moderately disturbing, and Edith was really enjoyable. I kind of wish she'd been the main character, actually! All in all, pretty average though, and far from the best Herbert book I've ever read (that distinction still goes to Moon).