The Brownstone

by Ken Eulo

In The Brownstone a striving young actress, Chandal Knight, and her theater-director husband, Justin, are just about to leave Manhattan to seek fame and fortune in Hollywood when two old ladies offer them the entire ground floor of their brownstone building at an incredible bargain. To say that the house is haunted with demons is putting it mildly. In the beginning Chandal only hears disembodied whispers and sees shadows moving out of the corner of her eye, but tensions rise to unbearable heights as these demons violently make themselves known and Chandal senses she is losing her husband to some kind of paranormal phenomenon. Justin is drifting away into a new passion, photography, which takes him down to a world of darkness in the brownstone’s basement. But it isn’t until Chandal sees Justin’s photographs that she begins to make sense of it all… that the dark mosaic of inexplicable events has taken on a terrifying shape of twisted paranormal horror and dark romance.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Pulp, Mystery

332 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Ken Eulo is a Eugene O'Neill Award-winning writer and bestselling author whose novels have collectively sold over 13 million copies worldwide.

Eulo's began his career in New York City, in the 1970s, as a playwright. In the 1980s, he received national recognition with his first horror book series The Brownstone Trilogy. Since its publication in October 1980, the series has developed a cult following. His success was followed by the novels Nocturnal, The Ghost of Veronica Gray, Manhattan Heat, Claw and The House of Caine. During the same decade Eulo moved to Los Angeles where he worked as a writer for television shows, including Small Wonder, Marblehead Manor, and Benson.

Eulo relocated to Orlando, Florida in the 1990s where he founded and currently serves as the artistic director for the New York Acting Ensemble. The repertory company consists of writers, directors, and actors. They regularly produce touring shows and host regular performances in the Orlando area. Several notable company members have included writer Daniel Corey and actor Creagen Dow.

Reviews

[Grady Hendrix · Rating 1 out of 5]

In an interview, author Ken Eulo said, "One day, I read The Amityville Horror, and I thought to myself “Oh Christ, I could do this in my sleep.” And so he did. In his sleep.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can definitely see why the reviews of this one are all over the map. This, and the following two books in the trilogy were everywhere in the 80s and Eulo a big name; even today, this series has a cult following. It reminded me a bit of Johnstone, being totally over-the-top gonzo almost from the first page, and also like Johnstone, it contains just about every horror trope known. This starts with Rosemary's Baby vibes and I thought it would be a rip off of that, but it did (finally) go a totally different direction, albeit still possessing demon worship and such.

Our main protagonist, Chandal, mid 20s, lives with her husband, a play director, in NYC. Chandal always wanted to be an actress, but never made it. Her husband, Justin, has directed a few dozen plays, but he also has never made it big. they live in a rent controlled apartment in the 80s and the novel starts off with them planning on moving to California, hoping to make it out there. The owners of the building want to renovate the place and begin buying out the tenants and Justin and Chandal take the 6 grand being offered. Well, serendipity seems to happen as two old ladies in a brownstone just a few doors down offer to rent the first floor of it cheeply to Justin and Chandal and Justin gets a new job offer. So, they decide to stay in NYC. Shortly thereafter, Chandal finds out she is pregnant to boot!

As soon as they move into the place, all kinds of crazy shit starts happening; Chandal keeps hearing footsteps and such, Justin abruptly has some personality changes, gale-force winds rocket through the living room, you know, crazy shit! This is the point where the reader has to ask-- why did they stay and not split? Justin loves the place, and the old ladies, and 'convinces' Chandal she is just being emotional, being pregnant and all. Pretty thin, but it does move the plot. In fact, many dubious decisions continue to be made, again, only to move the plot along. And what the hell are the old ladies up to? They seem to be in thrall to some demon and working out some complicated plot with Justin and Chandal, but I will stop there to avoid spoilers.

On the plus side, Eulo does do a fun job with all the crazy foo. The body count, while not too high, comes in rather unexpectedly as it seems everyone Chandal cares about gets offed one way or another. None of her friends will stay in the place, and Chandal's mother hates it as well. Only Justin's increasingly brutality forces Chandal to stay. The Brownstone also gives a glimpse of 1980 NYC. Still, really hard to take this very seriously. Think Amityville Horror cubed with a dash of Rosemary's Baby on the side, with the story moving at a frenetic pace. This takes a bit to get into and it improved as it went, but a hard one to recommend; I think people will either love it or hate it. 2.5 pulpy stars, rounding up for the ending.

[Kenneth McKinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ken Eulo’s The Brownstone has been staring at me from used bookstores everywhere I go. Eulo was never a King, Koontz or Barker, but he was a known commodity in the 80s. More of a second tier horror author who sold 13 million copies of his books. Not exactly chump status. The Brownstone was his most famous, and also the first of a trilogy. You’d think it would be a solid entry in the saturated market of possession/devil/demon stories that made up the vast percentage of horror releases after Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Amityville Horror. Nope. Think again.

Justin and Chandal, a young couple in the 1970s NYC Upper West Side, are suddenly forced to move out of their apartment after the owner sells it out from under them. Originally headed for LA to jumpstart Justin’s struggling career as a director, plans change when Justin comes back with an offer to move into a nearby brownstone. How Justin ran into Elizabeth and Magdalen, the two elderly sisters that own the brownstone, is never clearly revealed, nor does Chandal put much questioning into the matter. She’s recently found out that she’s pregnant, and the couple move in ready to start the next chapter in their life. And that’s when shit goes south. Not quickly, mind you, but in a slow, drawn out way that is painful, at times, to get through.

For the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the book, The Brownstone feels like a cheap imitation of Rosemary’s Baby. Weird shit happens. Chandel sees apparitions and shadows, loses track of time, and has strange premonitions. Justin takes a directing job and then is a moody bitch through the entire casting process. Every time something weird happens, they both dismiss it as if it were the most normal thing in the world, or they simply forget it happened.

One of the biggest anchors this story drags around is that all the characters suck. There isn’t one likable one in the bunch. Justin is an off-the-rails asshole to his wife, and she’s not much better. She’s either crying or bitching throughout the whole story. Her mother? Forget it. She’s even worse. Their friends and coworkers? Paper thin characters that I couldn’t fill a paragraph describing. Completely forgettable. It also doesn’t help that Eulo was famously quoted as to saying, after reading The Amityville Horror, that he could write this in his sleep. Well, his writing reflects it. While structurally sound, it is neither engaging nor interesting. I don’t mind a slow burn as long as there’s a payoff. But The Brownstone doesn’t get above lukewarm. How this thing sold so well, I’ll never know.

2 Bored Demons out of 5

[Kirstin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this used book store find. There are some great scares in these pages. The Brownstone mixes psychological horror, a haunted house and devil worshipping old ladies as they torment a young couple who think they've found their dream home. The only problem I had was how the couple reacts to the horrors around them. Stuff that would have me running for my life and they're like "Hmmm....must be the wind. Let's go to bed." Oh well, these are the people who go down into the basement, even though the lights are burnt out, right? 31/2 stars

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a start into the new reading year. If you like books like Rosemary's Baby, Amityville, The Sentinel/The Guardian or The Exorcist, this is the right stuff for you. A young couple moves into an old NY brownstone and then the horror begins as they encounter devilish demon worshippers. There are many shocking elements in this book. The first part strongly reminds me on Rosemary's Baby but then things turn out different. Absolute pageturner. You won't regret reading it! My next book is the second installment of this 3 part series!

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fave of mine. Atmospheric and so '80s. Well written.

[Richard K. Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cannot believe that this book still holds up even 40 plus years after publish date! Now onto the 2nd of the 3 books! Let's move to New York!

When Chandal and Justin turn down the lovely Brownstone townhouse style apartment in New York to not being able to afford it, you know that something is going to turn around for them TO be able to afford it! Yes, Magdalene and Elizabeth the two OLD lady sisters who own it, must have this young couple move in. And when you find out why, you won't be disappointed. Trust me.

Playwright Justin is working on getting an olff Broadway play up and running, but he has run into problems. They have no where to live. That is when everything seems to be going their way when they are able to move into Ken Eulo's "The Brownstone". Originally published in early 80' this book was all the rage that Summer it came out! I remember I bought 2 copies, because the first one's inside set back art page came out. Now, with this being the 1st of a 3 book series, you really do NOT have to read the other 2 unless you really want to. This does have closure kinda.

The story falls right into that line of tales and characters reminiscent of "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Sentinel" but it takes its own stylish turn down that road to terror! It is not a fast read, so don't expect slam bang action/horror scenes to be thrown at you. But when Eulo does, he does it very effectively. I don't think I ever finished it when it first came out, due to this reasoning, but now as an older reader, I loved this creepy ass tale of things that go bump in the night in the Brownstone. Highly recommended.

4 Creepy Chills

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Supposedly The Brownstone (and the 2 other books in the series) has a huge cult following. But after finishing this one, I won’t be drinking the proverbial Kool-aid.

The Brownstone is painfully slow, and plodding, exceedingly long and unnecessarily boring. Plus, it takes 200+ pages for anything even remotely exciting to happen. I guess a few moments in here are ok but good luck keeping interest long enough to get there.

I’m kinda disappointed I already bought the next 2 because I probably won’t be reading them anytime soon.

[Frannie Burd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this one as a teenager - scared the crap out of me.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

One hell of a creepy story that will have you sleep with the lights on...full review to follow

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 - Not quite a 4 but almost. Many mixed reviews on this one, and it looks like lots of people gave up. That’s too bad, because this one really picks up and goes its own unique way in the last act. Definitely starting off with those Rosemary’s Baby vibes, but ends up going in a much different direction . A very slow burn with a nice payoff. Hauntings and witches and satanists, oh my! I believe I’ll push on through this trilogy and see where it’s headed. It’s always a pleasure to visit an old Brownstone in the heart of the city.

[Daniel Stainback · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing, though annoying and confusing at times, was still better than most writing nowadays. With that said, the story was simply dumb, the characters said and did things that normal adults wouldn't do, they held back information for no real reason other than to cause drama which did little for the plot...the mystery alone was the droving force that pushed me to finish.

I feel no desire to read the next set of books in this series.

[[on hiatus, probably forever] The rockabilly werewolf from Mars · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather dull novel, with a plot lifted directly from just about every popular horror novel of the 70s (in addition to The Amityville Horror, which the author apparently admitted was an influence, I also detected traces of Rosemary's Baby, Burnt Offerings, and probably also The Sentinel, although I haven't read that one yet). One thing that can quickly kill my enthusiasm for a horror novel is when the author reveals too much too quickly, and this book gives away everything in the first few chapters. Once the reader knows what the two old women are up to, there's no suspense, and thus no real reason to keep going. Another issue is the fact that the author isn't very good at giving any real sense of place; indeed, at several points in the book I was left unclear as to where the events were taking place. The protagonist is exceedingly bland; the other characters are comparably square. There were only two or three moments in the book which came close to being scary; for the most part the attempted scares don't go much further than doors being found open when characters thought they had closed them or people hearing footsteps in other parts of the house. Unless I missed something in my increasing apathetic and rushed reading of the book, several plot threads seemingly went nowhere (the mysterious rash that the protagonist develops for about a paragraph and then is never mentioned again, for example). Other parts of the book strained my ability to suspend disbelief, such as how the witches bought the main character's apartment building in order to get them evicted and force them to move into the house they were renting . Although I have a copy of the first sequel, I doubt that I'll be reading it for a while; if I wasn't such a haunted house fan I probably wouldn't have bothered finishing this.

[Karen Syed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the first real horror novels I ever read and I have not been able to go into a brownstone since without wondering if I'd ever get out alive. The characters are horribly creepy and the house itself is one of the best characters I remember reading.

Too bad there are not more books like this one being written!

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years and years ago after finding a box full of my father's paperbacks mixed in with items in storage. This, and The Bloodstone were a great, scary read. I sold the books years ago in a yard sale, but I just purchased it again on Kindle a few mninutes ago. Will probably have to sleep with the lights on tonight.

[Mika Lietzen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Chandal and Justin are a young couple living in Manhattan when they receive an irresistible offer to move into one of New York’s elegant and desirable apartment buildings. Grabbing the deal of a lifetime they move in, but soon Chandal begins seeing ghosts while Justin becomes increasingly strange and secretive. Turns out the two elderly sisters who own the brownstone are actually demon-worshipping cultists who want the couple for their own nefarious ends.

The story goes that Ken Eulo read the Amityville Horror and thought he could do something similar in his sleep. So he apparently took bits and pieces from earlier bestsellers, put them in a blender and produced a limp, lifeless copy of Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby (1967), The Sentinel (1974) and The Amityville Horror (1977). The Brownstone is the end of a long line, an embarrassing money grab, a novel without purpose, without inspiration, without soul.

The plot is a tedious sleepwalk where events take place in locations until the required page quota is filled. There’s no continuity, no sense of a build-up. The sinister true nature of the sisters as discount satanists is revealed by the end of chapter 1. The psychology of the main characters is nonexistent, their behaviour doesn’t resemble that of real humans. Chandal sees a ghost or two or a dozen, but isn’t affected in any way. It’s just something that happens, and is completely forgotten by the next paragraph. Nothing connects, nothing resonates. Even Mintz the fucking cat doesn’t behave like a real cat! Justin the theatre director gives up his theatre job at one point to take up photography, until he reverts back to the theatre for, I guess, no reason. His main role in the novel is to lust obsessively after Magdalen the older sister for a good length of the novel (I’m making no judgments here, but it’s a bit weird) and to behave badly at casting calls. After Justin asks one of the aspiring actresses to undress at a casting call her angry husband the construction worker and his friends begin accosting Justin with their unlikely working class accents which probably counts as horror for some New Yorkers.

Even thinking about this book gives me a headache. Eulo acknowledges his editor at Pocket Books, which kind of feels like the publisher wanted a horror novel set in New York and asked Ken the struggling writer to do the job. In many places on the internet Eulo is referred to as an Eugene O’Neill award winning author, but I was unable to find any reliable official source. It sure wasn’t for this novel.

The only reason I kept turning the pages was to see how low the quality would go. And it goes pretty low before the end, which at least tries to salvage some of the plot points (it’s something to do with the old witch wanting Chandal’s young body for her spirit to inhabit and Justin somehow being her devoted husband who she murdered and who the hell really cares). As a whole there’s nothing to redeem The Brownstone, it may very well be one of the worst books I’ve read for this blog. It’s rambling, it’s boring, it makes absolutely no sense. There’s almost a feeling that the author is underestimating his readers, as if this sort of material is just a bunch of simple scares for the masses. For some reason, many readers remember The Brownstone fondly, after all it did sell profusely in the wake of its predecessors and nostalgia is a bitch. The Brownstone even spawned two sequels of its own, The Bloodstone and The Deathstone. I will not be reading them any time soon.

Find better books to read by checking out my other reviews at mikareadshorrorfiction.wordpress.com!

[I.D. · Rating 1 out of 5]

More like 1.5 stars…
A couple moves into a brownstone and things happen. They stop behaving like people, the plot meanders and goes nowhere, I guess there’s ghosts and a demonic cult who wants to take over their bodies, people around them die, and it all comes to a head with an ending you can see a mile away but still doesn’t really make any sense within the confines of the plot’s reality.
Yikes this was bad. Ever read a book that seemed like the author was just making it up as he went along, had no structure or plot, and just contained random
Domestic scenes? Then every now and again he remembered it’s supposed to be a horror book and hastily added a ghost or crazy death? Yeah that’s this book. It was often interminable but I suffered through. The end bit was the best part but it was a slog to get there. I guess I have to read the next two now though. They can’t be worse can they?

[Gae Xavier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ken Eulo lived in my building at 40 W 85th Street, NYC 10024. I know because the mail person put his mail in my box one day after he had moved on. I picked this up and was pleasantly surprised. He had described the entire block and its inhabitants very, very well in context with a "thriller" plotline. In fact, the block photographer, I saw every day. I still have this paperback. I plan to read it again.

[Larry Yonce · Rating 4 out of 5]

and the atmosphere was dark, dank and smelled of the faint vapor of imminent death

After Chandal and her husband Justin move into a New York brownstone owned by two aging sisters, all that they knew before is horribly altered in the span of a month. Macabre story of an ancient evil (Ahriman, god of darkness) at work in modern New York City. Don't expect a happy ending! Weird and effective.

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Loved the premise of this one, but gave up at the 100 page mark. Other reviews indicate that it picks up in the last five chapters or so, but the characters were so meh that I didn’t really care who possessed who, or who sold who’s immortal soul to the devil, in the end. Confusing and boring - but I like the cover!

[Cristiana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't say I usually agree with Grady Hendrix's reviews, but he nailed it when he wrote
"In an interview, author Ken Eulo said, "One day, I read The Amityville Horror, and I thought to myself “Oh Christ, I could do this in my sleep.” And so he did. In his sleep.
This novel is unbelievably bad, unreadable, I'm not sure how I manage to reach 30%...

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is quiet old. 1980 to be exact. It is part of a trilogy, with this one being first, then Bloodstone and Deathstone. I found this one to be interesting, though slow to get to the good stuff. If you like creepy, ghost stories with a touch of devil worship, try this one.

[André · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly subtle, insidious, with a slow, creeping terror that takes a while to make it's shape fully known. An effective gothic thriller.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book! Slow to develop, but ultimately very creepy!!!!!
A well done thriller w/o all the gore!

[Margo Thaxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in the early 80's in jr. high. I have never forgotten this book and just looking at the cover gives me the creeps all over again!

[Magdalena · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Deborah Moreno · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when I was a kid, and it was SCARY!