Michael lived a charmed life, good looking, lots of friends, popular as well as getting good grades and a competitive skateboarder. People also thought he was the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet...until...

Until his father lost his job and they were forced to live on his mother's RN salary. They kept up with the bills for a while but could not keep up with the mortgage payments and were forced to sell their house in a comfortable suburb and find something cheaper.

His "friends" start treating him differently, except for his two best friends, Dewey and Short Round. They are the only ones who don't abandon him when it seemed everything and everyone else had.

And then his parents found the house, an old and shabby Victorian in a run-down neighborhood in the oldest part of the town. His parents are grateful to have found it, but right away Michael can feel something is wrong with it. His younger sister, Kit, starts crying and saying she can't live there, but their parents tell them it's a fixer-upper but has good bones and will look like a different house when they are done refurbishing it.

But the first night in the house confirms Michael's fears. His favorite poster has been ripped from the walls and he has a dream about a girl who tells him, "You can't hang up that awful poster again." She is pretty but she seems unearthly and furthermore, is wearing his sister's clothes.

When Michael wakes up the pieces of the poster have disappeared and he cannot shake the image of the girl from his mind. Then, things start happening in his room and he knows he is no longer alone. Now he is starting to believe in things he never believed in, and he knows his life will never be the same again.