House 400 — S.K. Epperson

Muller Nagy's family has secrets the neighbors can only guess at, never getting a full picture of what goes on behind the door of their noisy home, where his brother, two sisters and mother live under the thumb of a constantly raging father. The neighbors know their garbage can is routinely filled with broken, damaged items and the trees outside the Nagy house are always full of flapping, screaming starlings that often disguise what goes on inside. Karol Nagy, Muller's malevolent father, has his own buried truths, hidden from all who know him until his untimely death.The uncovering of one particular secret brings unexpected joy to the family who survives him and they decide to flee their past and open a family business, a fine dining restaurant. But their father isn't letting go that easily, and then a day comes when former neighbors show up to apply for jobs. The visit brings unexpected turmoil as the family learns of events that happened after their departure from the old neighborhood, namely the deaths of two girls Muller knew as friends, one whose corpse has only recently been discovered. Then a kidnapping occurs, also related to their former street, and along with a former crush, Muller soon finds a detective and an FBI agent at his door, asking questions about his family's involvement. Events spin out of control and Muller as his siblings fight to contain the madness. Enter a priest and two psychic mediums who connect with the departed. The past melds with the present as more deaths occur, connected to a group of people who dined in their restaurant under another owner two decades earlier. The solution may be simpler than any of them know: she weighs less than a hundred pounds and knows how to change a light bulb.