Plot summary

The Los Angeles based Zorbas - paleontologist father Cyrus, mother Hilda, young adult daughter Medea and young teen son Buck - have just inherited a furnished old mansion from Cyrus' recently deceased uncle, Dr. Plato Zorba, a widely dismissed but wealthy occultist. This inheritance coincides with Buck's birthday wish that they have a furnished house in which to live, as they have always rented, and their furniture often repossessed because of Cyrus' forgetfulness to save money or pay the bills. The will states that they have to live in the mansion or else it reverts back to the state. The lawyer, Benjamen Rush, tells them that the mansion also comes with a housekeeper, the witch-like Elaine Zacharides who decides to stay until she can find other arrangements, and the ghosts that Plato collected from around the world. The Zorbas brush off the notion of ghosts as crazy. Ben, however, does believe in the ghosts' existence, that belief based on what he saw of Plato when Plato was alive. Living at the mansion, the Zorbas do believe that there are ghosts there which Plato tried to control as part of his work. They also believe that they are in possible mortal danger because of the ghosts. While Hilda wants to leave, Cyrus wants to stay as he believes Plato willed the mansion to him for a reason, and he is determined to find out what it is, even at the risk of their lives. There is also the issue of Plato's vast monetary fortune, which some believe may be hidden in the mansion.—Huggo