Not wanting a certain shabby dollhouse, but unable to politely refuse it, Zibby is alarmed when she gets the dollhouse home and strange events begin to occur, such as her mother's falling down the steps when the dollhouse mother does

When her mother plans to get remarried, Zibby forgets to warn her soon-to-be step-sister that playing with the haunted doll house could make terrible things come true.

Some of the kids at Zibby's school have been having strange dreams. Nightmares about fire. And a ghostly hand that reaches out from the flames. Even though Zibby has learned to believe in ghosts, she doesn't believe that so many kids could be dreaming the same thing.