More than 1 story?

[Amanda]

So the more I read (I'm about 60% through), the more it seems to me like there are two ways to read this book. One way is as a ghost story, the other is an allegory (maybe the wrong word?) for abuse and addiction. So the story is about a family being terrorized by ghosts and evil and whatnot, but also about a family (Wendy and Danny) being terrorized by an abusive husband and father.

I'm going to spoiler this for people who haven't reached the halfway point: (view spoiler)[So Danny goes to rm 217 and is attacked by the dead lady in the tub. But is it possible to read it as Jack realizing that Danny has taken the passkey, going upstairs to get Danny, loosing his temper and abusing his son, and then refusing to remember what he did? And Danny makes up the story about the lady in the tub as a self-protection, so he doesn't have to face the truth of what happened? (hide spoiler)]

What do you guys think?

[Andrew]

Yeah, I think that's right.

[Matthew]

Amanda, I think you're dead right. This book is more about abuse than anything. In fact, the entire book's plot doesn't work without this abusive marriage et al.