I think I read this book first when I was maybe 10, and not again until now. I have to say, it's not one of the ones that's aged really well. For that, I'd have to go with The Dark Secret of Weatherend, which is one of my all time favorites, or The Figure in the Shadows. I'm just much more partial to when Bellairs haunts buildings rather than people or artifacts.
Part of it is the language sounds a little heavy-handed to my adult ears--the omniscient narrator is much too present in some places, much too explanatory--and it puts hitches in the story like pulls in a good wool sweater. Johnny's a less sympathetic protagonist than I remember, and he was never my favorite to start with.
But Professor Childermass is still wonderfully cranky and eccentric and strange, and along with the aptly named Professor Coote (and yes, I ship Childermass/Coote like whoa) provides a delightfully imaginative impetus that saves the story from falling on its ear. There's a ton more Christianity vs old-time Egyptian religious things going on than I remember (well yes, as a dippy 10-year-old I probably wouldn't have picked up on that) but it's not ultimately as powerful or as fascinating as it could be. Next time, I'm heading back to Weatherend.
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