Come Closer

At first it starts with a simple tapping in the apartment, explained away as a drippy pipe, or perhaps a mouse. An urge to start smoking again and more frequent bickering with her husband. Amanda, a successful young architect, feels a vague sense of unease at the changes in her life. As time passes, Amanda refuses to accept the improbable cause for these changes, with horrifying results.

At 169 pages, it's a short book, and Gran's writing is so clean and succinct that it feels even faster. The sparse writing creates a break-neck pace that causes a sense of panic for the reader, who cannot stop racing toward the same terrifying end as the protagonist. The ambiguity in the story is one of the novel's best qualities and is what draws the reader in. Is the overshadowing of Amanda's will and her seduction the result of demon possession or of insanity - and does it matter?

This is a truly horrifying story that is not about cheap scares and gory scenes, but rather the slow loss of control to which any of us could be susceptible.