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Sarah Gran's novella is a haunting horror thriller, interspersed with the darkest of humour, chillingly ambiguous about the central character, the suitably unreliable Amanda. She is an ambitious architect working on her biggest project to date, the Fitzgerald House, which she is hoping will lead to her moving on from her current employers, Fields and Carmine, to set up in business on her own. She is happily married to Ed, living in a loft apartment, where it all begins with the sinister tapping that never seems to stop, which we are later to learn is the first sign of demonic possession. From here, we slowly see the disintegration of Amanda, her personal and professional spiralling out of her control. As is stated by Amanda “We could devote our lives to making sense of the odd, the inexplicable, the coincidental. But most of us don’t, and I didn’t either.��

Without doubt, a series of strange and odd events do occur, the German Alsation dog close to home that was initially so friendly to Amanda, turning hostile and fearful, the all too vivid dreams, the rising number of arguments she has with Ed, the blackouts where she can remember nothing of what happens, the shoplifting, taking up smoking again after having successfully quit, and the delivery of the wrong book, Demon Possession, Past and Present. However, can Amanda's account really be trusted? Is she really possessed by the demon Naamah, her unfortunate history outlined in Christian and Jewish history or is it her mental health issues that are contributing to her breakdown? Amanda's disturbing and unsettling downwards slide into the concluding nightmare of horror is inevitable, marked by her increasing scores in the demonic possession quiz.

This is the perfect read for those time of the year where horror and supernatural fiction comes into its own, such as Halloween, or whenever you feel in the need to venture into darker reading territory. I particularly like the ambiguity of this relatively short story, with Amanda visiting the spiritual advisor, Sister Maria, and a psychotherapist, Dr Fenton, both unsettling in their different way for her. This is a wonderfully intense and eerie read, which I think will appeal to many readers of horror. Many thanks to the publisher for a copy of the book.