Thana Niveau

This is a magnificent collection. I had heard Thana Niveau's name before, but I hadn't read any of her work prior to picking up this book. All the stories were therefore new to me.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of these tales is their variety. They are all different in setting and subject matter. In fact, the only unifying characteristic is a general high level of quality.

There are 25 stories herein, so, rather than comment on each one, I'll mention three that especially knocked me show more out.

"The Things That Aren't There": This is the shortest tale in the book. A girl agrees to babysit her mother's friend's six-year-old daughter, who claims to have seen the title entities, whom her mother insists are a figment of her imagination. This is a very eerie story and proof positive that children shouldn't be lied to.

"Guinea Pig Girl": If you've ever wondered what it would be like if M.R. James wrote the script for a J-horror movie, then this is the story for you. A man becomes obsessed with an actress in a "torture porn" film, leading to some frightening and grisly events.

"The Calling of Night's Ocean": This is my favorite story in the collection. It's a masterpiece. A young man working at a cetacean institute in the British Virgin Islands in 1969, trying to avoid going to Vietnam, studies dolphin intelligence. His attempts to communicate with one dolphin in particular lead to a dark and disturbing revelation. This is science-fictional horror at its best and worth the price of the collection all by itself. show less

While I think that Niveau is at her best with short stories, especially those contained in her brilliant collection *Octoberland*, this is a very worthy haunted house novel. I would say that it's not for all tastes, as it is very much a slow-burn story, gradually becoming more and more unsettling until it reaches an unexpected and memorable finale. If you enjoy a slowly paced, cerebral, and, for the most part, quiet horror, then I recommend this book wholeheartedly.