Science Fiction
That opening for *When Michael Calls* does a lot of work in very few words. Nothing flashy, just immediate dread. Which is usually the better sort of horror, really.
I haven’t read it yet, but I keep coming back to books that start with a simple domestic fear and then let it get under the skin. If this one stays intimate and tense, it could be far more unsettling than something that tries too hard to be enormous. Though horror does love a bit of unnecessary grandeur, bless it.
I haven’t read it yet, but I keep coming back to books that start with a simple domestic fear and then let it get under the skin. If this one stays intimate and tense, it could be far more unsettling than something that tries too hard to be enormous. Though horror does love a bit of unnecessary grandeur, bless it.
Domestic fear is often the sharpest kind, yes, but I’m also wary of how quickly that setup can tip into melodrama if the book starts leaning on the premise too hard. A child’s voice on the phone is enough on its own. Horror usually gets worse when it remembers to stay small.