The Black House: Stories -- Patricia Highsmith

Some of the stories in this book just gave me the willies.  Not the run-and-dive-under-the-covers-because-of-the-unseen-shadowy-hand-about-to-grab-my-ankle kind of willies.  Instead, I found myself lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, just feeling vaguely unsettled.  Which is kind of worse -- the ankle-grabbing willies I can laugh off.  The other kind sticks around for days.

The Shirley Jackson willies.  That's what The Black House has -- psychological scares that are so much worse than anything Freddy Krueger can dish out.  Their normalcy makes them scary. 

The stories that especially got me: 

"Not One of Us":  In which a group of friends turns on one of their own -- think middle school, but with adults and with more dire consequences. 

"The Dream of the Emma C":  It never occurred to me before that a ship/boat is the perfect place for a psychological thriller -- everyone is stuck together in cramped quarters.  Tensions heighten fast.  I might need to read more boat books, which is something I never ever thought I'd say.

"Old Folks at Home":  The ending made me think of Roald Dahl's story "The Way up to Heaven".  (Which by the way, is required reading.  If you haven't, you must.)  This story was far creepier than the Dahl, though.

"The Kite":  This one made me think of Roald Dahl, too.  But even though this one was rough, his "The Swan" is still more horrific. 

"The Black House":  Yeah.  It's the title story for a reason.