“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.”

Wowie wowza. The way Gran perfectly articulates the loss of control, the diluting of reality, and deterioration of personhood with a crisp, confident voice was so jarring. There is an undercurrent of a presumptuous smirk, right behind the font, that teases and spurs you on: I like you, follow me.

The likeness of slowly falling, and seeing your world tilt, but then opening your eyes again before you hit the ground to find yourself already there, and for how long? That’s the brand of confusing, disorienting fear present in “Come Closer.”

5/5 I wish I had read this 20 years ago when it came out but I was 13 and doing book reports on the Redwall series for free pizza.