My Two Cents (Book Review): THE HOUSE IS SICK by Amanda Ruzsa

"It began in the walls."

With these words, Amanda Ruzsa ushers readers into a short but atmospheric account of a house bedeviled, as experienced through the eyes of a family's pet cat. Poetic in its presentation, its ominous yet lyrical passages describe how the dark, sinister forces that lurk behind the house's walls, beneath the floorboards, and within hidden nooks and crannies prey upon the cat's owners one by one in grisly procession. Throughout it all, the cat bears witness, unable to prevent these horrific events from unfolding.

The story is beautifully written, despite the gruesome subject matter, and you can tell Ruzsa is a poet at heart. The fact that so much tension, and such sinister atmosphere can be conveyed in so brief a presentation is a testament to her talents as a writer. A haunting, horrifying love letter to both Church, the cat from Pet Sematary by Stephen King, and her own feline fur babies, "The House is Sick" stays with you long after the last stanza.