In EYES WIDE OPEN by Jan Miklaszewicz, there’s something lurking in the confines of a student house in Hartmouth. The students who live there are doing all the things that students traditionally do once they’ve been let off the leash, such as drinking, staying up late, sleeping in late, more drinking and generally getting up to no good, but this house they are occupying develops a dark personality, one that’s waiting to take advantage of them.
One of the fun things about this gruesome horror tale is that, just after the characters have been introduced, and just before things start to turn really horrific, there is a fun moment of self awareness much like the sort of thing you’d experience in a Scream movie.
Then, when events skew towards the really nasty, there’s a lot of fun to be had. Miklaszewicz balances the dread, the gross-out moments, and the comedy really well, and although this is a fairly short book (under 100 pages) it packs quite a punch.