Review: Good short story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 10, 2013
I was asked to read and review I met a Demon by Petronela Ungureanu.I met a Demon is set in the first person point of view with in a male POV, the story is confusing at first. Ungureanu never gives the character a name and does not tell you that is a male character, but as the story progresses you can tell that it is. Although it is a short story it is one that if you allow it, the story will draw you in with its suspense. The story is set in the autumn of 1976, when Ungureanu states the male character is leaving from the city to go into the countryside for his work. Along the way he describes to you what life is like in the country they are in at the time. I say the country they are in because of the tone of the story you can tell you are not in the United States. I would say it is more of a European tone from the writing.Ungureanu allows us to see into the male character's past by letting us see that they are from a good Christian home, but tells you that he did stray away from the church himself. As the story takes place in the countryside of a European country in 1976, you can see that amenities are very scarce at this time since the character has to use lamp oil in order to have light. By having to use the lamp it set the mood for a great eerie effect. But what really gave me goose bumps while reading this story is when Ungureanu is talking about the sounds and the foul odors that mysteriously appear."I was woken by some unusual noises coming from the attic, this time I am not so sure they were rats trotting around, but rather some sort of... heavy treading. So, initially I thought that maybe my landlord has finally decided to bring someone and fix the rat problem. But, so early in the morning?Besides the treading and the banging from the attic, there was something else that kept me alert all the rest of the night, some strange sobbing coming apparently from the locked room in my vicinity.""Out of nowhere, a most foul odor started spreading around. It was a very strong unbreathable stench that we could not identify at all, in spite of our thorough inspections in every possible corner. Nevertheless, we did discover a most unusual phenomenon. The offensive smell seemed to be located somewhere around the only chair in the room."As the story nears the end that is when the scary factor really hits when Ungureanu male character is awoken to IT( the demon). Now, I do not want to give much away, but this is the point where literally I have goose bumps spreading up and down my arms from the telling of the story. The way that Ungureanu describes the demon with its grayish disgusting skin, eyes made of fire, can really make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.I have always been told never judge a book by its cover and this is one story that I would recommend someone taking just a brief amount a time to read this short story. Although it might take a little bit to get into, once you do it will make a great short story