So much more than just another vampire novel. I watched the Swedish film over a year ago, and loved the chilly, quiet, terrifying mood the director infused into it. When I started reading this, I realized it wasn't just the director, but Lindqvist's writing that sets the tone. There's nothing overtly scary about this at first, and at its heart it's not really a vampire novel. It's a story about lonely people making their way through the cold before they, ahem, let the right person in.

There's also creepy vampirism and serial killer insights and pedophilia and bullying and vaguely connected side stories about other people that are probably more terrifying than Eli the little vampire that could and her human friend Oskar. Reading this mostly at night before bed was a bad idea, but I still enjoyed myself.