The change happened while I sat down to supper. Suddenly, it would seem that my surroundings underwent a sort of metamorphosis. As the cruel gleam of headlights leaked through the windows, a dread chill blew through the room. The comfort of my home was no longer, tainted by the coming intruder.

Footsteps sounded on the walkway outside. My coat on the wall became a leering obelisk and the dark corners of the room seemed to grow and wriggle, no doubt concealing the interlocking tentacles of some unknowable horror.

A knock. I cowered there in my chair amid the flickering island of candlelight. Then another. With quavering hands, I approached the door.

“Sir? Are you there? I’ll just be leaving your package right here.”