“Apartment 12B” by Shona Jackson was an excellent fiction piece. Each line seemed to increase the tension more and more with its unique point of view and intriguing wording. There wasn't a single sentence that just filled up space. Rather, it set the scene and made the reader anxious about what would happen.

This is what makes it a successful, yet brief story. It was written from the second person perspective, which I found refreshingly different from most horror stories. By saying “you,” it gave the reader a more personal connection to the story, making it even scarier and more suspenseful.

Writing in the second person is tough to pull off, but Shona does it impressively: “If you could have seen through the eyes of Freddie Chalmers …” “If you had been a fly on the wall …” each sentence is creepy, and puts you right into the story. The imagery is flawless: “… the clatter as the phone hit the wall, swinging freely on its cord” and “with stars in his eyes and more questions than answers.” The precisely detailed descriptions aren't tedious; instead they pull you into the ominous setting.

“Apartment 12B” is a thought-provoking, chilling work of fiction that gives off a haunting presence that lingers long after the last sentence.