A good short story, it stands on it's own. However, I don't reccommend reading it until after you've read What the Night Knows. The ending for the short story ties into the ending of the novel and may ruin the novel if you plan to read it. I only gave it a 2 because I didn't believe that Alton Blackwood would have kept his promise. Without that key belief, the ending of the story kind of falls apart.