"I'm so tired of being afraid," she murmured. 
 "I know." 
 "You don't," she said. "But you will." 
 Gillian Flynn's stories have a remarkable way of burrowing into your bones and staying, making you think about them long after you've put the book down. She makes you actually care about the characters, even if they are some of the most corrupted, insane people you could possibly read about (Gone Girl, anyone?) 
 The Grownup is a short story that was originally published in George R.R. Martin's anthology Rogues, under the name "What Do You Do?" It's difficult to provide a synopsis for such a tiny book, but essentially this story follows an anonymous young woman who vaguely works in "customer service." One day, as she's reading auras at Spiritual Palms, Susan Burkes, a middle-aged housewife, enters the shop and the narrator realizes that this woman is truly troubled. When the "psychic" visits Susan's mansion to cleanse the property, she meets Susan's troubled stepson Miles and begins to think that Susan's troubles might actually be grounded in fact. 
 Flynn is a master of the plot twist, and this short story is no exception. The open-ended conclusion was jumbled and chaotic, but that's okay: it added even more suspense to this already suspenseful story. By the end of the book, you still have strong memories of a malevolent old house and a teenaged boy with black eyes, creeping through the halls.