The Demon Lover

Content Warning: This section mentions wartime violence, relationship abuse, sexuality, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and demon possession.

“The Demon Lover” is written in a close third-person perspective attached to Mrs. Drover’s experience. Close third person is a she/he/they narration that keeps the reader attuned to a single character’s feelings while providing contextual details that allow the reader to judge that character’s reliability. In this case, it facilitates empathy with Mrs. Drover as she fears her home might be in jeopardy and recalls her former fiancé and his possible death.

For example, Mrs. Drover doesn’t know who sent her the letter, and her speculations about how it got into her closed house encourage the reader to consider various possibilities: whether the caretaker put it there (perhaps after writing it), whether the demon lover made it magically appear, whether Mrs. Drover wrote the letter herself, etc. These questions aim to draw readers closer to the narrative and engage them in its mystery. Because Mrs. Drover feels its delivery is “intru[sive]” or even “a threat,” the reader is encouraged to consider this possibility. Mrs. Drover’s rising fear and her anxious observations allow readers to engage in the narrative and try to solve a crime that (assuming Mrs.