Have you ever had that nightmare in which your most trusted companions turn into your pursuers – that nightmare in which you can’t escape because no one will believe you’re in danger?
Welcome to Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby. (Click on this link for my original review and discussion.) You may have seen the excellent original movie starring Mia Farrow; why not try the novel? Levin paints a colorful portrait of the sixties theatre scene in New York City. The characters are sophisticated and creative and the horror starts subtly before building to a terrifying climax.
Some believe that the story reaches its greatest heights of terror when Rosemary’s child is born, but I disagree; the episode in which Rosemary escapes her keepers to get help will keep you on the edge of your seat.
As you read (or re-read) this subtly terrifying modern classic, consider: which terror is worse? Is it the premise that you carry a monster within you, or the knowledge that, in a city of millions, no one can help you escape from a prison built by those you trusted most?