Picture this. It's the dead of summer, stuck at a summer camp over the weekend with no campers. Every once in a while the "X-Files" theme music floats over the trees while the AV team prepares the music and intros for the High School campers that will be in on Sunday afternoon. Asking for a book I get handed "Phantoms."

"Is it horror?" I ask. I don't read horror.

"No, no." Comes the reassurance from one of the camp counselors. "It's science fiction." I nod and open the front cover.

Eight hours later I had finished the book and for the rest of my time up in the mountains, couldn't sleep very well. I was only 17 and was working in the kitchen. Everynight as I rinsed the last bits of food away I would stare at the drains and shudder.

To me, whether a book is horror or suspense or a combination of those two, it needs to stick with you, and the sights and sounds of "Phantoms" have never left me. Fourteen years later I still steer clear of Luna moths and can't stand the thought of big, wide drains...