*Partial spoilers ahead*

Bob Bunting is a data entry clerk who lives alone in a small, shabby New York apartment, and whose already tenuous connection to reality begins to unravel as--on his thirty-fifth birthday--he becomes obsessed with baby bottles. Bunting struggles with the demands of his daily existence, attempting to stay in touch with his aging, cantankerous parents in Michigan and doing his best not to disappoint a boorish but well-meaning coworker who wants to set him up on a blind date. As he becomes increasingly overwhelmed by the urge to retreat permanently to his apartment and his baby bottles, Bunting discovers (with mixed terror and fascination) that when he reads a book, it becomes absolutely real to him: he finds himself within the story, and this state of being is infinitely preferable to the outside world.

I'm not sure what else to say without revealing major spoilers to the first-time reader, but in this novella inspired by the Rona Pondick sculpture that appears on the cover, Peter Straub has crafted the ultimate masterpiece of psychological horror. There are people who will misunderstand and therefore hate it (you probably already know who you are), but if you're a fan of Oliver Onions's "The Beckoning Fair One," Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" or the Twilight Zone episode "Miniature," you'll adore The Buffalo Hunter. ( )