One of my absolute favorite short stories. It nails the very tricky combination of creepy and hilarious through some fantastic characterization as well as deft, concise descriptive passages – such as how the narrator tries to characterize what he hears from the attic toward the end. I'm a fan of Weird Fiction, which this is. Stories that manage to be both thoroughly amusing and genuinely eerie/creepy are few in number. This is one of the best. ( )