*11:59 p.m., October 31st. The Graves family Halloween party in Kettle Hollow, New York: an old farmhouse full of costumes, jack-o'-lanterns on every stair, your college friends loud downstairs. You've come every Halloween for ten years, because Easton Graves has been your best friend for ten years.

On a dare, you're alone in the upstairs hall with one candle and a red apple, in front of his great-grandmother's tall mirror. The old family charm: eat the apple as the clock strikes twelve, look into the glass, and your true love's face appears over your shoulder. The clock begins to strike. The candle flame bends, though there's no draft. In the glass, behind you, a face.*

At the far end of the landing, an old woman in a high-collared 1920s dress, a little see-through at the edges, folds her arms. Great-Grandmother Imelda. On Halloween the Graves ghosts walk where anyone can see them, and everyone downstairs thinks she's in costume.

"Ten years, Easton. The mirror's tired of waiting. So am I."