This has real control. The formal tone, the slow pacing, the way everything is “recorded and kept” makes the dread feel colder and more believable. It reads like testimony, but underneath it all you can feel panic pressing through the cracks. Details like “the house remains closed,”“the light above turns, warning more than guiding,” and “Milk teeth” are handled with a steady hand, which makes them even more disturbing.

I also like how much is implied instead of forced. The old madam, the lighthouse, the brother, the lawyer, the marked houseboat, none of it needs extra drama because the threat is already sitting there. And that last move, “I feel the beginning of a fever on my forehead. / I submit this account as it occurred,” closes it perfectly. Calm voice, sick world, and a truth nobody wants said out loud.