The Occupant
by G. Carrion
The devil doesn't need your soul. Just your doubt.
Dr. Nora Callahan is a psychiatrist and committed atheist practicing in Boston. When a young woman named Sela Morrow is referred after a severe breakdown, Nora expects a textbook case—dissociative identity disorder, maybe psychotic features. Treatable. Manageable.
Except Sela knows things she shouldn’t. Details about Nora’s private life. Thoughts Nora hasn’t spoken aloud. Her face seems to shift in peripheral vision. Other patients in the practice begin behaving strangely after sharing the waiting room with her.
A 450-year-old demonological text and a retired Jesuit scholar reveal what Nora’s training never prepared her for: Sela made a deal with Dantalion, the 71st demon of the Ars Goetia—a Duke of Hell who knows the thoughts of all people and can change them at will. The same entity surfaced centuries ago. The rational observer who investigated it didn’t survive.
For readers of The Exorcist, Case 39, Hereditary
“A psychiatrist versus a demon that reads minds. The most terrifying consultation you’ll ever witness.”
— Early Draft Reader
Content warnings
Reviews
What Readers Are Saying
“The scariest possession story since The Exorcist. Dantalion will haunt your thoughts long after you close the book.”
ARC Reader
“A razor-sharp collision of science and the supernatural. Nora’s unraveling is absolutely devastating.”
Early Reviewer
“Terrifyingly intelligent horror that makes you question whether rational thought is a defense or a vulnerability.”
Beta Reader
