It's easy to see how these two "episodes" could have involved Mulder and Scully. In fact, they started out as outlines for "X Files" novels, since Charles Grant wrote the first two tie-in novels for the TV series, bringing his trademarks — intelligent wit and tightly crafted atmosphere — to the world of the supernatural-hunting FBI agents. Now that he's no longer connected to the series, Grant has expanded upon his characters and made them independent — and more interesting.

In Black Oak: Genesis, Grant told of Ethan Proctor and his investigative agency, a group dedicated to uncovering scams, unmasking charlatans and occasionally investigating possible supernatural events with an uncommonly open mind. That first novel also told how Proctor came to make a deal with multimillionaire Taylor Blaine: financial backing in exchange for a continuous serious attempt to locate Blaine's long-missing daughter; and solve a mysterious series of happenings in a remote backwoods area.

In The Hush of Dark Wings, something's not right in Hart Junction, Kansas, an old movie Western set-town gone to pot. Since a strange cult of women moved in, people have been leaving or disappearing mysteriously. And the sound of leathery wings fills the night air. Proctor and Vivian, Blaine's bodyguard, arrive and find themselves at the mercy of the locals' scam and at the end of a cycle of escalating violence. Grant layers the novel with the exceedingly well-rendered fear of the unknown we all share. What's going on in Hart Junction will scare you in that nicely Hitchcockian way Grant has with scenes: short, punchy, symbolic. Harking back to his Oxrun Station books of the macabre, Grant now visits a strange town in each episode, and each is worthwhile in its own way.

In Winter Knight, Ethan Proctor is called to England when a rash of strange occurrences coincides with the finding of a photograph that may be of Blaine's daughter, taken after her disappearance.

But after a quick arrival on the Concorde, Proctor finds that events have spiraled into weirdness. A local legend — a ghost who makes evil bargains — seems to be on the move, planning vengeance beyond comprehension. Alan Morgan, the wealthy landowner who owns the photo album, seems to be avoiding every chance to show it to Blaine and Proctor; Morgan's daughter greets Proctor at gunpoint; the family's sour-dispositioned butler continues to appear seemingly out of nowhere; and various village people consider, enter into, or wish they'd never heard of The Bargain with Jared Battle, the Winter Knight. And before long, even as Proctor begins to put things together, someone's revenge begins in a most unexpected way.

Charles Grant writes quiet books that resonate far beyond their pages, leaving much to your imagination, like a literary equivalent to "The Blair Witch Project." If you haven't tried a Charles Grant, his Black Oak or Millennium Quartet series are perfect starting points.