Lanagan, Margo. Red Spikes. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.
Do you have nightmares?
“It’s not possible, Tregowan had said. I saw Ark. No one the size and make of Thomas Chauncey could do such damage. His ear was torn near right off.” (p. 79)
“And fluffther-fluffther over the rim they came like boiling, only the boilings ran away on little gray-and-pink legs, and pulled gray tails behind them. They poured off the table edges and ran out the door and away to the west, to the town.” (p. 125)
“In the end I said to it, ‘I have already been eaten by one of you.’ It puffed up all fat and stiff-legged. ‘Why don’t you go and find a real bird?’” (p. 61)
“‘Well, how about—these is good for a snack, after they’ve lain awhile.’ He looked doubtfully at the pile. He had one in his hand, by its little blackened leg. As Oll watched, the leg came out of its rotten hip socket, and the rest of the baby fell back onto the pile.” (p. 52)
“Yes, it was always a trudge here. But what was the hurry when it came to eternity? Might as well trudge as not. Barto was new here; he didn’t realize. He’d just arrived, and by car accident, so he was still in a kind of shock.” (p. 98)
“Underneath is other cloth, finer, paler, with a shape inside. I don’t want to touch it. And you don’t have to, says my hunter’s mind. See? You’ve got a second chance to walk away. Take it, take it. Go. My breath, through my teeth, sounds like a straw broom sweeping a stone step.” (p. 37)
What if your nightmares were real?
