They all were, it seemed -- everyone, all around. Heads down, unable to tear themselves away from the latest horror. It weighed upon him, this feeling of unending stress and strife, this sense that it would only get worse before it could possibly get better (and even the getting better might only be a mitigating better as opposed to true progress).
As the world moved faster and faster, he tried to keep pace in his daily life and the race was running him ragged. And so it was that he awoke on the last day of September and realized that heād not even packed, not even considered the trip forthcoming.
And he wondered, for the first time, if it was a trip he could make. The world of fantasy and fear was ultimately an escape, and the real world demanded presence. It demanded a commitment to the fight.
āBut,ā said his partner, shining red dog standing by her side, āno one can go forever. Everyone needs a break. Others will take up the fight. Donāt let them take this from you.ā
And so he shrugged on his jacket and set to packing.
The 2018 October Country Reading List
* Dinner, CĆ©sar Aira
* Lives of the Monster Dogs, Kirsten Bakis
* Found Audio, N.J. Campbell
* The Honours, Tim Clare
* Scratch, Steve Himmer
* Amatka, Karin Tidbeck
* The Twilight Pariah, Jeffrey Ford
* Needful Things, Stephen King
* Dracul, Dacre Stoker & J.D. Barker
* Frankenstein in Baghdad, Ahmed Saadawi
* Memento Mori, Muriel Spark
* The Job of the Wasp, Colin Winnette
* Such Small Hands, AndrƩs Barba
* The Bus on Thursday, Shirley Barrett
* The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
* The Twenty Days of Turin, Giorgio De Maria
* Alice Isnāt Dead, Jeffrey Fink
* House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
* Kindred, Octavia Butler
* Dark Tales, Shirley Jackson
* Judderman, D.A. Northwood
* Wolfman Confidential, Justin Robinson
* My Sister, the Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaite
* Fear and His Servant, Mirjana NovakoviÄ
* The Last Wolf / Herman, LĆ”szlĆ³ Krasznahorkai
* The Ghost Box I & II, ed. by Patton Oswalt
As ever, he had more than he needed. But he didnāt mind the weight, even as he sprinted down the tracks towards the eagerly waving conductor, whose skeletal hand clapped him on the shoulder as he leapt aboard the slowly departing last train of the night. When he awoke, heād be there...
snowghoul
kianamaiart
gummygunk
tangentwithtanner
areudirty
germansingergirl
jbbartram-illu
titsay
blakekathryn
