From Twitcher, a Gothic novel

‘“So beautiful, so goth,” said Twitcher, eyeballing his body, “You know the nails keep growing until the worms and bats chew them away…” “Bats?” asked a voice inside his head.’

‘In the right weather conditions, an outstretched hand can be mistaken for a vampire bat.’

‘Family lore asserts that Twitcher wasn’t born but discovered under the bed, like a thing from a bad dream.’

‘…his feral verisimilitude was widely remarked upon in a school production of Bela Lugosi’s Dead.’

‘dead skunk breath’

‘His door creaked open, making the noise of panicky mice.’

‘He called his bedroom ‘the laboratory.’’

‘hoarfrost’

‘witch’s milk’

“…the pumpkins were rubber or foam; he had a fancy imagination — fiery gargoyles, phosphorescent trees...”

‘like the TV in Poltergeist.’ ‘like the graveyard in Vampyr.’ ‘like the vampire in Snow White.’

“Jemima… Baskerville?”

‘For Halloween, Twitcher dressed as the Big Bad Wolf and Jemima as Red Riding Hood. Jemima stuck her purple cough syrup tongue in his ear.’

‘Jemima liked to lie on the bed pretending she was a rabbit for him, strung from the ceiling.’

From Twitcher, a Gothic novel

‘her face obscured by fog as she said, “trick or treat?’’’

“I remember playing ‘Graveyard’ with him. ‘Graveyard’ and ‘Leper’ were his favourite games.” “How do you play ‘Leper’?” “Well, one person is infected and everybody else just runs away.’’

“’Snowstorm?” said Heather, pulling a face.’

‘Twitcher’s cat, Sludge, playing hide-and-seek with his shadow.’

‘Twitcher’s dog, Mr. Rumble, snarling through a hole in the fence.’

“Dare you to play on the moor.”

‘eldritch breeze’

‘At twilight, broom in hand, Twitcher wandered onto the moor.’

‘…and Twitcher’s father in pyjamas that afternoon, slurring his words.’

‘…and the gargoyle leering, its face cracked in two.’