In the years since, I've discovered there's a lot to be said for boredom.

And that almost killed you?" "It wasn't deep but it got infected. Infection means that the bad germs got into it. Infection's the most dangerous thing there is, Tom. Infection was what made the superflu germ kill all the people. And infection is what made people want to make the germ in the first place. An infection of the mind.

When it comes to horror there's a strange need to analyze. When "evil children" fad happened, there was The Exorcist and The Other and The Omen. People would say, "What this really means is that Americans don't want to have kids anymore. They feel hostility towards their own children. They feel they're being tied down and dragged down." In fact, in most cases, what those books are about is nice children who are beset by forces beyond their control.

Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones.

We are going to fight. We are going to be hurt. And in the end, we will stand.

What if I fall?', Tim cried. Maerlyn laughed. 'Sooner or later, we all do.

He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.