Men! She could not understand why so many women feared them. Hadn't the gods made them with the most vurnerable part of their guts hanging right out of their bodies, like a misplaced bit of bowel? Kick them there and they curled up like snails. Caress them there and their brains melted.

He sat upon his throne, which is made of skulls.

The old sleep poorly. Perhaps they stand watch.

Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals?

I thought it was great fun to scare people. I also knew it was socially acceptable because there were a lot of horror movies out there.

Who gets to be best-liked in any community? Who is the most trusted? Why, the man who does the dirty job, of course, and does it with a smile. The man who does the job you couldn't bring yourself to do.

Take the dead from the dead, the old proverb said; only a corpse may speak true prophecy.