[For the October 7th highlight, click here.]

October 8th

Graymalk is nearly drowned, tossed down a well by MacCabe (a rookie mistake, according to the informant Quicklime: “One should wait till after the death of the moon” to start eliminating players from the Game) in retaliation for her mistress Crazy Jill’s stealing of herbs from Morris and MacCabe’s front porch. Also in this action-packed chapter, the Thing in the Wardrobe momentarily escapes, before the “exemplary watchdog” Snuff bites and slashes it back into attic captivity. Amidst all this excitement, Larry Talbot steps onstage, paying a friendly call upon Snuff’s master Jack. When first sniffed by Snuff, Larry conveys “an underlying suggestion of wildness”; like Jack, he has “the air of the predator” about him. Larry implies that his interests align with Jack’s in the Game, but Snuff later shares his puzzlement with Quicklime: “He’s a strange one. Doesn’t seem to have a companion.” “Maybe he’s his own best friend,” Quicklime replies, hinting that Larry’s supernatural duality might supply him with his own animal familiar. My nod for highlight of the October 8th night goes to this burgeoning mystery of Larry’s plot role, which apparently will involve more than just a lycanthropic cameo in Zelazny’s novel.