[For the October 9th highlight, click here.]

October 10th

Snuff has quite a busy day. First, he foils the latest escape attempt by the Thing in the Circle. Next, he returns the piece of drugged meat that Owen tried to give him, tossing it on the old man’s porch (prowling around the property, Snuff discovers “eight large wicker baskets in various stages of construction, and seven smaller ones,” all under a “huge old oak” tree). Continuing through the stormy neighborhood, Snuff witnesses the white-coated Good Doctor attempting (with the assistance of electricity-discharging machinery) to animate a manlike figure. Peeping next through the window of Larry Talbot’s place, Snuff observes the man whispering sweet somethings to an “enormous flower” (Zelazny’s nod to Universal’s first filmic foray into lycanthropy, Werewolf of London). Finally, sniffing around the Count’s churchyard crypt, Snuff spots a shadowy creature winging overhead–a large bat that transforms into “a dark-suited man in a black cloak” upon landing. Caught in the act of snooping, Snuff think on his paws and quickly slides into roleplay: “Uttering a series of idiot yips, I rushed forward, wagging my tail furiously, and threw myself on the ground before him, rolling about like some attention-starved stray.” The clever familiar passing himself off as a basic dumb canine (the act earns Snuff a scratch behind the ears and a labeling of “Good dog” by the Count) easily forms the highlight of the October 10th segment of Zelazny’s novel.