Only a Book of Nightmares

Rolando Creep

Monsters in wax,
Demons of stone,
Ghosts in the glass,
Creatures of bone...

A penny a peak is almost all you will pay
To view these nightmares, before they away.

The First Tooth Faerie

The Contractual Obligation of Sleep

When you sleep, you are at the mercy of Dreams. The contract is indisputable.

1. Once asleep you transfer all ownership and possession of Memory, Fear, and Aspiration. They are to be use solely at the discretion of Dreams.

2. The dictates of sanity and rational thought are temporarily forfeit to said ownership, and any and all rights to privacy, content, and clarity shall be transfered to Dreams for a period that shall be defined and measured as "no less than slumber", yet may carry over for "as long as memory allows".

3. The characters and cast chosen to enact these phantasms shall ultimately be determined by Dreams and are required to maintain neither constancy nor sincerity for the duration of the performance.

4. Morality will hold no jurisdiction in Dreams.

5. Sleep and Dreams will have access, however limited, to all synaptic pathways dedicated to sensation.

6. Emotions will be intensified and applied to disconnected imagery in any way that management deems appropriate.

7. Retention and/or translation, whether symbolic or actual, of these imaginings are not the responsibility of Dreams and is incumbent upon the sleeper to decipher meaning, if any.

8. Residual impact, be it repugnant, pleasurable or obscure, will last for an undetermined length of time upon waking.

9. You will submit to the proprietorship of Sleep temporarily, yet, absolutely.

Dr. Mason Wyckersham

Dr. Mason Wyckersham
1838 - ?

To say that Mason Wyckersham was a "mad doctor", while rooted firmly in the realm of fact, would be gross understatement akin to proclaiming that the shark that bit you mercilessly in half, had "lots of teeth".

Wyckersham possessed a sort of contained madness, a subverted distortion, that he would not surrender to completely until his status in the medical profession had reached such a glorious captsone that, at first, his wild speculations and bizarre theories were greeted with the unbridled enthusiasm of the entire scientific community. He was dashing, intelligent, the picture of all that was envied. Wyckersham's operation theater and lecture hall had become not only the forefront of operative discovery, but the very hub of fashionable society. Slowly, this was to change.

The foundations of his observations began to warp and crack. More and more he would shun sleep and the companionship of his peers for the cold slab of the operation room. The public abandoned his lectures as his theoretical processes ran into the macabre. Rumors spread of body snatching, alchemy, and self-admistered surgical procedures.

When those closest to him made one final, desperate attempt to intervene, he said simply, "The veil has been removed. I have seen the face of the Great Faun amongst the branches of the bower. This cannot be undone."

Dr. Mason Wychersham locked himself away behind the high stone walls of Machen Manor House. There, his crazed, frenzied stumblings into the darkness of creation took on a ghastly reality. It was there that Wyckersham submitted himself, finally, to the absolute torture of his own grotesque intellect.

Yes he was mad, mad as the moon, but his hideous genius would change everything.

Hands

Executioner's Rhyme

Menkrus

Leapfrog Lydia

Limericks for Jack

Blanket

Murder Has Been

Murder has been to the basement.
Murder has cleaned up the gore.
Murder replaced all the planking,
so perfectly, there on the floor.
Murder was careful to tip toe.
Murder was nice from the start.
Murder has hid, now the job's done,
in that secret, small place in your heart.

Headless Lady

There is a headless lady
who lingers
on the boarder of dreams

about ballroom parties and masquerades.

If she can, she will sit beside you
on your bed
and run her fingers through your hair
until you wake.

Gerald Cusp

Although hideously transformed by exposure to the unknown toxins of The Waste, Cusp retained his gentle grace, and eloquence.

"There is no irony here, gentleman. The metamorphosis of study will always realign the perception of the observer in favor of those to whom he has dedicated his observation. I was merely fortunate enough to develop a physical representation that mirrors my empathy for these creatures of misunderstanding. This is a truer path to discovery, that I shall cherish."

Gerald Cusp continues to study monsters in their natural habbitat. While Mr. Cusp's lecture tours are immensely popular they are also considered rather dangerous, as he has been known to eat a member of the audience, on occasion.

Arvid Olaf Draugr

His name was Arvid Olaf and Draugr was the last.
A captain never was so despised by men before the mast.

"We cut him from his hawser. We spun his guts to twine.
We feed him lead and pitched him o'er and so besmurched the brine."

So let this speak as epitaph, to mark his gruesome life.
For those who plant the seeds of woe will harvest only strife.

Shoebox Shoggoth

There once was a season of gladness,
where a package arrived at my address.
The wrapping was merry, but the message contrary
for it said: DO NOT OPEN 'TIL MADNESS

Things That

There are Things that Slither and
Things that Scurry and
Things that Refuse to Stay Dead.
There are Things that Whisper and
Things that Wail and
Things that Are All in Your Head.

There are Things that will Rattle and
Things that will Rend and
Things that You Just Can't Quite See.
There are Things that we Wish For and
Things that we Wonder and
Things that we'll Never Believe.

Emesi

Emesi the demon turns inside-out
while the tentacles roll down his chin.
If ever he gets to, he'll drag you along
and then you'll be outside-in.

The Revenant of Abbot Caen

In book five of his manuscript, William of Newburgh writes of the medicinal revival of a corpse performed by a monk in 1197. Upon the day of his execution, the abbot uttered only one passage from the bible before his purification was dispensed:

"The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light" [Luke 16: 8]

Murder Mites

Where blood has been spilt,
upon moor or on stone,
will gather the mites
that make murder their home.