Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
As a kid my brain actively fought nightmares. Sometimes it was as simple as waking up. Sometimes Bugs Bunny would do his Daffy Duck impersonation by bouncing around the room as an eerie voice narrated something while some spooky guy looked at the “camera”. Yes that was an actual nightmare, as was the summer camp where a lion’s paw would turn a bunk to melted butter as it cut through like an anthropomorphic Freddy Kruger. Are you really that surprised my brain is weird?
When we last saw Alec he was being told a scary story about a horse god who punished people for riding horses because some conquistadors spooked the locals by riding horses or something. Check the last installment for a better explanation. Anyway, Alex is off to bed and by the title of this chapter I think we can he won’t be sleeping easy and odds are Bugs Bunny won’t be coming to save him.
Chapter 9: Nightmare!
Well, that was a short nightmare. Just Alec being forcibly stuck to the bed unable to speak as evil eyes watch him. He tries to write it off as the Captain’s story, and then sees the Captain sneaking around. Convinced the Captain is trying to get Black and Ghost to mate without waiting for the end of the racing season he runs out and hears Black’s horsey equivalent of pickup lines. The chapter title is frankly misleading. I thought the whole chapter would be one big nightmare scene based on the Kovi story. Instead we have one of the shortest chapters in the book as the Captain plays horse pimp following a very short nightmare. I’m actually kind of disappointed.
Still, the sequence as written was easy to see in your head, but it was hardly worth Bugs’ intervention, much less a chapter title. It’s more about Alec not sleeping well than the nightmare itself. Hopefully the next chapter lives up to its title.
Next Time: The Fight
BW Media Spotlight 