Challenge 1066

Dreaming of Demons

In Gary Inbinder’s Max’s Demons:
1. Does Max’s nightmare function as a virtual retribution or as a warning? Why, in either case?
2. Why does the author not depict Max as waking up on his couch and floating on a literal pond of the bodily discharges that Max has experienced virtually in his dream? What would be the dramatic effect in the narrative, and why?
In Jeffrey Greene’s A Green Burial:
1. What might account for two of the pallbearers’ giving the narrator “less than friendly looks”?
2. Whose ashes are in the urn that Leslie carries in her handbag?
3. Who is actually buried in the grave? Is he dead at the time of interment?
In Thomas W. Hamilton’s The First Werewolf of Saturn: Is it likely that the commander of a mission to Saturn would be advised belatedly to check the genes of one of the crew with no explanation? What kind of message would you expect Mission Control to send regarding L. Creighton?
In Gil Hoy’s Humanity Lost:
1. On what basis does the narrator claim he was wrongfully convicted? By his account, what is the worst offense he could have been charged with?
2. Are there any states in the U.S. that still perform executions by means of the electric chair? Hanging? Firing squad? Stoning or other means?
In Ed Ahern’s Tricky Treats: Does the Gobelines’ cautionary note about their “treats” morally or legally absolve them from the candies’ unspecified ill effects? Are the Gobelines legally or ethically required to take into account that a treat-eater might have an uncontrollable sweet tooth or allergy?
In Gary Clifton’s A Vegas Happening:
1. What does Charlene mean by saying she is a “repo guy”? It’s clear that she means to reclaim the automobile that Homer has stolen, but is “guy” more than a fixed expression? Does it mean that Charlene is actually a man posing as a woman? Even if cross-dressing could possibly fool Homer, why is it unnecessary? How does Charlene’s being a “repo gal” make her mission easier than that of a “repo guy”?
2. Might the police be less disinclined to pursue “Charlene” if Homer had not had a previous “rap sheet,” i.e. criminal record?
In Charles C. Cole’s A Vampire Comes Calling: If “Mr. Smith” weren’t a vampire, for what human disorder might Dr. Weissmann be providing therapy to him?
In Michael Murry’s Analyzing the Alexandrine:
1. Why do the first two lines of the poem not take a partisan political stance in the U.S. presidential election of 2024? Are the charge and rebuttal in the first two lines limited to any country or year? What does the poem say is needed to confirm or disprove “an esistential threat to our democracy”?
2. The alexandrine meter in poetry dates from the 12th-century French Roman d’Alexandre. Why is the poem’s description of the “iambic” meter applicable to Engish versification but phonetically impossible in French?

Responses welcome!