Jaws of Saturn
By Laird Barron, first published in The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All, Night Shade Books
After his girlfriend begins going to a hypnotist, a man visits him too and finds himself plagued by horrific visions of death that start to blur with reality.
Author
Year
Words
Genres
Plot Summary
A man named Franco, who works in security and enforcement, listens to his girlfriend Carol tell him about the nightmares she’s been having recently in which she sees a red light emanating from her closet. They go upstairs afterwards to have sex, and Franco notices Carol’s eyes look strange. She tells him she’s been going to a hypnotist upstairs to cure her cigarette addiction, and Franco decides to pay a visit to the man. That night, Franco has a nightmare of plummeting down a red elevator and then seeing Carol, naked in her hotel lobby, lifted out of sight by a giant hand. The next day he goes to see Phil Wary, the hypnotist, who reveals that his sorcery is much more real than Franco expected. He easily incapacitates Franco and ties him up in the closet while Carol comes for her weekly appointment. During the session, Mr. Wary shows Carol a peephole in the wall and then she leaves. He then releases Franco and shows him the same peephole, which leads to horrific visions, and lets him go. Over the next few days, Franco is plagued by further horrific visions of Carol being taken by the giant hand and the red light in the closet. Carol describes dreaming of people being lifted into the sky by red tendrils. They go on a picnic together and suddenly Franco’s vision shifts to a red sky with a giant man coming towards them, and in his panic he cuts his arm trying to get away. He spends three days in bed plagued by nightmares before he finally goes to see Carol again, who seems like she’s living in another world. She vanishes from the apartment and he goes downstairs to the lobby, where the scene from the dream repeats itself. The giant then reaches for him too, and carries him towards his mouth to be eaten. The giant wakes from his own dream of eating humans, and joins his ancient titan partner as they look upon the city.
Tags