The New Uncanny by Etgar Keret, Ramsey Campbell, Hanif Kureishi, Christopher Priest, Jane Rogers, A.S. Byatt, Matthew Holness, Adam Marek Read Free Book Online

greedily into what looked like a small bird.
    ‘You forgot party crackers,’ I said, sipping my beer.
    ‘And grace,’ he replied, removing a small shred of bone from his upper lip.
    ‘They’ll have me back, once he’s gone.’ I poked my fork at Possum.
    ‘We’ll need gloves to get rid of it,’ Christie said. ‘It’s diseased.’
    I examined my hands, which were peeling terribly and beginning to bleed, and felt my face. I was covered.
    ‘Eczema,’ I said, hiding my wrists beneath the table.
    ‘Remember,’ said Christie, his mouth full. ‘A demonstration.’

    The front half of the cabin was severely smoke-damaged, although in places I could still make out graffiti beneath the charred remains. The place stank of urine and petrol, and I sat at the back with my black bag, near to where the bathroom had once been, and watched the remains of the site through the van opposite, which retained one unbroken, though heavily-stained, window.
    I sat there for about an hour, thinking. It was about mid-day when I crouched down on my knees so that I could not see out and crawled across the cabin floor. I examined where the cupboard used to be and touched the far side of the rear wall with my hands, feeling for the faint words scratched somewhere on its surface. I leaned closer, sniffing at the floor, then withdrew. I stood up, returned to the seat, and unzipped my black bag.
    I pulled Possum out and sat him on my lap. His body felt softer on one side. When I pressed my fingers against the fur, the insides gave a little, and I assumed they must be damaged in some way. His protruding eye, too, had broken open. A crack to the outer shell had caused a small leakage that ran down Possum’s face, looking like dried egg yoke and smelling vaguely of chemicals.
    I pulled his tongue down and tucked stray hairs behind his mauled ears. The wiring mechanism now broken, I extended, manually, each of his legs, until he sat astride me. I lay back against the seat, stretching my body lengthways, pulling him on top of me so that his face rested inches from my own. I slung his two front paws over my shoulders, opened my own mouth to mirror his, and stared back into his contaminated eyes. Then, with my tongue, I removed one of the dead flies from his.
    ‘Don’t,’ I said, and swallowed it. One by one, I ate them all. When Possum’s mouth was clear, I lifted him from me, very gently, and sat myself up. I resisted the urge to retch and removed the tool case from my black bag. Having selected a blade, I picked up Possum, bit his ear without warning and threw him roughly to the floor. I knelt down on top of him and sawed at his nose, slowly and methodically, until I had sliced off its tip. I stuffed the severed segment inside his mouth and angled his limbs against the floor. With my boot I snapped each joint in turn and threw the broken legs out of the open window. I seized Possum’s torso and thrust my arm into its rear. Wincing as the razors bit deeply again into my wounds, I smashed the puppet against the wall, rocking the unstable cabin, before scraping the mutilated face against every sharp and jagged surface I could find. I removed my arm then, which was bleeding heavily, and took the scissors from my tool bag. I snipped off Possum’s hair and jammed the tattered clumps between his teeth. I stabbed his eyes repeatedly with both blades until the weak one gave way entirely, spurting a glob of liquid over my fingers and up the scissor blade. I spat back at him, attempting to gouge a channel from one eyehole to the other, across his nose. The wax proved too strong, and instead I cut my own fingers. Grabbing a blunt wooden pole from my bag, I struck his head several times before shoving the blunt end of the pole into his mouth. When I’d finished thrusting, his head pinned and useless against the cabin wall, I gathered what was left of him beneath my arm and threw him into the corner. I kicked his stomach repeatedly until it caved in,