So I went into Waterstone's the other day and bought the Sandman Companion, because even if I could afford one of the eight collections I need I could never pick which one, and I read it from cover to cover over the next two days (on and off--I usually try not to read while driving, for instance). And I became even more confirmed in the knowledge that I had to have the whole story.

And now it's today, and I'm back in Waterstone's, with my headphones on, and I pick up The Wake and open it at random, and the funeral barge sequence hits my eyes for the first time just as the last part of Steve Hackett's "Shadow of the Hierophant" hits my ears.

Probably not many of you have even heard of Steve Hackett (he used to be in Genesis), and I suspect even fewer would rate him at all, but the combination of the visual and the music, knowing what had gone before from the Companion synopsis but not having been properly prepared for it, was just...overwhelming. I managed not to burst into tears there in the shop, but it was touch and go for a minute there.

Just wanted to tell someone.

Hi, Zander!

Well, if that bit of the series affected you that much, I think you'll really love the rest of it.

Personally I am not a fan of the first collection - too much horror comic - but it sets up the rest of the series.

Why not stop by World's End and say hi? Folks will be glad to meet you, and you'll probably collect all kinds of weird loot - red balloons and such.

-Cho

I love moments like that.

*adds that to his list of things to borrow off his prog-obsessed friend who can have 3 hour conversations about Rush with people in Opeth*