Posts Tagged ‘Natural Predators’

“Symphony for Walpurgis” Has Been Released!!!

Posted: May 1, 2025 in Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Hide in your homes and turn off all your lights! It is Walpurgis Night, also known as the Feast Day of Saint Walpurga, when witches are at their most powerful! And it is the release day of Symphony for Walpurgis, my brand new collection of novelettes!

I am so excited that this collection is finally out! I’ve been working on this project, first secretly and then not-so-secretly, for months now. It’s been a true labor of love, bringing together all nine novelettes–a length of story between 7,500 and 17,500 words that, in my humble opinion, doesn’t get enough love or attention–creating a spooky cover for the book, and doing everything in my power to get people interested in reading it. Including the book trailer you see below.

And I’m happy to say, my efforts have appeared to pay off. Not only did I get a lot more preorders, the most for any book I’ve self-published before, but I’ve already had some reviews from advanced readers, and they’ve all been extraordinarily positive. If things continue to go well, I hope more people will read this book and leave reviews so others can find out if it interests them.

And in case you’re interested, this book contains nine novelettes featuring tales like “Blood and Paper Skin,” about a group of teens who end up in what appears to be someone’s private jail/torture chamber, and learn the dark reason why they’ve been brought to this place; “Disillusionment and Trauma Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand,” in which a teenage girl gets wrapped up in a plot to avenge her best friend, and ends up having the last laugh; “The House on Lafayette Square,” which is about a Jewish exorcism (yes, we have those); “Mother of Spiders,” about a small town in 1950s Ohio whose dark past comes back to haunt the present; “Famous,” about a wannabe Las Vegas starlet who will do anything to get what she believes is rightfully hers, including a deal with a beast straight out of cryptid legend; “The Little Goddess of Horror,” about the strange and eventful life of a beloved actress and scream queen; “The Parasite Man,” about a lawyer/loan shark whose family gets their just desserts from a malevolent spirit; “Cressida,” about a man keeping a mermaid with an uncanny resemblance to his daughter in his basement; and “Natural Predators,” about the crazy shit that goes down when a summer camp becomes ground zero for the next pandemic.

If that sounds like it might be up your alley, you can now order a copy using the links below. I’ll also include the link for the Goodreads page, in case you want to read the advanced reviews before you decide whether to check out the book or not.

And if you do, I hope you’ll let me know what you think in a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run. Not to mention, it helps other readers out.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to get a new tattoo, and then I’m off to celebrate the release of this wonderful new book. Until next time, good night, happy reading, and pleasant nightmares. I look forward to seeing what you all think of Symphony for Walpurgis.

Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Kobo

“Symphony for Walpurgis:” Two Weeks Till Release!!!

Posted: April 17, 2025 in Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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It’s finally getting warmer here in Ohio. Or, at least, more and more days the weather is above fifty degrees instead of below it. Honestly, Ohio weather is a bit of a lottery sometimes.

But on the bright side, something’s coming that isn’t so hard to predict: my new book, Symphony for Walpurgis: A Collection, will release on Thursday, May 1st, 2025! Which means it’s exactly two weeks from release day!

Now, if you’re unaware, Symphony for Walpurgis is a collection of nine novelettes, some previously published and some original, that I am releasing in one big book. The stories include “Blood and Paper Skin,” about several college-aged kids who wake up locked in a jail by a very strange man and who slowly start to disappear; “Trauma and Disillusionment Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand,” about a teen girl who gets wrapped up in a revenge plot after her best friend is murdered, and ends up summoning creatures from ancient times in an occult ritual; “The House on Lafayette Square,” about a Jewish exorcism (yes, we have those); “Mother of Spiders,” about a small town in Ohio that comes to a reckoning with its sordid past one Halloween night; “Famous,” about a Las Vegas wannabe starlet who will do anything to achieve fame, including making a deal with a mysterious creature; “The Little Goddess of Horror,” where a podcaster interviews an old man about a famous actress he knew, and gets way more than he bargained for; “The Parasite Man,” about a rich man whose family finds itself under assault by a mysterious entity using parasitic organisms; “Cressida,” about a man keeping a mermaid who looks like his daughter in his basement; and “Natural Predators,” about a summer camp that becomes ground zero for a terrible pandemic.

That’s a lot of words, but it does give you some idea of the stories inside, doesn’t it?

Anyway, I’m very excited for everyone to read this book. I’ve already gotten a few advanced reviews, and they’ve been very positive, which makes me hopeful that plenty of people will hear the buzz and want to read the book. I’m working hard to make that happen.

As part of that effort (and as a special treat), here are the latest graphics with quotes from the book. I’ve been posting them regularly, and I think they’re getting people interested.

What did you all think? Any of it get you intrigued? You want to read the book now?

If you do, I’ll leave links below. Right now, Symphony for Walpurgis is still only available in ebook format from the below stores, but more stores and a paperback edition are on the way. I’ll also leave a link to the Goodreads page, where the advanced reviews have all been posted.

And speaking of reviews, if you like what you read, please consider leaving a review somewhere. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run. Plus, it helps other readers figure out whether or not they want to read the book.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I hope you’re as excited for this book as I am. And until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and I can’t wait to welcome you to Symphony to Walpurgis.

Amazon
Apple Books
Goodreads
Kobo

“Symphony for Walpurgis:” Even More Quotes!!!

Posted: March 22, 2025 in Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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(For the first two quote filled posts, click here and here. You can also see all of them at once on the Symphony for Walpurgis page.)

Well, it’s that time again. As many of you know, I’ve been creating graphics with quotes from my upcoming collection, Symphony for Walpurgis, and posting them every couple of days. This is to hopefully generate some interest in the collection by giving people short previews into what’s inside. I usually go through graphics for all nine stories in just three weeks, then I make more. But first, I’m posting the most recent round of graphics here for you to enjoy.

Who knows? Perhaps you’ll see these quotes and be interested enough to want to read Symphony yourself.

I have to admit, finding the right quotes for these graphics, making sure I can fit the quotes in the graphic templates, and then finding imagery to match the quote, is not easy. In fact, a few times, it’s been kind of frustrating. You do not know how hard it is just to find a good demon image for “The House on Lafayette Square,” or the right quote to use from “Famous.”

Still, I’ve seen these graphics help attract readers, so I think I’ll stick with it for the next couple of weeks until the book comes out.

And in the meantime, if you’re at all interested in Symphony, you can preorder copies or read early reviews using the links below. The book comes out on May 1st, just less six weeks from now, and I’m very excited for people to check it out. I’m very proud of these stories, which include tales of cryptids, malevolent spirits, and even a Jewish exorcism! Yeah, those exist. They don’t happen often, but they exist.

And if you end up reading the book, I hope you’ll leave me a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll probably be back soon, so be sure to keep an eye out. And until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Amazon
Apple Books
Goodreads
Kobo

“Symphony for Walpurgis:” Six Weeks Till Release!!!

Posted: March 20, 2025 in Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I’m at the point in my marketing plan where I get super annoying with reminders that I have a book coming out. But hey, can you blame me? If it gets one more person to read the book, then it’ll have been worth it.

So, if you’ve been living under a rock, I have a new book coming out on Thursday, May 1st, 2025. The book is a new collection called Symphony for Walpurgis. What’s Walpurgis, you ask? You can find out here. But back to the collection. This is a collection of nine novelettes, four previously published and five original, that I’ve gathered together because there’s just not enough publishers of novelettes out there these days. So, if you can’t find homes for them, make a home for them yourself and show the world how awesome they are!

At least, that’s what I’m hoping to accomplish, along with letting people read some amazing stories.

Here’s the back cover blurb for the collection:

What’s the difference between humans and monsters? Is there a fine line, or is it more gray and blurred? Rami Ungar, author of Rose and Hannah and Other Stories, explores this question in his latest collection, Symphony for Walpurgis. From legendary cryptids to malevolent spirits and from Ohio in the 1950s to modern-day California, readers will be treated to nine terrifying stories of the weird and macabre. So settle down and be prepared. For you have bought your ticket to Symphony for Walpurgis.

Sweet, right? And get this: the collection already has some reviews on it! Yeah, a couple of advanced readers posted their thoughts on Goodreads, and they really liked the collection. So much, in fact, they each gave it five stars! Considering that the book is not even out yet, that’s a really good sign of things to come!

And I really hope good things will come with this collection. I like sharing my stories with people, and I’ve noticed that short story collections tend to be very popular, especially at events. Maybe that’s because you’re getting several digestible stories in one package, rather than one gigantic story in a single package. If that’s the case, perhaps the release of this book will not only be well-received with readers, but will help me get closer to writing full time (that’s the dream, after all).

Careful, folks. There’s a lot of these beasties in one of the stories!

Besides, what horror fan could resist a collection featuring tales of several college-age kids waking up in a strange jail (“Blood and Paper Skin”); a teenage girl becoming an unwitting accomplice in a revenge plot using occult means (“Disillusionment and Trauma Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand”); a Jewish exorcism (“The House on Lafayette Square,” and yes, Jews have exorcisms on occasion); a town filled with spiders and sordid history which is quickly catching up with the residents (“Mother of Spiders”); a Las Vegas performer who will do anything to make her mark on the world (“Famous”); an interview revolving around an unusual actress (“The Little Goddess of Horror”); a family under threat by multiple parasites (“The Parasite Man”); a young man who discovers a mermaid in his uncle’s basement (“Cressida”); and a campsite becoming ground zero for a new pandemic (“Natural Predators”)?

I couldn’t , that’s for sure.

And if you can’t, either, I’ll include links for the book, including its Goodreads page. Right now, it’s only available in ebook from a few stores, but more stores and a paperback edition will be available soon, so keep an eye out for that announcement.

And if you like what you read, please leave a review online. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and other readers in the long run.

Thank you for your support, my Followers of Fear, and I look forward to sharing with you Symphony for Walpurgis. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Amazon
Apple Books
Goodreads
Kobo

Symphony for Walpurgis: More Quotes!!!

Posted: March 3, 2025 in Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Yeah, I’m going to be extra annoying with this stuff for the foreseeable future. But hey, can you blame me? With a new book on the way, I have to do everything in my power to get people interested.

And that’s what these quote graphics are about. When Hannah and Other Stories was coming out the first time, these helped advertise the book far and wide. Obviously, I’m repeating this with Walpurgis, creating graphics for each story and releasing them three days a week on my social media.

Below are the latest round, which I’ve been releasing over the past three weeks. I hope they capture your attention.

I hope you enjoyed reading these. With these quotes, I made the fonts bigger so they were easier to read. With any luck, that will make reading them easier for people with vision issues.

If you’re at all interested in reading the previous quote graphics, you can check them out on Walpurgis‘s page on this website. And if you would like to check out the book itself, I’ll leave links below. It comes out on May 1st and is full of cryptids, malevolent spirits, and even a Jewish exorcism. Below is the blurb I’m using for the back cover.

What’s the difference between humans and monsters? Is there a fine line, or is it more gray and blurred? Rami Ungar, author of Rose and Hannah and Other Stories, explores this question in his latest collection, Symphony for Walpurgis. From legendary cryptids to malevolent spirits and from Ohio in the 1950s to modern-day California, readers will be treated to nine terrifying stories of the weird and macabre. So settle down and be prepared. For you have bought your ticket to Symphony for Walpurgis.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time (which hopefully won’t be another promotional post), good night and pleasant nightmares.

Amazon
Apple Books
Goodreads
Kobo

Announcing My Next Book: “Symphony for Walpurgis”

Posted: January 6, 2025 in Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Happy New Year, my Followers of Fear! I hope 2025 is treating you well so far. For me, it’s not so bad. Sure, there’s been heavy snow these past couple of days, but I’m indoors and don’t mind it so much.

Anyway, I’m pleased to announce that my latest book is now available for preorder. And what is that book, you’re asking? Why, it’s a new collection called Symphony for Walpurgis!

Not a bad cover, right? I designed it myself based on one of the stories in the collection.

Speaking of which, the collection is made up of nine novelettes, four of which have already been published. Those are “Blood and Paper Skin,” about a group of older teens who end up locked up in someone’s private basement; “Disillusionment and Trauma Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand,” which features my famous monsters, the dragon bats; “Cressida,” about a mermaid who bears a mysterious resemblance to a girl who supposedly died years before; and “Natural Predators,” about a new pandemic with startling implications for the fate of humanity.

The five other stories will be “The House on Lafayette Square,” an exorcism story with a Jewish twist to it (yay for more Jewish horror!); “Mother of Spiders,” about one town’s dirty secret and the woman who comes to collect her dues; “Famous,” about a wannabe starlet who will do anything to achieve the fame she deserves; “The Little Goddess of Horror,” about a rather famous and unusual actress; and “The Parasite Man,” about a powerful lawyer whose family comes under attack from a relentless spirit.

I’m so looking forward to you all reading this book. I’ve scheduled it to come out on Thursday, May 1st, 2025, the actual date of Walpurgisnacht (think Halloween in spring for witches, if you’re unfamiliar). Currently, it’s only available to preorder as an ebook from Amazon and Kobo. And for some reason, Amazon doesn’t allow preorders for paperbacks published through their platform (yeah, I think it’s stupid, too). But I’m working on getting it available to preorder through Barnes & Noble and Apple Books, and B&N actually allows preorders for paperback books. So, sit tight. As soon as that’s ready, I’ll let you know.

And in the meantime, if you would like to preorder a copy from the stores where it’s currently available, I’ll leave links below. I hope you’ll check it out. And when it releases this May and you read it, I hope you’ll leave reviews online. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m being allowed to work from home tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean I can slack off. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Amazon
Kobo

“Natural Predators” is Now Available for Free!!!

Posted: March 3, 2024 in Novelette, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Surprise! I meant to let you all know this was coming, but time got away from me, and the next thing I knew, it was time to release this story!

So, if you’re unaware, I’ve been releasing stories for free every couple of months for free on this blog. I first released “Car Chasers” in November, followed by “Cressida” in January. The former is like a Fast & Furious story mixed with a ghost story, while the latter is a mermaid horror story. Now, I’m releasing “Natural Predators,” an apocalyptic pandemic story set at a summer camp.

Honestly, this story surprised me when it was first published in an anthology about two years ago. As you are no doubt aware, we were still smack-dab in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, so I wasn’t sure anyone would want to print a pandemic story, let alone one taking place just a few years after and referencing the COVID-19 pandemic. But to my surprise, it found a home almost immediately, which showed me that there’s still an appetite for those sorts of stories.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story. It’s available to download below. And if you like what you read, please check out the other free stories, as well as my other published works. And if you do read those books, I hope you’ll leave me a review so I know what you thought. I’ll leave a link to my Books page below the story.

Happy reading, my Followers of Fear, and pleasant nightmares!

natural-predatorsDownload
Book Links and Excerpts

One more thing, Followers of Fear: this coming weekend, I’ll be selling and signing books and maybe even sitting on panels at Cleveland Concoction in Cleveland, Ohio. If you can stop by, please do! I would love to see you, sign your books, and even give you a Tarot reading. Details can be found on the convention’s website.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, pleasant nightmares.

I’ll Be Releasing Free Short Stories to My Website Soon

Posted: November 5, 2023 in Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Hey, Followers of Fear. So, there’s something I’ve been meaning to do for a while now, but I’ve really only been able to think about it recently. And that’s that I’ll be releasing some of my stories for free here on this blog/website.

Why am I doing this? Well, some of my fellow authors have short works available for free through their websites, and it brings in a lot of new readers. Seeing as I’m always on the lookout for new readers, as well as new ways to bring them in, I thought I would get in on it too. I don’t know if it’ll be effective, but I think with enough fanfare and mentions at the many events I do, some people are bound to check it out.

Who knows? They might become ardent Followers of Fear and gobble up all my work. I would be happy if that happened.

As to which short stories I’ll be releasing, I will be releasing three over the next several months that have already been previously published. There are a few reasons I chose to release previously published stories, rather than any new stuff. One is because I know they’ve already passed the test of being good enough to publish, so it makes sense to use them. I also want to expose them to new readers, and finally I think they make the best representatives of what you can expect from my work if you should decide to pursue more of my stories.

And, if the previously published stuff does well, it will make more sense for me to publish new stuff here as well.

So which stories will be coming out? First will be “Car Chasers,” which is like a spooky Fast & Furious movie. It will be followed by “Cressida,” a mermaid horror story that I’m particularly proud of. And finally, I’ll be releasing “Natural Predators,” a pandemic horror story taking place at a summer camp.

As I said, depending on how they do, I may release more on this website.

And when will the first story be released? Why, this Friday! That’s right, “Car Chasers” will be coming out on Friday through this website. It has a whole new cover and is ready to go. I cannot wait for you to read it and let me know what you think.

So, keep your eye on this website and on your inbox, because we got an epic ghost story coming in a few days. It’ll be spookily good fun.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I have to watch a scary movie before bed. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Halloween Releases are Here!!!

Posted: October 31, 2021 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Raise the banners of all the Dark Lords! Wail in terror and in jubilation! Dance like the flames and music of Hell are moving through you! Halloween is here! I’ll be posting about my Halloween activities later on, my Followers of Fear (believe me, there’s plenty to talk about while I’m in Vegas during this holiday). However, the reason you’re here is because there are new releases today. Two new anthologies and a new issue of a magazine, to be precise. So, without further ado, let’s get into it!

The Jewish Book of Horror

From the Denver Horror Collective comes an exciting new anthology! I recently spoke to the Columbus Jewish News about the release of TJBOH (you can read that here if you’re curious), and I mentioned that Judaism and the Jewish people are no strangers to horror. All of our history involves other nations trying to annihilate and subjugate us, so we haven’t had to make up monsters to menace us that much. We have enough of those without using our imaginations.

That’s partly why I’m so excited to be part of this anthology (that, and some good old Jewish pride). As far as I’m aware, nothing like this has ever been released before. We’re literally breaking new ground here! I’m so honored to be part of it. So with that stated, I hope you’ll check out TJBOH and let the readers and writers know what you think. And if you don’t, I’ll make your cholesterol test come back with terrifying results (now that’s a Jewish horror if ever there was one).

The Jewish Book of Horror: Amazon, B&N

Dark Nature: A Horror Anthology

You know, I didn’t think I would get into this anthology. Besides the huge amount of competition to get in, my story “Natural Predators” is a pandemic story, and we’re in the middle of a pandemic. However, it was accepted and I can’t wait for everyone to read it!

Not only that, but you should get ready to read the rest of the anthology. Thirteen hair-raising horror stories about Mother Nature getting her revenge against humanity for all the shit we’ve put her through in the name of our survival and greed. I’m looking forward to hearing what people think of it. As well as basking in the irony that they may be reading the book in a paperback format. Enjoy!

Dark Nature: Amazon

The Dark Sire issue 9

I was really excited to learn one of my stories was going to be serialized in The Dark Sire. Issue 8, which came out back in July, was full of amazing stories. And not only that, but I heard from people saying they were intrigued by my story “Blood and Paper Skin” and wanted to know how it would end after reading Part One. Well, Part Two is out today in Issue 9 (Amazon link coming soon, so I’ll post that later), and I’m looking forward to hearing what everyone says about it.

I’ll leave links to both issues below. If you haven’t checked out Issue 8, I suggest you check it out and enjoy the stories and poetry within. And for those who buy Issue 9, I’m looking forward to hearing what you think of Part Two of “Blood and Paper Skin.” Things are about to get violent.

TDS Issue 8: Amazon

TDS Issue 9: Website download

One More Surprise…

You guys remember Indie Author Book Expo? It’s the group that held that book expo in Iowa I attended last year, and was hosting the one in Aurora until COVID-19 canceled it. Anyway, the group put together a horror anthology and I contributed a story for it, “Afternoon Tea,” about a haunted silent film. I kind of forgot about it because I got busy, but then the anthology, “Nightmare Collective Part 2,” was released yesterday. The book’s sales will benefit future Indie Author Book Expo events, so if you would like to help indie, hybrid and/or smaller-name authors continue to have venues to sell their work directly to the people, buying a copy and leaving a review could help. I hope you’ll check out “The Nightmare Collective Part 2” and let people know what you think. And I hope you’ll let me know what you think of “Afternoon Tea.”

Nightmare Collective Part 2: Amazon

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to enjoy myself on this fabulous Halloween day. I hope you will enjoy yourself as well, while also checking out these new additions to the world of horror literature. Until next time, pleasant nightmares and Happy Halloween!

“Dark Nature” is Available for Preorder!!!

Posted: October 12, 2021 in Living and Life, Progress Report, short story, Writing
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Wow, we have a lot of announcements to make on this blog lately, don’t we? It’s a wonder I have any time to do any writing after the day job!

As you might remember, at the beginning of the month my story “Natural Predators” was accepted into the anthology Dark Nature from Macabre Ladies Publishing. The anthology revolves around the idea of Mother Earth getting her revenge for all the awfulness humanity has perpetrated on her surface. My own story, one of only thirteen accepted, is about a new virus that quickly spreads into a pandemic, threatening a summer camp as cases pop up among the campers.

Yes, I wrote a pandemic story, and it somehow got accepted! Who would have thought there’s still a market for pandemic fiction?

Anyway, Dark Nature will be releasing this Halloween and the e-book is currently available for preorder (the paperback will be available a few days prior). If you are interested, please preorder. And when you read it, please leave a review. Not only will your reviews let people know what you think, they’ll help the publisher in the long run.

Here’s the link for the ebook. I’ll post the link for the paperback when it’s available.

And speaking of anthologies releasing on Halloween, The Jewish Book of Horror will be coming out the same day. That anthology includes my story “The Divorce from God,” as well as other Jewish horror stories. I’ll include the links to preorder that below.

The Jewish Book of Horror: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

And as I said before, there’s still time to register for A Night of Horror with the Ohio Horror Writers Association. Me and my fellow writers Lucy Snyder, Anton Cancre, and Krista Canterbury Adams will be at the Bexley Public Library tomorrow, Wednesday evening from 7-8 PM. We’ll do some readings, answer some questions, and maybe share our books with some people. And you can attend virtually if you don’t live nearby, so why not register? Hope to see you there. Here’s the link.

And finally, I’ll be at the Licking County Library Local Author Festival this Saturday. If you’re in the area, stop by the downtown library in Newark, Ohio from 10 AM – 2:30 PM. I’ll be there selling books and hopefully making some new friends and fond memories, so why not stop by and support local authors?

We’ll that’s all for now. I’m going to try to do some writing before bed. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

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