Finished reading: Vine That Ate the South by J. D. Wilkes 📚
This was a rollicking romp through Southern backwoods dripping in tall tales and satanic panic, like if Homer were a gonzo Kentucky Colonel.
The best (non-spoiler) summary may be this quote:
Collecting folktales and courting ghosts is just another way for the rural-lonely to stay sane.
A yarn weaver with more gems like:
Truer words were never spoken through falser teeth.
It’s crazy where your mind travels when you get lost in a song.
Either way, it’s a pleasure for me to be in the midst of such smart, sensitive people, especially in a world infected by quite the opposite.
Within that pregnant, suspended second between the slice of the knife and the arrival of pain, I know I’ll forever be held. Disbelief collides with belief. Then comes the disbelief that you now believe.