“The monstrous act by definition demands a monster.”

“Yes, my dear child, monsters are real. I happen to have one hanging in my basement.”

“But monsters, I now know, come in all shapes and sizes, and only their appetite for human flesh defines them.”

“It would change everything, gentlemen. It would shift the entire balance of power in Europe-maybe the world. Alexander conquered half of it. Think what he would have done with arrows dipped in monster snot!”

“He knew the truth. Yes, my dear child, he would undoubtedly tell a terrified toddler tremulously seeking succor, monsters are real. I happen to have one hanging in my basement.”

“Could there be irony crueler than this? How, upon his rescue, the truth had brought him here, to a house for the mad, for only a madman believes what every child knows to be true: There are monsters that lie in wait under our beds.”

“Nein, Will Henry, unser Feind ist die Furcht. Blindmachende, verstandtötende Furcht. Furcht zerstört die Wahrheit und vergiftet jede Klarheit, womit sie uns zu falschen Annahmen und irrationalen Schlussfolgerungen führt.”