knocked off Philip K Dick's Cosmic Puppets. my library request arrived and I dived right in. I'm not sure you'd call this fantasy or horror, whichever sells best, I suppose. or, say, it is Twilight Zone by way of Lovecraft. I would guess that Dick read Lovecraft, just as I would guess that King read Dick. you can see it, in both cases. so: a guy returns to the town where he was born, only to discover it gone, replaced by a completely different town. what the dilly-o? he and we discover that a fake town has been superimposed over the original. shades of Maya, all is illusion! the town's a batteground, we learn, of two god's with Lovecraftian names. Dick doesn't slog in quite the psychological muck as Lovecraft (presumbably Lovecraft and Poe were absinthe drinkers: that's my guess), so the story's lss unnerving than what ole H.P dreamt up. still, there's an apocalyptic note, even tho the story ends happy. I'm sure Lovecraft could never produce a happy ending. I wouldn't call it a great story but it sticks with me, as has his other 2 novels that I've read. Dick might've extended it beyond the 140 pages, but King couldn't've done this story in less than 400 pages. have I mentioned before my belief that novelists should not exceed 200 pages per novel unless certified by a qualified judge (me, for instance). I read something by Clive Barker than hearkens a bit to this story, only Barker went some several hundred pages longer, and kinda lost track of characters along the way. plugging thru Dick seems like a worthy enterprise, and not just to keep tabs on pop culture.