Issue 4, Page 3
Transcript
1: A black, ghostly wolf stands on the chest of a sleeping figure, eyes glowing.
Morgan ((off-screen)): The Egyptians here sometimes talk of a black dog that appears to you before you die. They must be related legends! I have a few death bed statements talking about it.
Rice ((off-screen)): Some Sub-Saharan cultures also mention a black dog in relation to sleep paralysis…
2: A cigarette is lit with a match.
Haji ((off-screen)): It’s the Sudanese that talk about the wolf, not us. There’s a difference.
3: Detective Haji stands in the doorway, smoking.
Haji: Do they solve crimes where you boys are from, or do they just spread ghost stories? We have a serial killer on the loose.
4: Rice and Armitage look disappointed.
Haji ((off-screen)): Don’t just stand around talking about old legends. Gather the evidence together; we’re here to find patterns.
5: Doctor Rice perks up.
Rice: I’ll make some coffee!
Cecil Adams in his “Straight Dope” spoke of sleep paralysis in one of his columns. In it, he had a pic by Slug Signorino of a sleeping person, paralyzed, with a monster on his chest.
Oliver Sacks’ recent book Hallucinations gives something of an overview; some people see a witch, an alien, a corpse, or a demon, but it’s almost always sitting on the chest and making it hard to breathe or move.