The Butcher and the Wren(56)
Mom and Dad, I know I dedicated this to you already, but since you gave me life, it bears repeating. Thank you for giving me the tools, confidence, and love to write this nightmare. As a kid, you held my hand through night terrors, and now I am handing one right back to you. I swear it’s a compliment and a show of love. Trust me here. I adore you both.
Ash. You are my best friend, my sister, my niece, and my business partner. You look great in every hat that I make you wear, and you are a vital part of me finishing this book. Thank you for always reading it out loud to me, so I could hear it from a different voice, and thank you for allowing me to horrify you daily.
To my siblings. Amy, you are my big sister and one of my best friends. You were the only one who was allowed to wash my hair when I was little, and while I can’t say that’s still true (I wash my own hair now), I appreciate looking up at the birdies to this day because of you. Thank you for providing a smiley-fries-and-ranch-dressing kind of love.
Jp, my big brother and also my twin in another dimension. We look alike, we think alike, and we would both probably mess with the Lament Configuration and unleash a hellscape of Cenobites unto this world, but we would high-five regardless. Thank you for encouraging me and creating with me.
Thank you to Dr. Stone. You gave me a chance to enter the world I had always wanted to step into, and I am forever grateful for what you have taught me. This book was born from the autopsy suite, and you are the reason I am able to experience it.
To my squad: Seth, Andy, Marissa, you rock in a way I can’t describe. That’s a big deal because in the immortal words of Josie “Grossy” Geller, “Words are my life!” Thank you for being people I can count on, and for making me feel like this was possible.
To my literary agent, Sabrina. Sabrina, we are one now. You are stuck with me for life. Thank you for dealing with my madness, my neurosis, and my constant need to be in control and informed about every single detail of everything that ever occurred during the creation of this story. You made me a better writer, and I am glad to have gained you as a friend in the process.
To my amazing editor, Sareena. I feel like the universe put us together. The second we met, you got me, you got my story, and you helped me turn it into what it was always meant to be. I appreciate you so much. You made this book happen, and you made it the best it could be. Even Jeremy would be impressed by you, and that’s both impressive and terrifying. I’m so glad you took a chance on the weird little world I created.
To Zando, thank you for seeing this book like I see it. Thank you for making my dream of becoming an author come true.
Thank you to Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, R. L. Stine, Christopher Pike, Edward Gorey, Alvin Schwartz, and Stephen Gammell. You helped me accept the dark, spooky, scary, and odd parts of myself that I tried to fight for so long. Thank you for inspiring weirdos everywhere to create with their strangeness.
To New Orleans. I hope the spirit of your city is felt in this book. Thank you for giving me such an inspiring place to inhabit in my head.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALAINA URQUHART is the science-loving co-host of the chart-topping show Morbid: A True Crime Podcast. As an autopsy technician by trade, she offers a unique perspective from deep inside the morgue. Alaina hails from Boston, where she lives with her wonderful husband, John, their three amazing daughters, and a ghost puggle named Bailey. She is about 75 percent coffee, and truly believes she and Agent Clarice Starling could be friends.
Before writing her first psychological horror novel, she received degrees in criminal justice, psychology, and biology. When she isn’t hosting Morbid, she hosts the Parcast original show Crime Countdown, and a horror movie podcast called Scream! Her days are usually spent either recording or eviscerating. The way she sees it, when she hangs up her microphone for the day, it’s time to let the dead speak.