A Spider on My Tongue

Manhattan Ghost Story #3

by T.M. Wright

It is said that if ghosts were real, they'd be everywhere - at shopping malls, parking lots, in the parlor, the bathroom, on the sidewalks and boulevards (after all, how many people have lived and died throughout human history?). But maybe, just maybe, they are everywhere - on your lap at this very moment, in the walk-in closet, in the grand oak tree just outside your window, in the shower, the cellar-mumbling, grinning, stumbling about, screaming - but only a chosen few of the living have been blessed with the awful gift of being able to see them, hear them, interact with them, tormented by them. That's the awful gift that Abner W. Cray opened two decades ago, and it's a gift that, even today, keeps on giving: it possesses him, seduces him, makes his life (if it can be called a life) much, much more than a nightmare because, he knows, he's not asleep - he is mortally and eternally awake. And that is the spider on his tongue.

Genres: Horror, Novella

124 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

Terrance Michael Wright (AKA T. M. Wright) is best known as a writer of horror fiction, speculative fiction, and poetry. He has written over 25 novels, novellas, and short stories over the last 40 years. His first novel, 1978's Strange Seed, was nominated for a World Fantasy Award, and his 2003 novel Cold House was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. His novels have been translated into many different languages around the world. His works have been reviewed by Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, and many genre magazines.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn’t go so far as to say I disliked this book, but I found it increasingly difficult to maintain my concentration on its intricate narrative. The story often circled back to Abner, a man haunted by a mysterious and dubious gift that has irrevocably altered the course of his life, steering him into dark and turbulent waters. The structure of the narrative unfolds like a free-flowing stream of consciousness, capturing the chaotic wandering of Abner’s mind as he counts down his final days after a pivotal moment he dramatically describes as a “Grizzly Adams” experience. The prose feels almost like a collection of fragmented diary entries, each offering a poignant glimpse into the disintegration of his sanity, with thoughts colliding in a vivid cacophony.

The concept of ghosts is woven throughout this tale, proposing a haunting idea that if such entities truly existed, they would be ever-present in every aspect of our lives—milling around in bustling shopping malls, drifting through desolate parking lots, lingering in the cozy corners of parlors, sneaking into bathrooms, traversing sidewalks, and wandering down busy boulevards. After all, throughout the course of human history, countless souls have lived vibrant lives and met untimely ends. This raises the unsettling notion that those ghosts might indeed inhabit every nook and cranny around us—perhaps resting on your lap at this very moment, lurking in the shadows of your walk-in closet, nestled among the gnarled branches of the magnificent oak tree looming just outside your window, or silently observing you from the depths of an inviting shower or the cold, dark cellar. These specters mumble, grin, and stumble through our world, possibly screaming out their experiences, yet only a rare few among the living are burdened—or perhaps cursed—with the disquieting gift of being able to perceive, hear, and interact with them. These unfortunate souls are forever tormented by the whispers and shadows that shadow their existence.

This is the horrific gift that Abner W. Cray unwrapped two decades ago, an enigmatic phenomenon that has since become a relentless part of his being. It possesses him, seduces him into its intricate web, and transforms his life—if it can even be considered a life—into an endless nightmare. Abner bears the heavy burden of knowing that he is eternally awake, trapped in a state of heightened awareness that leaves no room for the blissful escape of sleep. This perpetual torment is epitomized in the metaphor of a spider crawling unceasingly on his tongue, a constant reminder of the dark reality he cannot escape.

[William M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novels by T. M. Wright are always a pleasure to read. He has a unique way of lulling the reader slowly into his grasp and then traps you in his madness where there's no turning back. This latest book is a bit more abstract than some of his other novels, but it remains fascinating nonetheless. No one I've ever read could blur the line between life and death so effectively.

I'm not sure how this ties into his earlier work, "A Manhattan Ghost Story", which is quoted many times throughout this book, but I felt as if I should have read that book first in order to absorb everything that Wright was trying to say. I do own a copy of "A Manhattan Ghost Story", but haven't had a chance to read it yet - I read dozens of horror authors and with all the new titles coming out, it's hard enough to keep up with them much less go back to read their old work - but I will some day.

T. M. Wright always challenges the reader in ways most authors today forget to do. I always finish his books with a dreamy, head-spinning, reflective feeling that I've grown somehow as a person from his words and messages. As if I've been included in some cosmic secret that only a select few are privileged to discover. Along with Gary A. Braunbeck and Tom Piccirilli, T. M. Wright is among the very best of the sophisticated horror authors writing today.

[Neil Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. I loved A Manhattan Ghost Story and The Waiting Room, but this novella, the third book in the trilogy, is more of a stream of consciousness text by the character that links all three books than an actual story. It's interesting at first, but even the short length of a novella is too long, and it gets boring. I found myself skipping parts. T.M. Wright is an amazing writer and has written some of the best "quiet" horror I've ever read, but everyone has a bad one now and then. This is his. Pity.

[Debra]

Stephen King recommended author: "T.M. Wright is a rare and blazing talent!"