“The smoke alarm went off in the hallway upstairs, either to let us know the battery had just died or because the house was on fire. We finished our lunch in silence.”

                     --Don DeLillo, White Noise, 1985

“SETTING SUNLIGHT SLICES SHARPLY THROUGH THE DRY NOVEMBER AIR, BUT CANNOT CUT ITS CHILL. RUSH HOUR THRONGS CROWDING THE STREETS PULL THEIR COATS TIGHTER AGAINST THIS FIRST TOUCH OF APPROACHING WINTER…YET ONE MAN, LOOMING HIGH ABOVE THEM ALL, CASUALLY SHRUGS AWAY THE COLD…AS ALWAYS, HE KNOWS THE COMING DARKNESS WILL BRING A NEED FOR HIM–AND, AS ALWAYS, HE IS GRIMLY PREPARED–FOR HE IS THE DREAD…”

                     --Steve Englehart, DETECTIVE COMICS, Vol. 1, No. 439, 
                             "Night of the Stalker!" 1974