Cover

You need confidence before you walk down Yellow Street with a big fat wad a green. Yeah, its morning but lots a business goes down in the morning on Yellow Street. Junkies still wandering for a fix and hos that didnt make enough for their pimps. Us three are pretty hardcore for kids but it aint like none of us are packing chrome.

We arent even off the stoop before Midge kneels down and investigates our jackolantern like shes from CSI Miami. Must be some beetles or worms up inside that big orange bitch. Moms bought it from some banger with a shopping cart full a pumpkins and even though it was fungused I was psyched cuz Moms hardly ever gets out of bed and when she does its only to cross the street to reup her cigs cuz the dude that works there wont let me buy any for her. Last time Moms acquired me something special like that was once upon a time and a galaxy far away.

Here its Halloween day and the jackolanterns mouth is sucked in like No Teeth Mike, this dude that shoots up across from school. Its all withered and rotten and a gross poop color. Every time I look at it I think about Moms cuz shes the one that bought it special for me and also cuz shes up in her room getting all withered and rotten too. Maybe Moms has bugs in her head like the jackolantern does? That would explain a lot.

Theres a Christmas tree ornament on the cement thats still got a gummy price tag and I crunch it with my snowboot. Christmas? Nope. Christmas is never coming. Its gonna be Halloween forever…

Also By Daniel Kraus

ALSO BY DANIEL KRAUS:

THE SHAPE OF WATER (with Guillermo del Toro)

THE DEATH AND LIFE OF ZEBULON FINCH

Volume One: At the Edge of Empire

Volume Two: Empire Decayed

TROLLHUNTERS (with Guillermo del Toro)

SCOWLER

ROTTERS

THE MONSTER VARIATIONS

SOME OTHER HARD CASE CRIME BOOKS YOU WILL ENJOY:

JOYLAND by Stephen King

THE COCKTAIL WAITRESS by James M. Cain

BRAINQUAKE by Samuel Fuller

THIEVES FALL OUT by Gore Vidal

SO NUDE, SO DEAD by Ed McBain

THE GIRL WITH THE DEEP BLUE EYES

by Lawrence Block

QUARRY by Max Allan Collins

BUST by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr

SOHO SINS by Richard Vine

THE KNIFE SLIPPED by Erle Stanley Gardner

SNATCH by Gregory Mcdonald

THE LAST STAND by Mickey Spillane

UNDERSTUDY FOR DEATH by Charles Willeford

CHARLESGATE CONFIDENTIAL by Scott Von Doviak

SO MANY DOORS by Oakley Hall

BROTHERS KEEPERS by Donald E. Westlake

A BLOODY BUSINESS by Dylan Struzan

THE TRIUMPH OF THE SPIDER MONKEY

by Joyce Carol Oates

Title Page

Blood
SUGAR

by Daniel Kraus

Copyright

A HARD CASE CRIME BOOK

(HCC-141)

First Hard Case Crime edition: October 2019

Published by

Titan Books

A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd

144 Southwark Street

London SE1 0UP

in collaboration with Winterfall LLC

Copyright © 2019 by Daniel Kraus