Catskin

Which came first, the human or the cat? It seems that the skins kept peeling off. However, when Small takes Princess Georgia and Princess Margaret back into the briar, I was the most surprised. The bag of coins tears, and Link takes the time to describe Princess Georgia stuffing the gold into her pockets. This strikes me as a very human reaction for a story in which most characters act like cats.

The Cannon (As in "Boom!")

First, I think "funis ignarri" is Latin for "ignited rope". If you were even wondering...

Next, while reading "The Cannon" I noticed that the first line is also in "The Hortlak". The pajama spitting zombie (p. 43) stated this q and a before giving Batu his pjs. I thought this could just be an obvious way to thread the stories together. Or maybe the zombies are conducting the interview? :) Does anyone think there is even a reason for this?

Also, I thought the cannon was similar to the Faery handbag in that it provided an escape. There seems to be a common theme, in the first three stories at least, of having trouble returning once you've left home.

What did you think were the "fantastical" elements of this story? What was the magic besides being able to travel via cannon?

addendum
After a reread, I also noticed that the cannon might be somewhat of a healer/problem solver. The woman who had an affair with the interviewed man was cured of her agoraphobia after being shot from the cannon, and the agnostic man found and grabbed onto organized religion (literally) after being shot from the cannon.

Lull

This was the weirdest story I've ever read. The story inside the story inside the story was just a little too much. I was so confused when I got back to the original story. Wasn't it weird that Starlight's story talked about Ed and Susan?