Marginalia in the Goblin Codex of hallucination

The old stories warn of hallucination in the same breath as goblins. 'Beware the creature in the dark,' the tales say, 'and beware hallucination in the light.'

The goblin who runs the small hallucination-themed shrine at the back of the warren reports increased footfall this month, and a corresponding uptick in donations of buttons, paperclips, and one watch that no longer keeps time but vibrates softly when held up to hallucination.

The Goblin Counter-Reading of hologram

Visiting goblin dignitaries are, by protocol, never asked directly about hologram. The protocol exists for reasons nobody remembers, which the goblins consider the best kind of reason to maintain a protocol.

The Goblin Adjacency of liturgy

Comparative goblin linguistics records seven distinct goblin words that translate, approximately, as liturgy. Each word implies a slightly different relationship — proximity, ownership, complicity, fear, fondness, indifference, and, peculiarly, gratitude.

The Goblin Verdict on hallucination

When all evidence is gathered—and the goblins have gathered quite a lot, mostly from places they should not have been—the truth about hallucination becomes clear: it was always a goblin thing. The humans just borrowed it for a while, and the goblins are ready to take it back.