For every nine years, the fold from Beyond the Wall and over the hill set up their stalls, and for a day and a night the meadow played host to the Faerie market; and there was, for one day and one night in nine years, commerce between the nations.

I do love Neil Gaiman¹. He does weird/creepy/dark perfectly well. Stardust is a great example of exactly that.

It’s a dark fairy tale, a la the Brothers Grimm. A city on the border between Victorian England and Fairie. The contrast of worlds. An adventure full of princes and witches, woodland animals, magic, and of course: fairy tale love.

“So, having found a lady, could you not have come to her aid, or left her alone? Why drag her into your foolishness?"
“Love,” he explained.
She looked at him with eyes the blue of the sky. “I hope you choke on it,” she said, flatly.

It’s a great listen. A bit weird, since apparently it was also originally published in graphic novel format and is also supposed to be a great movie. Looks like I’m going to have to go through it a few more times.

Side note: “Eight children seven boys.” Sneaky. I love how they didn’t go into exactly what that might mean for rather a while longer!