What they do is that they implant impulses in your mind and these impulses go on to be actual people, actual entities that have to be taken seriously and which end up – of course – having the run of the place. They vote and have opinions. They ‘own the world’, not to put too fine a point on it. Not to put too much of a fine point on it. So all the seeds (or should I say spores) are sown in your mind, and in the minds of everybody else, and they grow into people with names and careers and everything like that. Only they’re not real people, you understand. They’re not real people at all and that’s the frightening thing about it. They’re all imposters. They’re the Midwich Cuckoos.
They’re selling the dream and you are buying it. But maybe you’re not buying it; maybe you’ve got pretty fed up with the dream at this stage. They’re beaming messages directly into your mind: ‘This is your brain on LSD’ the messages all say, and then there is the obligatory shot of an egg frying like crazy on a hot iron skillet. That egg is hopping. That egg is jumping up and down in the pan. ‘This is your brain, this is your brain…’ the messages keep saying. Look at your brain hop. It wants to hop right out of that pan but it can’t. Hop brain, hop. Hop for your life. Hop like you mean it. Here is your brain on conventional society – look at it writhe like a maggot – look at it writhe like a goddamn maggot…
This is your brain, this is your brain. It doesn’t have much to say for itself, does it? It’s been turned into soup – a fine consommé, fragrant and yet at the same time as turgid as hell. You could stand a spoon up in it. Do you ever get the feeling that someone, somewhere, is trying to sell you something? It’s not a very comfortable feeling, is it? Not a very comforting feeling. First they plant the goddamn impulses in your brain and then the next thing is that they all start hatching out and before you know you’ve become a fully-fledged piece of meat with a nasty attitude and a Visa card. You’ve got to have a sense of humour about that of course because if you don’t you’re in for a very miserable time. Your days will be weary and devoid of light. You need to cultivate a real dark sense of humour and then you’ll be laughing all the way. You’ll be laughing all the way to the supermarket.
They’re selling and you are buying. You’ve got your Visa card in your hand. ‘Outside in the real world, the dead are stirring.’ Did you ever hear that saying? It’s a well-known saying and it’s true too. Outside in the real world, the dead are stirring. Hear them stir, hear them stir. First they implant the impulses in your mind and then they hatch. They go out into the world to make careers for themselves. They feed like crazy in the ever-living carcass of consumerism. They pursue the right to happiness, as is their right. Their brains are hopping right out of their skulls of course. Their brains are frazzled and when they speak they no longer make any sense. They chitter like insects, their bodies pale and elongated. They drive cars and apply for the appropriate permits. ‘But what about the life that has been suppressed, the life has been denied?’ you want to know. ‘What of that?’ I can only give you the same answer I always give: ‘outside in the real world, the dead are stirring…’
