“Snake!”“Sss . . . snake!” George screamed. God, thought Harry, one of Preacher’s snakes has escaped. Harry jerked his head for a look. And George stepped in and knocked him on his ass and kicked him full in the chest. . . . Goddam, [Harry] thought, I fell for the oldest trick in the book.
—Joe R. Lansdale, “The Pit,” The Mammoth Book of Pulp Action (2001)