Vera & Linus

In Rain Taxi, Laird Hunt has a nice review of a very interesting-sounding book.

And out went Vera and Linus with a large knife and a bag, for hunting children's hands.

There is probably no better place to begin a brief comment on this strangely sexy, agreeably scary collaborative compendium than with the above image of its two protagonists gaily heading out to do a little hand collecting, for these two mysterious beings, carved straight out of the space of fairy tale—Hansel and Gretel all grown up with a shed full of axes to grind—never tire of the simple pleasures of killing, collecting, burning, maiming and holding captive.