my first encounter with dream and death

Even as I slowly but steadily progress through the 933-page brick called Shantaram that's full of cynical philosophical shite that I love so much (I'm at page 621 now after 2.5 months of persistence), I can't help but get distracted by something I recently picked up at Kinokuniya - Neil Gaiman's Sandman Series.

Preludes & Nocturnes was my first encounter with Dream, also known as Morpheus, and his punkish elder sister Death. Reading it alone at night by the bedside reading lamp proved to be a challenge for me as I scare myself to death with my overactive imagination triggered by some of the gruesome scenes in the graphic novel. But the story has me hooked; all I need to do is turn on all the bedroom lights when reading to alleviate some of the self-inflicted horror to be able to follow Dream's quests. I'm now about to start on Volume 2: The Doll's House and can't wait.