Eustace Chisholm and The Works by James Purdy: Love story about two men living in Chicago during the Great Depression. Daniel Haws is a “sleepwalker” who visits Amos' room at night, although during the day he says things like “they should electrocute faggots” and is tormented by his true nature. Purdy's characters are like people whose hearts were born outside of their bodies.
The very night Amos moved into the rooming house, the mystery of Daniel was revealed—he turned out to be an incurable sleepwalker. … In the feeble hallway light, he saw someone standing on his threshold. The man advanced toward Amos with his eyes open, but the expression in his pupils were so changed that Amos did not at once recognize his landlord. Daniel came directly to Amos' cot, sat down in the manner of a regular visitor, lifted the boy's head casually, touched his hair and, leaning over him close enough for Amos to feel the warmth of his breath, said, without expression or feeling, “Promise me you'll want to stay.” A few seconds after saying this, he rose and returned to his own room, having closed the shell of a door behind him.
That had been two months ago. Hardly a night now went by that Daniel did not return, with words and actions nearly identical to those of his first night's visit. Amos knew that his nighttime caller was as different from the daytime Daniel Haws as a dream is from every day reality. Amos remembered a description Cousin Ida had given of sleepwalkers: "People who walk in their sleep don't remember a thing, especially where they have walked."
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