sobriety's worst fantods at the gate

The recovery institution's first cameo, and a phrase the whole theme will lean on: the E.T.A. gate-attendant is a resident of the halfway place down the hill, "trying to recover," and the haunted Clipperton gives him "sobriety's worst fantods, so far" — the qualifier admitting that early sobriety is itself a state of nameless dread, measured against worse to come.