fantasmagoria????
“Look here—” Valerie thumped Westley’s chest—“nothing. You ever hear anything so hollow? The man’s life’s been sucked away. It’ll take months before there’s strength again.”
“We haven’t got months—it’s after one now, and the wedding’s at six tonight. What parts can we hope to have in working order in seventeen hours?”
“Well,” Max said, considering. “Certainly the tongue, absolutely the brain, and, with luck, maybe a little slow walk if you nudge him gently in the right direction.”
Inigo looked at Fezzik in despair.
“What can I tell you?” Max said. “You needed a fantasmagoria.”
“And you never could have gotten one of those for sixty-five,” Valerie added, consolingly.

I would like to know what does " fantasmagoria" mean. Thanks,

Question

fantasmagoria????
“Look here—” Valerie thumped Westley’s chest—“nothing. You ever hear anything so hollow? The man’s life’s been sucked away. It’ll take months before there’s strength again.”
“We haven’t got months—it’s after one now, and the wedding’s at six tonight. What parts can we hope to have in working order in seventeen hours?”
“Well,” Max said, considering. “Certainly the tongue, absolutely the brain, and, with luck, maybe a little slow walk if you nudge him gently in the right direction.”
Inigo looked at Fezzik in despair.
“What can I tell you?” Max said. “You needed a fantasmagoria.”
“And you never could have gotten one of those for sixty-five,” Valerie added, consolingly.

I would like to know what does " fantasmagoria" mean. Thanks,

Answer

"I would like to know what 'fantasmagoria' means." (be careful of this indirect question word-order)

Honestly? I don't think the speaker even knows what it means. In spite of the dictionary definitions (which don't fit), it seems that Max is just using the word because it sounds long and amazing. In his mind, it probably means "super-miracle".

Answer

The word is used only twice in "The Princess Bride." So it is difficult to get the meaning with reading the whole book. It could just mean "super miracle." But other meanings might make sense. In general, a "fantasmagoria" can be anything related to supernatural creatures. Including a book about them, or the actual creatures themselves. Or also a "store" that provides them. So maybe they needed to go to a fantasmagoria to get a better corpse. I dunno. Without reading the whole book, I can't guess better than that.

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