This is a collection of short fiction stories that are like "Final Destination" meets "The Monkey's Paw" (W.W. Jacobs, 1902). As such, they are tragedies more than either mysteries or horror, and would appeal most to readers who enjoy the inexorable pull of a story arc that leads from fateful act to final doom. In each story, a protagonist makes a wish that comes true with fatal results for someone, often the person making the wish. Nothing supernatural, but just how things work out. (Or is it?) The underlying theme is that you had better be very careful what you wish for because it might just come true!

The stories do contain murders and somewhat nasty deaths, but are not heavy on gore and schlock, and there are no sex scenes or course language unless the plot really and absolutely needs it. There is no gratuitous violence towards women or animals in the plots, but people do usually die in satisfyingly appropriate ways. The stories typically have a medical or healthcare related angle, and many of the actors in them are employed in healthcare or are patients or caregivers.

The technical details surrounding the fatal (or near fatal) events are drawn from real cases in the US OSHA incident report database or other similar sources, and are therefore entirely realistic even if seemingly outlandish. The plots draw lightly from cultural beliefs around actions such as pointing at someone with a stick or knife, wishing in front of a mirror, or stepping on a crack.

All but one of the stories were published in Physician's Weekly as part of a medical fiction section in 2021. There is one bonus story about twins that are driven apart by the media they consume, and of course it results in a fatal outcome.

I hope you enjoy the stories.

Humphrey Archer,

August 2021