This is the fifth volume of a collection of stories that are like "Final Destination" meets "The Monkey's Paw" (W. W. Jacobs, 1902). They are a little bit Roald Dahl with a hint of Poe. 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 to doom. In each story, a protagonist (usually a rotter), makes a wish that comes true with fatal results for someone, often the person making the wish. Sometimes the victim is just a nice person with bad luck. Nothing supernatural, but just how things work out. (Or is it?)

Similar to the first collection in "The Screw Turns", the stories in this collection do contain murders and somewhat nasty deaths, but are not heavy on gore, and there are no sex scenes and no gratuitous violence towards women or animals in the plots. Coarse language is avoided unless the plot really and absolutely needs it. 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) event 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.

Most of the stories were published in Physician's Weekly in 2023 as part of a medical fiction collection, but this volume contains a few previously-unpublished pieces that I hope you will like.

If you like this collection, please consider reviewing it, which will help other readers like you to find it.

Thank you

Humphrey Archer

October 2023