A popular businessman awakes one morning to discover that everyone hates him. A young woman must surrender her virginity to a grotesque enemy in order to fulfil her family's destiny. An extraordinary chain of events is set in motion when a cocktail cabinet falls out of the sky and kills a farmer. A depressed man decides to make his suicide the most exciting thing that's ever happened to him...

Oozing paranoia, black humour and a certain amount of old-fashioned gore, this is a collection of classic Christopher Fowler short stories - each telling a chilling tale of desperate individuals who learn the hard way that ...flesh wounds.

Christopher Fowleris the author of more than forty novels (fifteen of which feature the detectives Bryant and May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit) and short story collections. The recipient of many awards, including the coveted CWA Dagger in the Library, Chris has also written screenplays, video games, graphic novels, audio plays and two critically acclaimed memoirs,PaperboyandFilm Freak. His most recent book isThe Book of Forgotten Authors, drawn from his Invisible Ink columns in theIndependent on Sunday.Chris divides his time between London's Kings Cross and Barcelona. You can find out more by visiting his website and following him on Twitter.