This is where Salem and I enjoy good food and conversation. It is also where we feast with our guests on holidays, birthdays and other important occasions. On the sideboard, you will find 25 stories to read while your meal digests.
Note: All the stories in this room were written around the year 2000. I'm not sure of the exact date.
Agoraphobia - Although her house is slated to be torn down to make room for a highway entrance ramp, a homeowner refuses to leave. Psychiatrist Lionel Penn suspects she is agoraphobic. Ailurophobia - Priscilla Kraft is afraid of cats. Could the death of a witch more than 300 years earlier have something to do with it? Anachronism - The third richest man in the world has a terminal disease and arranges to have himself frozen until a cure is discovered. The Angel in Charlie's Bar - After a minor traffic accident, Rhonda Ellis stops at a local bar for a drink. While there, she has to endure the unwanted attentions of a drunken man. The Band's All Here - When Ian Gallagher reunites with his band more than thirty years after it broke up, he's in for quite a surprise. |
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Bobby's Girl - After high school graduation, two friends head to Asbury Park, where one of the girls purchases a love potion from a fortuneteller. The Calendar - After she returns from her honeymoon, a writer notices there are pages missing out of her desk calendar. What connection do they have to the missing artist who once owned her house? Car of His Dreams - A teenager saves up his money from a part-time job to buy the car of his dreams, only to have it become his worst nightmare. Carrie Harper - When a wealthy miser and his wife are brutally murdered, suspicion falls on his younger daughter. Cause of Death: Unknown - Does a police detective's special needs child have the answer to a series of baffling murders? |
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Chicago Triangle - A reporter from a travel magazine begins to wonder why there have been so many violent crimes committed in Chicago over the years. The Course of History - Two Civil War reenactors are transported back to 1863 Gettysburg where they meet James Longstreet and Robert E. Lee. The Cover Girls - What price is an unknown photographer willing to pay for a successful career in the fashion industry? Deadly Blessing - A student with an overactive imagination visits the abandoned Buck Hill Inn in Northeast Pennsylvania. Doll Collection - After a middle-aged couple moves to a seaside home in New England, someone breaks in and vandalizes the wife's doll collection. |
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The Eve of Destruction - With the earth on a deadly collision course with a massive comet, the people of earth plan to evacuate to a space station on the moon. The Eyes That Could Not See - A psychiatrist must learn the reason why a blind woman doesn't want an operation to restore her vision. For a Good Time - When a lonely man phones a number he found on a men's room wall, he is in for the time of his life. For Better or Worse - A wealthy woman goes to a little-known company called Rekindle to help solve her marriage woes. Game Show Contestant - A retired history professor exhibits his encyclopedic knowledge of Nazi Germany on a game show. |
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Gamophobia - Psychiatrist Lionel Penn agrees to be best man at the wedding of an old friend, a man who has a fear of getting married. How Does Your Garden Grow? - While investigating the disappearance of a teenage boy, a detective begins to suspect a kindly old woman who volunteers at a homeless shelter. Imaginary Playmates - In the absence of real-life friends, a developmentally challenged teenager invents imaginary playmates with names she sees on tombstones in an old cemetery. In Your Easter Bonnet - A small-town girl has one wish before going off to college: to win the Easter bonnet competition. Insanity - The CEO of Desiree Cosmetics introduces a perfume that has an unusual effect on some men. |