fragile things short fictions and wonders

'Locks' explores the story of Goldilocks from a father's point of view, and 'Inventing Aladdin' imagines Scheherazade's plight from One Thousand and One Nights. The 'Problem of Susan' explores the girl who was left behind when all her family went to Narnia.

'Forbidden Brides.' is set in a world in which horror clichés are normal everyday events, and what we consider normal is fantasy to them. In 'How Do You Think it Feels,' the narrator creates a magical Plasticine gargoyle to protect his heart. He travels to New Orleans and gives himself over to the zombie Coffee Girls. In 'Bitter Grounds,' the narrator has given up to the point where he becomes a zombie. 'The Hidden Chamber,' 'Bitter Grounds,' and 'How Do You Think it Feels' all deal with loss and painful memories. October tells the others about Runt, an overlooked and miserable boy who runs away from home and meets a ghost. 'October in the Chair' is a story in which the months of the year tell each other tales. Going Wodwo is a poem in which a person decides to cast off their life to return to nature. 'The Fairy Reel and Instructions' are poems that deal with the sinister and confusing nature of fairyland. They are outwitted by these 'criminals' who get away to fight the Old Ones another day.

They track the crime to an actor and a doctor, who turn out to be the real Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. The narrator helps a detective, who is implied to be Sherlock Holmes, to solve the murder of one of these Old Ones. 'A Study in Emerald' is a murder mystery set in Victorian London in an alternate past, in which the Old Ones, terrible monsters from beyond the Earth, have taken over the world. Many of the stories carry an element or undercurrent of horror. Fragile Things is a collection of short stories and poems by Neil Gaiman, most of which deal with supernatural or strange events.

Fragile things short fictions and wonders