Mrs. Rahlo's Closet and Other Mad Tales

Mrs. Rahlo's Closet: It was a simple request, really. All the aged landlady asked of the young medical student who rented a room in her decaying home was to refrain from opening the closet door. Yes, a simple request. And an impossible one . . . "Harla": They had the perfect marriage, Harla and Mr. Tim--a marriage based on the murders of others. "Don't you see?" Mr. Tim remarked. "Killing sweetens one's temper. Are we not much kinder, more tolerant of others after each homicide?" And it was so. At least, until . . . "We Three and the Stars": "Fear rules the universe, " Ellen learned. "That is the law of the Grider. Those terrible stories of alien abductions--they wanted to know how much fear we can take. And, oh, they found the answer.""Ashes Fall on Timberlake": "Mister, when you think you're sittin' safe in that cabin of yours, you're thinkin' blind, " the handyman told Garvin. "There's things in there with you--things so terrible your stomach would stretch right out of your mouth if you saw 'em." --And all because Garvin witnessed a demon hand fall from the sky . . .