Some people are optimists and some people are pessimists, but Dr. Offig is a “gruesome-ist!” Visit him in his cluttered and curious office for a chocolate éclair oozing with fresh cream and he will surely tell you one of the wonderfully creepy stories he is famous for — the kind that makes your eyes bug out in disbelief, your skin shiver and crawl and your tummy wiggle like a very large bowl of incredibly nervous Jell-O. And once in a while they might — just might I say — even make you laugh out loud.

But be forewarned, most dearest, charming, intelligent and, might I add, particularly shrewd reader — these stories can also become very, very, very (yes, THAT very) addictive. Once you finish with one of Dr. Offig’s stories, you will most certainly want to read another, then another, and then another still.

Which sometimes makes it hard to go to sleep with the lights out...