What you are currently holding is Tunku Halim’s fifth collection of short stories. You’ll find a whole range of characters in the pages to come, including hungry, slimy creatures, a cunningly cuddly toy, a vengeful romantic, a killer bodyguard and a wife who refuses to stay dead. As a murderous treat, there is also the novella Lodger, which may confirm your worst fears about digital technology. These stories were written well before that most significant of dates, 9 May 2018; well before the groundswell that swept away 61 years of Barisan Nasional rule. So some of the references to politicians and the political climate might be out of date. Unless (and this is the true horror) things have actually remained the same...