Here is another group of imaginative tales from the Great White North. Because of the number of this volume, 13, this book focuses on horror and dark fantasy stories.

The world has been ravaged by a very contagious disease that destroys undeveloped frontal lobes of the brain, thereby turning all children, whose brains are not yet fully developed, into brainless automatons. In one family, the father is ready to commit suicide out of despair; at this point, the parents are expected to take their affected children with them. The wife refuses to give up hope that someone, somewhere is working on a cure.

A former stockbroker suffers from a debilitating disease which looks like ALS on the outside, but it isn’t. It is as if his body is slowing down, almost to the point of stopping, and he is always cold, even in the middle of summer. A group of children are held prisoner by a man who, by playing his flute, can make them do anything, even throw themselves off a cliff. A woman has to deal with her dead ex-husband living in her house, eating pizza and using the shower. An elderly man, living alone in the woods, is asked about the disappearance of a member of another family also living in the woods.

A woman is in the process of giving birth to quintuplets, at home. The doctor is old enough to remember the Dionne quintuplets, who grew up as media darlings and were not allowed to live regular lives. He has a very difficult decision to make when two of the babies develop severe breathing problems. Having just returned from her husband’s funeral, a woman does battle with a bluejay that got into her house, and will not leave her alone.

These are all first-rate stories. They are weird and spooky without going overboard. They will keep the reader entertained, and they are well worth reading. ( )