This book contains the following short stories:

"The Landlady" (first appeared in The New Yorker magazine, November 28, 1959)

"William and Mary"

"The Way Up to Heaven" (first appeared in The New Yorker magazine, February 27, 1954)

"Parson's Pleasure"

"Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat"

"Royal Jelly"

"Georgy Porgy"

"Genesis and Catastrophe: A True Story"

"Edward the Conqueror" (first appeared in The New Yorker magazine, October 31, 1953)

"Pig"

"The Champion of the World" (first appeared in The New Yorker magazine, January 31, 1959)

These are some of Dahl's most macabre stories. Delicately, the naive punish the wicked, but also the other way around.

Most of the stories are presented as typical narratives, albeit with imaginative characters. The horror of each story is built around implication, and many horrific endings, involving death or unpleasant situations, can only be inferred, since nothing is directly stated.

"The Champion of the World" is a condensed version of the story that would become Dahl's 1975 children's book, Danny the Champion of the World.