Contents of the Dead Man’s Pockets

(by Jack Finney) (Tom Benecke is forced to reconsider his priorities) At the little living-room desk Tom Benecke rolled two sheets of flimsy and a heavier top sheet, carbon paper sandwiched between them, into his portable. Interoffice Memo, the top sheet was headed, and he typed tomorrow's date just below this; then he glanced at …

Of Missing Persons

(by Jack Finney, adapted for this article) (The chance of a lifetime.) Walk in as though it were an ordinary travel bureau, the stranger I’d met at a bar had told me. Ask a few ordinary questions—about a trip you’re planning, a vacation, anything like that. Then hint about The Folder a little, but whatever …

I’m Scared

(by Jack Finney, adapted for this article) (Can you explain it?) I'm very badly scared, not so much for myself—I'm a gray-haired man of sixty-six, after all—but for you and everyone else who has not yet lived out his life. For I believe that certain dangerous things have recently begun to happen in the world. …

Such Interesting Neighbors

(by Jack Finney, adapted for this article) (Where would you like to go?) I can't honestly say I knew from the start that there was something queer about the Hellenbeks. I did notice some strange things right away, and wondered about them, but I shrugged them off. They were nice people, I liked them, and …