Descend into the deepest, darkest torture chambers of the soul, where rapacious dreams dwell and nightmares are forged. In these pages, the mind's darkness lies revealed.

These stories are each named after a medieval torture device, and the true meaning - and impact - of every title bubbles up to the surface as the connection between the various instruments and their psychological counterparts are laid bare: whether it is an anguished man being drugged with hormones to 'cure' his dwarfism or a forbidden love affair that takes root in a place of worship.

Torn asunder, marginalized, existing at the edges of our peripheral vision, the people in these tales hold up to the reader the greatest instrument of torture yet: a mirror that looks directly into the subconscious.