Villagers doomed to die during the year would be seen passing through the church door on May Day. People with physical ailments or deformities could be cured if they touched the hangman's rope while the victim's body was still warm. Such superstitions abounded in the Dorset peasant culture of Hardy's early Victorian childhood. His taste for the supernatural and macabre is seen in this ingenious collection of short stories which show how a great writer could invest strong stories of mystery and suspense with his own brilliant observation and imagination.