The Wish (A Roald Dahl Short Story)

Book excerpt: The Wish is a short, sharp, chilling story from Roald Dahl, the master of the shocking tale In The Wish, Roald Dahl, one of the world's favourite authors, tells a sinister story about the darker side of human nature. Here, an imaginative boy plays a game that quickly gets out of hand . . . The Wish is taken from the short story collection Someone Like You, which includes seventeen other devious and shocking stories, featuring the wife who serves a dish that baffles the police; a curious machine that reveals the horrifying truth about plants; the man waiting to be bitten by the venomous snake asleep on his stomach; and others. 'The absolute master of the twist in the tale.' (Observer ) This story is also available as a Penguin digital audio download read by the sublime Stephen Mangan. Roald Dahl, the brilliant and worldwide acclaimed author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, and many more classics for children, also wrote scores of short stories for adults. These delightfully disturbing tales have often been filmed and were most recently the inspiration for the West End play, Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales by Jeremy Dyson. Roald Dahl's stories continue to make readers shiver today.