ABANDONED. Man finds a book that makes wishes come true... It also kills people.

[Robert]

I read this about 10 years ago. I vaguely remember a man, (I think he is middle aged) finding a book in a cave or some sort of hole on the side of the road. The book grants him wishes, but it also grants any tiny thought. For instance, I remember his ex-wife walking down the steps and he thinks to himself that he hopes she trips and dies. Well she falls down the stairs and I'm pretty sure she breaks her neck or something and she dies. He also wished for someone else to die and I remember him getting beaten to a bloody pulp by thin air. At the end of the story I think the house gets burned down and the book is burned with it. It's a very adult story. I believe there is a graphic sex scene or 2. Oh there is also another part where I remember 2 cars crashing head on. I think he wishes for both people to die. I thought the book was called The Vessel, but it seems I'm wrong. The book was old when I found it in an antique books store years ago. I can't remember what it looked like.

[Robert]

Anyone?

[Cheryl]

Must be a rare/ obscure book. The good news, you've had 46 views. And you've given good clues. The bad news, you'll have to keep remembering to bump this thread every month or two until someone recognizes it.

[Robert]

Lol. Thanks. :)

[Justanotherbiblophile]

This reminds me of "Word Processor of the Gods" a Stephen King story, collected in _Skeleton Crew_. First published in Playboy.

But, it is not your story.

[Robert]

Thanks for the input. I'll have to read that one.

[Justanotherbiblophile]

Here's another one which dovetails in with the King story I mentioned above:

Harrison, Harry and Malzberg, Barry N., "The Whatever-I-Type-Is-True Machine"

However, I'm pretty sure that it too is not your unsolved story :\

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Robert, still looking for this?

[Robert]

Yes I am.

[Tab]

Maybe, That Hurt Thing

Remember anything about the cover?

[Cheryl]

Here's a free 'bump' for fall. Come back in a few months to bump again, ok? Otherwise, as we do housekeeping on threads, we might conclude that this thread has been 'abandoned' and move it to the Abandoned folder.

[Robert]

Tab wrote: "Maybe, That Hurt Thing

Remember anything about the cover?"

The story is similar, but it's not the same. The main character is somewhere in his 40s to 50s.

[Robert]

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "Here's a free 'bump' for fall. Come back in a few months to bump again, ok? Otherwise, as we do housekeeping on threads, we might conclude that this thread has been 'abandoned' and move it to the A..."

Thanks. Still looking for this book.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Still looking?

[Michele]

Was it a hardcover or paperback? Any idea when it might have originally been written? When you say "antique bookstore" it makes me wonder :)

[Michele]

Hm. There's a book called The Vessel Of Splendor: A Return To The One (1978) but I can't find a summary of it. Looks like it's about the Kabbalah, though.

[Marie]

Isn't there a japanese comic book about a book that kills people? I think it's becoming a Netflix series. "Death Note" or something.

[Miss Mara]

Yes Death Note is about killing people, but it's much different than the book that's described. (the main character was never married, for example)

[Marie]

I don't know much about it but I came across an official statement from Netflix about their new project yesterday. Then I immediately saw this thread and it felt like fate :P

[Michele]

Death Note, Vol. 1: Boredom for the clickamajig.

[Nicola]

I loved Death Note :-)

[Robert]

It's definitely not Death Note. I'm a big fan of Death Note. :P

I'm still searching for this book lol.

[Robert]

Michele wrote: "Was it a hardcover or paperback? Any idea when it might have originally been written? When you say "antique bookstore" it makes me wonder :)"

The book I had was a paperback. I'm thinking it was written in the 80s or 90s, but I'm not sure.

[Justanotherbiblophile]

Robert wrote: "It's definitely not Death Note."

You should edit your first entry to include these other bits, like the fact that it's not _Death Note_, so people who only read the description won't keep chiming in with, "Death Note?".

Also, the paperback, and time-frame, etc.

eg: listing titles a request is NOT

[Michele]

Justanotherbiblophile wrote: "listing titles a request is NOT"

Help you we can, if clear you are ;)

[Jamie]

Did the book place place in SF?

[Justanotherbiblophile]

*bump*

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Please don't bump more often than every 30 days...

[Teresa]

Any chance it's Lullaby?

[Justanotherbiblophile]

Teresa wrote: "Any chance it's Lullaby?"

Lullaby looks like (I've not read it) it is a poem or song that needs to be sung to someone, in order to kill (cull) them.

[Teresa]

Justanotherbiblophile wrote: "Teresa wrote: "Any chance it's Lullaby?"

Lullaby looks like (I've not read it) it is a poem or song that needs to be sung to someone, in order to kill (cull) them."

There are mildly spoilery reasons why that isn't always the case.
Upon re-reading the original question, I will amend my suggestion to add that the magic book is for killing rather than wish-granting; it's just that the border between wishing someone dead and killing them gets quite thin over the course of the story.

[SamSpayedPI]

I thought Lullaby too, although many of the plot points in the first post don't coincide.

[Kris]

Robert, are you still looking for this book or did you find it?

[Kris]

Note: Robert (OP) was last active on the site in July 2019.

[Michele]

You said "The book was old when I found it in an antique books store years ago. " When did you find it, and based on binding, appearance, condition etc. do you have a guess at how old it was at that point? For example, you found it in 1974 but it looked really old and tattered with browning brittle pages.

[Justanotherbiblophile]

*bump*

[Bargle]

Book that grants wishes bump.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Kris wrote: "Robert, are you still looking for this book or did you find it?"

No response, moving to Abandoned.

[Bargle]

Ah, I wanted this one to get solved.

Book that grants wishes thread.