‘In this transfixing debut, Kashif Mashaikh dives into Mumbai’s unsettling underbelly and resurfaces with uncanny stories that cast the city in a seductive, horror-tinged glow. ’ Altaf Tyrewala ‘Kashif weaves intricate and dark tales of raw emotion and horror. Kept me up all night … intrigued and fearful!’Bilal SiddiqiFor the past three decades, Jeevanram has worked the night shift at the mortuary of the Grand Trunk Hospital in Mumbai. At the sunset of his career, he is joined by a young apprentice who is clearly uncomfortable when confronted by death and disease, and the social apathy that has crept into the system. The apprentice is afraid to face his fears; but through the nine dark tales Jeevanram tells him, the young man begins to understand the purpose of life and death, of love and loss, of loneliness, guilt and everything in between. Drawing from the narrative patterns of Vikram–Betaal and the Arabian Nights, Mortuary Tales is filled with stories of real fear, and the many ghosts that the mind can conjure. An exceptional, compelling debut.