Death By Suggestion

DEATH BY SUGGESTION gathers together twenty-two short stories from the 19th and early 20th century where hypnotism is used to cause death-either intentionally or by accident. Revenge is a motive for many of the stories, but this anthology also contains tales where characters die because they have a suicide wish, or they need to kill an abusive or unwanted spouse, or they just really enjoy inflicting pain on others. The book also includes an introduction which provides a brief history of hypnotism as well as a listing of real life cases where the use of hypnotism led to (or allegedly led to) death. "Donald K. Hartman's DEATH BY SUGGESTION, is a melange of crime fiction featuring stabbings, clifftop suicides, hangings and the odd strangulation. Hartman offers an admirable introduction, exploring the history of hypnotism and defining the terms "mesmerism" and "hypnotism". He discusses the positive and negative applications of hypnotism today before looking at modern criminal cases as well as those well-reported cases relating to his selection of stories." - TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, January 15, 2019, p.30