' Harlequin Valentine' – written for Strange Attraction, a book based on a Ferris wheel made by Lisa Snellings-Clark.

'Strange Little Girls' – twelve very short stories to accompany Tori Amos's CD Strange Little Girls.

Not present in the British paperback from Headline Review.

'The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch' – inspired by a painting by Frank Frazetta of a savage woman flanked by tigers.

'Good Boys Deserve Favors' – inspired by a statue by Lisa Snellings-Clark of a man holding a double bass.

Smith, a pair of dubious men who also appeared in a Gaiman novella called The Monarch of the Glen, suggesting that this tale is a part of the American Gods universe as well.

'Keepsakes and Treasures: A Love Story' – began as a comic for Oscar Zarate's collection, It's Dark in London illustrated by Warren Pleece.

'Other People' – originally titled Afterlife.

'Bitter Grounds' – written for the anthology Mojo: Conjure Stories.

'Going Wodwo' – a poem about a wild man in the woods for the anthology The Green Man.

'Closing Time' – a club story / ghost story inspired by M.

'The Flints of Memory Lane' – a real life ghost story.

'Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire' – gothic story published in the anthology Gothic!.

'The Hidden Chamber' – gothic poem about Bluebeard for the anthology Outsiders.

'October in the Chair' – dry run for The Graveyard Book, inspired by the work of Ray Bradbury.

' A Study in Emerald' – a Sherlock Holmes/ Cthulhu Mythos pastiche written for the anthology Shadows Over Baker Street.

'The Mapmaker' – a very short story included in the book's introduction, originally written for American Gods.

This exact line also appears in the text for the included short story 'Bitter Grounds'. Gaiman says in the introduction that the original title for the collection was These People Ought to Know Who We Are and Tell That We Were Here, after a word balloon in a Little Nemo in Slumberland strip. Most of the stories in this book are reprints from other sources: magazines, anthologies, and even CD sleeves.

It was published in the US and UK in 2006 by HarperCollins and Headline Review. Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders is a collection of short stories and poetry by English author Neil Gaiman.

The nature of fragile things synopsis