Introduction to Midnight Tales
Lin Shen, a self-media editor facing a career crisis, unexpectedly obtains a thread-bound book from the Republic of China era titled Tales of the Strange. Its thirty-six unpublished ghost stories are eerie and sinister. To save his account's statistics, he ignores the stall owner's warning that "whatever you read will come true" and begins posting one story every midnight.
From the bizarre deaths triggered by "The Shadow in the Mirror" to the eerie disappearances brought about by "Song at Midnight," after each story is posted, readers suffer terrifying misfortunes that match its plot. Lin Shen struggles between fame and guilt, only to discover that the curse has already taken hold: the book cannot be discarded or burned, and if he stops updating, it will turn against him.
When the thirty-sixth story, "Curse of the End," is posted, the thirty-six people killed by the curse become vengeful ghosts and come seeking his life. Only then does Lin Shen understand that this book of strange tales is the ultimate test of human greed. In the end, he atones with his soul, but fails to bring the cycle to an end.
From then on, mysterious, terrifying posts appear across the city at midnight. Anyone who receives one is sure to suffer a terrible misfortune the next day, confirming the bone-chilling curse: "One ghost story a day, one person scared each day." Blending supernatural horror with questions about human nature, the story reveals an endless cycle born of desire, through fear that builds layer by layer.
