Hi guys thanks in advance for any and all help. I might be a little off base or confused, but I remember two short Bradbury stories I think:

1) A man goes into a shop (Chinese shop) and is offered a relationship with a woman and all will go good in his life forever and he refuses but later changes his mind, only to find someone else took up the woman on her offer.

2) A man or woman goes into a Chinese store to buy something and discovers interesting things that will change his or her life. Not sure if this is a Ray Bradbury story or Steven King.

Anyhow thanks for thinking about it.

Jason

Hi jasond and welcome,

Two possibilities that come to mind are (for 1) the story "Drink Entire: Against the Madness of Crowds" (found in the collection LONG AFTER MIDNIGHT) and (for 2) the chapbook The Shop of Mechanical Insects.

There is kind of a subgenre of stories out there which are set in curio shops. Two which come to mind are "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium" (by William F. Wu adapted for the 1980s Twilight Zone) and "Bottle Party" (by John Collier).

"Bottle Party" Can be found in the book Fancies and Goodnight by John Collier, intro. by Ray Bradbury.

Excellent thanks Linnl, I think you hit it out of the park with story one nailed it.

And I'll check out Te shop of Mechanical Insects.

Jason

Yes, "Drink Entire: Against the Madness of Crowds". Frustrating and wistfully sad.

For the second one, a part science fiction, and more horror, story starting out in a strange shop run by a woman is "Sandkings" by George R.R. Martin. *shudder*