Hello, gentle listener, and welcome to nocturnal transmissions, the fortnightly podcast that brings you dark tales both old and new, performed by your humble narrator, Kristen Holland.

If you're one of our beloved Patreon patrons, then we do so hope that you enjoyed our exclusive episode a fortnight ago,

featuring Edgar Allan Poe's Toothsome Tale, Berenice.

We feel a little bad that our non-subscribed friends of the podcast were denied the delight of

devouring that deliciously dread-inducing depiction of dental derangement.

So we've decided to share a story with everyone this week that again takes us into the territory of toothy terror.

Brace yourself, gentle listener, for John Saxton's.

This won't hurt a bit.

Mr. Latham, would you like to come through, please?

I toss the glossy magazine back onto the oval table in the waiting room,

where it slid for a while across the surfaces of similar publications.

The question flitted through my mind,

why do they always have women's magazines in waiting rooms? Either that or car books.

The genial face of the dentist smiled reassuringly as he led the way to the small artificially lit surgery.

I followed him in and gesturing towards a reclining couch, he said,

Take a seat.'

He quietly closed the door to the room,

and I wasn't sure, but I thought I heard him turn a key in the lock.

"'Okay, Mr. Latham.

"'Let's have a look of what we got.'

He pulled X-rays from a brown envelope.

Something was not right.

...