Seven stories about the real horror infiltrating every part of our lives. 

The short stories in the book illustrates the horror that sprouts from the relationships women make as a social subject, from the space they reside, and from outer stimulation (strangers). The people who are most closest to us but at the same time farthest from us--families and friends (“The Thing Inside the Empty Shopping Bag was”, “Unnie”, “The Feet under the Curtains”), the horror that looms at home and workplace where we spend most of lives in (“Swaying Mirror”, “The Cleaning Lady”), the anxiety ignited by a stranger's voice (“Talking to Myself”, “Gentleman in the Silver Suit”). The readers will realize why horror is a complex social emotion that cannot be easily defined. 

The title piece “The Thing inside the Empty Shopping Bag was” is a story of Jin-a, who witnesses an incident that takes place in a bus. A drunken passenger strikes a young man’s head with a shopping bag, angry that the young man did not give up his seat. The young man dies at the spot of heart failure, and the case is widely broadcasted in the media. Jin-a explains to her husband about what she witnessed but he seems uninterested as always. Jin-a’s husband who is a professional soldier not only acts like one outside, but also at home. After the incident, Jin-a constantly recalls the young man’s face in her head, and somehow starts to find her husband quite disturbing. As soon as he returns home, he checks whether the house is clean as if he is evaluating Jin-a, talks to her in a lecturing tone, and acts as if she is incapable of doing anything well. Soon enough Jin-a starts to see herself from the face of the young man.