These horror, science fiction, and fantasy tales include many encounters with the divine and demonic, as well as parallel worlds where people have multiple souls or can grant part of their life span to their loved ones. A recognizably twisted version of our own government and a faraway space colony face crises. There are people who accidentally travel somewhere they never quite intended to go or slip out of their ordinary life into a stranger life, or even a stranger’s life. There are near future stories about AI that suggest Turnbull might have a more positive view on the technology’s potential than many of his creative contemporaries; somewhere between today’s chatbots and the self-aware beings of classic SF, these AI creations actually provide needed assistance and psychological support in moments of crisis. But overall, these are stories about couples, siblings, and parents and children who have trouble communicating, generally because one of them fundamentally can’t understand the importance of something that the other person considers vital, and the other person feels unsure how to balance the importance of that thing with the importance of maintaining the relationship. Whether on a distant planet or high mountain peak, or in a crowded urban setting or abandoned rural home, people struggle to cling to something larger than themselves. But, Turnbull suggests, perhaps what they really need sometimes is to narrow their focus rather than broaden it, to love someone, talk honestly with them, and be understood.