Syndrome Johnny features a mind-blowing collection of harrowing short dystopias focused on plagues. The short stories include contemporary fiction such as Charles Dye's "Syndrome Johnny" and Teddy Keller's "The Plague," well-known works like Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death," and also historically-based accounts, including Jens Peter Jacobsen's "The Plague in Bergamo," which details the 12th Century plague that broke out in the city that has been the epicenter of Italy's 2020 COVID-19 epidemic.