Some of my favorites:

A man is jailed for the 1890's equivalent of vehicular homicide and his desperate father buys what he thinks is magic dust from a seedy traveling salesman. The payoff at the gibbet is very moving.

A couple find a camera that takes pictures of the near future. Obviously they think they have it made, but it turns out to be as much a blessing as a curse.

A henpecked man wants to do nothing but read, but the world always makes too many demands of his time. By freak chance he gets his wish to be alone, with an unexpected price.

A man takes an airplane ride and thinks he sees something out on the wing. Very suspenseful.

A magic fortune-telling machine accurately predicts the future, but the hints are maddeningly and addictively vague.