A cliffhanger is a central theme and framing device of the collection of stories known as the One Thousand and One Nights, wherein the queen Scheherazade, who is facing a morning execution on the orders of her husband, King Shahryar, devises the solution of telling him a story but leaving it at a cliffhanger, thus forcing the king to postpone her execution to hear the rest of the tale.  Some time ago, newspapers published novels in a serial format with one chapter appearing every month. To ensure continued interest in the story, many authors employed different techniques to get the readers to...