Classic Literature Short Stories

Set in Southwest England in the late 1800s, Sense and Sensibility follows the lives of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. When inheritance money from their father does not fall their way, the sisters and their mother must move in with distant relatives. Settling in at Barton Park, the Dashwood sisters discover a new life filled with new acquaintances and different suitors. From these new encounters, their lives are forever changed through a series of love, romance, and heartbreaks.

Words have power. Some words have more power than others. So when a group of monks seek to enlist modern technology in their quest to list all nine billion names of god, there is no telling what may happen.

Paru en 1887 avec d'autres récits, "Le Horla" est incontestablement le plus original et le plus effrayant de tous les contes fantastiques de Maupassant. Pour l'écrire, l'auteur s'est documenté auprès du docteur Charcot, célèbre spécialiste des névroses et des hystéries. Mais surtout, il s'est probablement inspiré des troubles nerveux qui commençaient alors à le détruire et qui allaient bientôt l'empoter.

Selections include "The Robber Bridegroom" by Washington Irving, "The Stolen White Elephant" by Mark Twain, "Chickamauga" by Ambrose Bierce, "The Mission of Jane" by Edith Wharton, and "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe.

Simple magic tricks are what a little boy is looking for when he drags his father into a quaint, old shop. The proprietor seems to be a master of illusion - a genius at slight of hand. But, as the son becomes mesmerized, the father feels an icy hand grip his heart.

In A Pair of Silk Stockings, Mrs. Sommers, a once wealthy woman who has fallen on hard times comes into possession of a small fortune of $15. Planning to spend the money on clothing for her children, she becomes sidetracked at a shop counter, entranced by the smoothness of a pair of silk stockings. She goes on to spend the money on the stockings as well as new boots and gloves for herself.

In Beyond the Bayou, La Folle, an ex-slave, lives on an island cut off from the her old home and is afraid to venture back onto the bayou. When a small drought dries up the shallow waters between her home and the bayou, she spends some time with the son of her former master. When the son, whom she calls “Cheri” accidentally shoots himself in the leg, La Folle must overcome her fear of the unknown and go back to the bayou to alert his parents.

In A Respectable Woman, Mrs. Baroda, the wife of a wealthy sugar plantation owner plays hostess to Mr. Gouvernail, a friend of her husband's. The reserved Mr. Gouvernail is a puzzle to Mrs. Baroda who is nonetheless intrigued by the man's retiring nature. When the two speak to each other outside one evening, Mrs. Baroda wants to get closer to her guest but realizes this would be at odds with her position as a respectable woman.

In Désirée’s Baby, the adopted daughter of a wealthy prewar French Creole couple is courted by the son of another wealthy, respected French Creole family. After they marry, their child is born with dark skin and believed to have African ancestry, a problem for a prewar white family. Accused of dishonesty by her husband, the mother, Désirée, and her child walk off into the bayou, never to be seen again. But when the father finds a letter from his mother to his father which reveals an explosive fact about his own ancestry, he learns a sobering truth.

When Sherlock Holmes met his demise in "The Adventure of the Final Problem," published in 1893, the distress of the unsuspecting reading public was profound. For years fans showed no signs of letting Sherlock Holmes lie down and die. Eventually, Doyle saw fit to continue his Holmes' canon and wrote a series of 13 short stories, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, published in 1905.

The earth's surface is no longer habitable. All humanity is sequestered beneath the ground, couched in isolation and contentment. The Machine provides the needs of humanity. Mankind becomes subservient drones to the life-supporting Machine. But what happens when the Machine stops?

Marcovaldo is an unskilled worker in a drab industrial city in northern Italy. He is an irrepressible dreamer and an inveterate schemer. Much to the puzzlement of his wife, his children, his boss, and his neighbors, he chases his dreams - but the results are never the expected ones.

In Ma’ame Pelagie, two women inhabit the ruins of their coastal Louisiana plantation, hoarding their pennies so they can restore it to its pre-Civil war glory. Ma’am Pelagie and her younger sister, Pauline sip coffee on the veranda and share stories about the house’s glorious past and their own narrow escape from danger during the war. When their niece arrives from the city for a visit, the sisters are compelled to make a hard choice about the once proud Valmet estate.

A story of how individual destiny can be shaped and formed by mentors and friends. Culwin is a modern villain, whose crimes arise from holding his tongue at crucial moments, so that events further entangle themselves.

Edgar Allen Poe is regarded as one of the greatest American writers and a pioneer of the horror genre, and this collection brings together some of his most celebrated tales. Themes of guilt, fear and revenge abound as the master of gothic horror transports audiences to mysterious worlds, carries them on dangerous sea voyages, and investigates gruesome murders. Exploring the hidden depths of the human mind, these are tales full of thrills and intrigue.

Based on real life events, and embellished in the quirkiest manner, this short story explores the moment that a janitor’s rags turn to riches. The inner workings of Alfredo’s mind are brought to bear in the outer world, since: As within so without, as above so below.

"Herodias" is a short story by Gustave Flaubert, one of the great masters of French literature. It is a reworking of the tale of Salomé and John the Baptist, in which faith and cruelty are blended in a deadly dance culminating in tragedy. A stylistic masterpiece, with orientalist sensuality and an inspired dive into religious fervor, this short story brings the ancient era to the most colorful possible life.

When the White family comes into the possession of a monkey’s paw that magically grant wishes, they do what many people would do - they wish for money. But every wish has a consequence, and the White family finds they are completely unprepared for what comes next. The Monkey’s Paw is a classic horror tale that gives new meaning to the phrase “be careful what you wish for”.

A Hunger Artist is a short story by Franz Kafka first published in Die neue Rundschau in 1922. The story was also included in the collection A Hunger Artist, the last book Kafka prepared for publication, printed after Kafka's death. The protagonist, a hunger artist who experiences the decline in appreciation of his craft, is an archetypical creation of Kafka: an individual marginalized and victimized by society at large.

Finally available after three decades, a lost classic of the Harlem Renaissance that Langston Hughes acclaimed for its "hard poetic beauty". Eric Walrond (1898 - 1966), in his only book, injected a profound Caribbean sensibility into black literature. His work was closest to that of Jean Toomer and Zora Neale Hurston with its striking use of dialect and its insights into the daily lives of the people around him.