Classic Literature Short Stories

The Complete Jane Austen Collection includes Austen's 7 novels, selected short fiction, and a selection of her letters. Read by an incredible cast including Joanne Froggatt and Fenella Woolgar, this collection is the perfect opportunity to listen beyond your favourite novel and discover Jane Austen's complete writings.

"Crooken Sands" is a short fantasy/horror tale by the author of Dracula. The story follows a London merchant on a mysterious adventure in Scotland.

Die schönsten deutschen Sagen über Könige, Ritter und Edelfräulein: von Kaiser Karl bis Lohengrin. Das einfache Volk hat sie bewundert und gefürchtet: Die Könige und Kaiser, die mächtigen Ritter und ihre Burgfräulein. Viele Volks- und Heldensagen erzählen bis heute von ihrem Ruhm und ihren Taten. Und von manchem Herrscher geht die Sage, dass er nicht gestorben sei, sondern nur schlafe, um eines Tages wiederzukehren und dem Volk in großer Not zu Hilfe zu kommen.

Under the Sunset is a fairy tale written by the famous Bram Stoker, writer of Dracula. This little tale is about a land described as 'under the sunset' and the story of what happens when hearts grow cold.

Stalky & Co. is a book published in 1899 (following serialization in the Windsor Magazine) by Rudyard Kipling, about adolescent boys at a British boarding school. It is a collection of linked short stories in format, with some information about the charismatic Stalky character in later life. The character Beetle, one of the main trio, is partly based on Kipling himself. Stalky is based on Lionel Dunsterville, M'Turk is based on George Charles Beresford, and Mr. King is based on William Carr Crofts.

A young boy, Tineboy, is having trouble with his multiplication tables and the number seven. Bored in class one day, he falls asleep and dreams of a story told by his teacher about the number seven going mad. This leads to a world without the number seven and the confusion that comes from getting rid of a number. The schoolhouse bully and Tineboy’s own pet crow play important roles in his vivid daydream, full of intelligent wit and humor.

Theirs was a story of two people from different stations of life - he, poor and she, rich. He worked hard to make a name for himself, and having done so, he returns to her to find out that she had loved him all these years and was waiting for him as well. The poet is so distraught that with it having taken so long for them to be together, it seems even more unfair for them to be separated at the end. Finding out that his love has passed away, he immediately decides to follow after her to the Castle of the King of Death.

The short stories of Irish writers appeal to audiences far beyond the shores of Eire. These stories, in turn atmospheric, spookily funny, full of intriguing characters, picturesque, and touching, are steeped in the Irish delight in story-telling and cover an intriguing century of Irish city and country life.

This is volume two of a two-volume omnibus set comprising the complete fictional works of Howard Phillips Lovcecraft. Every story written for publication under his own name is included in this set, from 1927 through 1935. (Poems, ghostwritten material, and stories written in collaboration with other writers are not included.)

An elderly couple living in Victorian London struggle against despair as their small resources dwindle. When an eccentric and mysterious gentleman answers their advertisement for a lodger, they celebrate. But as women begin dying at the hands of "The Avenger", they start to suspect something too horrific for words.

Newly re-mastered for digital formats, this is the definitive recording of Hans Christian Andersen's six best-loved stories. Narrator Diane Wolkstein, the artistic director of the Hans Christian Andersen Center in New York City, tells Andersen stories throughout the world. She is the author of 23 award-winning books of folklore and has been honored by the National Storytelling Network as a recipient of its coveted Circle of Excellence Award, a designation reserved for America's best living storytellers.

An eccentric boarding house denizen winds up dead; his presumed killer, a fellow boarder, has vanished. The baffling case unfolds through the testimony of witnesses, who are themselves suspect.

Have you ever seen a Shakespeare play and come away without fully understanding it? Or wished you had known the basis of the plot before seeing a play by Shakespeare? Are you studying Shakespeare? Would you like to increase your knowledge of the plays without reading the originals? Then these are the recordings for you!

Mathilde Loisel, the lowly born wife of a clerk, has always felt she was meant for greater things. She imagines beautiful gowns, glittering parties, a home of opulence, and a life of comfort. Her only wish is to be flattered and admired, and she is miserable that she will never know that life. But out of the blue, her husband comes home with an invitation to a ball. She buys a new dress but mourns her lack of jewels. But wait!

Here is the preface to 12 magnificent stories, originally part of The John Cheever Audio Collection, in which John Cheever celebrates - with unequaled grace and tenderness - the deepest feelings we have.

Premchand's literary career started as a freelancer in Urdu. In his initial short stories, he has depicted the patriotic upsurge that was sweeping the country in the first decade of the 19th century and wrote of the life around him and made his readers aware of the problems of the urban middle class and the country's villages. With Premchand's versatile writing skill, the stories took a valuable space in Indian literature. This book is an integration of 41 stories by Premchand.

The great writings of American transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) are not some distant ponderings on life – they are works of the highest practicality, intended to supply guidance and daily help. Emerson’s ideas arose from his simple observations of human existence, with all its pitfalls and possibilities.

Winesburg, Ohio is a little-known masterpiece that forever changed the course of American storytelling. At the center of this collection of stories stands George Willard, an earnest young reporter for the Winesburg Eagle who sets out to gather the town’s daily news. He ends up discovering the town’s deepest secrets as one by one, the townsfolk confide their hopes, dreams, and fears to the reporter. In their recollections of first loves and last rites, of sprawling farms and winding country roads, the town rises vividly - and poignantly - to life.

In Difficult Loves, Italy's master storyteller weaves tales in which cherished deceptions and illusions of love-including self-love-are swept away in magical instants of recognition. A soldier is reduced to quivering fear by the presence of a full-figured woman in his train compartment; a young clerk leaves a lady's bed at dawn; a young woman is isolated from bathers on a beach by the loss of her bikini bottom. Each of them discovers hidden truths beneath the surface of everyday life.

Witches and pixies abound in this magical selection of 30 short stories, perfect for seasonal listening and sharing. Each story stands alone and is the perfect length for listening to at bedtime or in the classroom. Enid Blyton remains one of Britain's favourite children's authors, and her bumper short-story collections are perfect for introducing her to the latest generation of listeners.