The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Mosses from an Old Manse, and Other Stories

First published in 1846 in the present form, famous English story writer Nathaniel Hawthorne's book 'Mosses from an Old Manse, and Other Stories' is a collection of fictional short stories.

The Simple Art of Murder

Prefaced by the famous Atlantic Monthly essay of the same name, in which he argues the virtues of the hard-boiled detective novel, this collection mostly drawn from stories he wrote for the pulps demonstrates Chandler’s imaginative, entertaining facility with the form. Contains the following short stories: - Spanish Blood - I’ll Be Waiting - The King in Yellow - Pearls Are a Nuisance - Pickup on Noon Street - Smart-Aleck Kill - Guns at Cyrano’s - Nevada Gas.

2 B R 0 2 B

"2 B R 0 2 B" is a science fiction short story by Kurt Vonnegut, originally published in the digest magazine Worlds of If Science Fiction, January 1962, and collected in Vonnegut's Bagombo Snuff Box (1999). The title is pronounced "2 B R naught 2 B", referencing the famous phrase "to be, or not to be" from William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. In this story, the title refers to the telephone number one dials to schedule an assisted suicide with the Federal Bureau of Termination. Vonnegut's 1965 novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater describes a story by this name, attributing it to his recurring character Kilgore Trout, although the plot summary given is closer in nature to the eponymous tale from his short-story collection Welcome to the Monkey House.

Best Russian Short Stories

Best Russian Short Stories by Leonid Andreyev et al.

Famous Modern Ghost Stories

Famous Modern Ghost Stories By Dorothy Scarborough. Ghosts the True Immortals. Ghosts are the true immortals, and the dead grow more alive all the time. Wraiths have a greater vitality to-day than ever before. They are far more numerous than at any time in the past, and people are more interested in them. There are persons that claim to be acquainted with specific spirits, to speak with them, to carry on correspondence with them, and even some who insist that they are private secretaries to the dead. Others of us mortals, more reserved, are content to keep such distance as we may from even the shadow of a shade. But there's no getting away from ghosts nowadays, for even if you shut your eyes to them in actual life, you stumble over them in the books you read, you see them on the stage and on the screen, and you hear them on the lecture platform. 

The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories

In the final years of his life, Chekhov produced some of the stories that rank among his masterpieces, and some of the most highly-regarded works in Russian literature. Those stories are contained here. Anton Chekov must be considered one of the greatest writers, and greatets short story writer, of all time.

The Gift of the Magi

"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been popular for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time. The plot and its twist ending are well-known, and the ending is generally considered an example of comic irony. It was allegedly written at Pete's Tavern on Irving Place in New York City.

Andersen's Fairy Tales

For more than 150 years, Hans Christian Andersen’s beloved fairy tales have charmed and entertained audiences around the world. Blending old folk tales with fantasy, the Danish bard’s stories are rich in humor and sharp with irony. The forty-seven fables in this beautifully translated collection tell of kings and princesses, of farm boys and mermaids, of witches and ogres.

Second Variety

Second Variety is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in Space Science Fiction magazine, in May 1953. A nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the West has reduced much of the world to a barren wasteland. The war continues, however, among the scattered remains of humanity. The Western forces have developed "claws", which are autonomous self-replicating robots to fight on their side. It is one of Dick's many stories in which nuclear war has rendered the Earth's surface uninhabitable. The story was adapted into the movie Screamers in 1995.

The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., commonly referred to as The Sketch Book, is a collection of 34 essays and short stories written by the American author Washington Irving. It was published serially throughout 1819 and 1820. The collection includes two of Irving's best-known stories, attributed to the fictional Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle". It also marks Irving's first use of the pseudonym Geoffrey Crayon, which he would continue to employ throughout his literary career.