Fiction Literature Short Stories

An early desktop computer becomes the third partner in a doomed relationship; an older brother figure whose father lives in exile imparts hilarious life lessons to his young protégé. A man attempts to quit smoking despite the fact that he’s very good at it; another masquerades as the family man he'll never be. Throughout, Pinochet’s dictatorship casts a long shadow, and men in relationships exhibit their profound capacity for both love and harm.

If you’re looking for the hottest, filthiest collection of erotic short stories of the year that will leave you breathless and satisfied, then keep reading…My name is Rayna Russell, and I’m an author, editor, and writing teacher. I’m also an unapologetically rabid consumer of erotica. Like many of you, I think the short story is the perfect format for the genre. I love to meet new characters, explore a unique setting, and see what dirty magic an author can create in a few minutes. This format also pushes your boundaries.

Surprising and revealing, set along the East Coast from Maine to Key West, Ann Beattie's astutely observed new collection explores unconventional friendships, frustrated loves, mortality, and aging.

In her new collection, Story Prize finalist Maureen F. McHugh delves into the dark heart of contemporary life and life five minutes from now and how easy it is to mix up one with the other. Her stories are post-bird flu, in the middle of medical trials, wondering if our computers are smarter than us, wondering when our jobs are going to be outsourced overseas, wondering if we are who we say we are, and not sure what we'd do to survive the coming zombie plague.

“Without stories, we cannot live well,” shares guest editor Min Jin Lee, describing how storytelling affects and nurtures readers. The Best American Short Stories 2023 features twenty pieces of short fiction that reflect a world full of fractured relationships, but also wondrous hope. A lifelong friendship may become a casualty of the Russia-Ukraine war. Rejected by his lover, a man seeks to reconcile with his family. Twitter users miraculously muster enough empathy to help a lost cat find a forever home.

A short story magazine that assembles a thrilling new mix of stories from genres including horror, science-fiction, comedy, and suspense. This issue is packed with thrillers, sci-fi, horror, action, romance, and more, offering something for everyone. Issue seven highlights captivating tales: action-packed thrillers, steamy romances with startling twists, provocative sci-fi, and engrossing love stories mixed with horror.

Tackling some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine, these stories will change the way you think, feel, and see the world. They are Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic, revelatory. Ted Chiang tackles some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine.

From critically acclaimed author Troy Onyango comes a dark, suspenseful tale of spirits bearing witness to a crime that rocks an island community, based on the Luo legend of the water people.

The Bookworm Box is proud to present Two More Days, our second anthology installment. Much like the first installment, Two More Days is an exciting and unique listening experience with contributions from several of our charity's featured authors. Each author was given the same first sentence. Where they took that sentence was completely up to them.

Humorous and horrifying, tender and absurd, the stories in Quickly, While They Still Have Horses offer a fresh, irreverent look at life in post-conflict Northern Ireland. From first loves to strained relationships, the thrills and terrors of growing up to the dangers and challenges of parenthood, Carson infuses all her stories with empathy, dark wit, and a surreal edge.

Electrodomésticos is an elegant yet powerful depiction of the post Spanish Civil War era, where class divisions lay bare those who can afford to eat a decent meal and those who can not. Josu is an inexperienced electrician, tasked with installing an oven in the home of an upper-class Basque couple. He’s completely captivated. But the couple, though they seem to have it all, are in a prison of their own. Mesmerizing in its subtlety and sinister intimations, Electrodomésticos reveals the poverty and loneliness of this era.

"Motherly Love" sees a lucky man seduce his friend's mother, after years of pining for her, and in "Sleazy Seduction" a man gets lucky on a trip to a lap-dancing club. "Bossing Me Around" sees a woman get it on with her female boss, while "Scots Mist" is a nostalgic tale of a woman finally finding her fantasy man close to her childhood home. Finally, in "The Business Trip", a woman gets exactly what she wants from a man she's intent on seducing.

For over 60 years, readers of all ages have been enchanted by the magical realms, the epic battles between good and evil, and the unforgettable creatures of Narnia. This box set includes all seven titles in The Chronicles of Narnia - The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; and The Last Battle.

At the end of the Victorian era, a handful of public intellectuals advocated for tolerance of the "Uranian"—a man who loved other men. Some went so far as to propose that these "intermediate sexes" might, in fact, constitute a totally different species, even serve as intrepid guides in our march toward an uncertain future. The five speculative stories in Theodore McCombs's kaleidoscopic collection span several possible worlds, teasing the boundaries between coexisting realities and taking up the question of queer difference from one surprising vantage after another.

Vanished tells the stories of women and girls in upstate New York who are often overlooked or unseen. The characters range from an aging art professor whose students are uninterested in learning what she has to teach, to a young girl who becomes the victim of a cruel prank in a swimming pool, to a television producer who regrets allowing her coworkers into her mother’s bird-filled house to film a show about animal hoarding because it will reveal too much about her family and past. Humorous and empathetic, the collection exposes the adversity in each character’s life.

Meet the women of American Housewife: They wear lipstick, pearls, and sunscreen, even when it's cloudy. They casserole. They pinwheel. They pump the salad spinner like it's a CPR dummy. And then they kill a party crasher, carefully stepping around the body to pull cookies out of the oven. These 12 irresistible stories take us from a haunted prewar Manhattan apartment building to the set of a rigged reality television show, from the unique initiation ritual of a book club to the getaway car of a pageant princess on the lam.

9 sexy and erotic stories presenting a wide range of different scenarios and topics. With situations to suit every interest, this collection will satisfy every fan of erotica.

Miss Marple: The Complete Story Collection gathers together in one magnificent volume all of Agatha Christie’s short stories featuring her beloved intrepid investigator, Miss Marple. It’s an unparalleled compendium of murder, mayhem, mystery, and detection that represents some of the finest short form fiction in the crime fiction field, and is an essential omnibus for Christie fans.

Four characters grapple with enigmas in this collection of short stories as they face challenges with family, themselves, the future, and the world at large. Graham seems to have a happy family life but wonders why his wife's behavior takes an unexpected ugly turn. Herb has a life-changing secret that not even his wife knows, but it isn't kept for long. Young Ashley learns the importance of perseverance in a shocking and unusual cautionary tale. Last but not least in the collection is a story set in the past.

Erin tends bar at the last dive left in gentrified Red Hook, Brooklyn, where old-timers spin tales of the bar’s legacy and the waterfront’s crime-ridden past. Her boss, Jimmy, a real estate magnate responsible for much of the neighborhood’s shiny transformation, also has a story to share. Back when he was a struggling beat cop, two neglected boys introduced him to an ancient creature that made Jimmy’s dreams come true. Nightmares too. Erin doesn’t believe a word. The bar is her life. But this bar at the end of the world is also home to a deadly stowaway. And it’s looking for a new host.