Short Stories

With the South Seas as a background for such stories as "The Pacific", "Mackintosh", "The Fall of Edward Barnard", "Red", "Rain", and "The Pool", we experience scenes of passionate love, tragedy, and violence - all described in Maugham's beautiful prose.

No one could understand why Colin and Roy were best friends. Colin was so shy; Roy was so popular. Colin was fascinated by Roy - and Roy was fascinated by death. Then one day, Roy asked his timid friend: “You ever killed anything?” From that moment on, the two were bound together in a game too terrifying to imagine - and too irresistible to stop.

The tale of a man who unwittingly angers a sorcerer, who is assumed by some Monty scholars to be based on the self-styled 'Great Beast,' occultist Aleister Crowley. Montague Rhodes James was a noted British mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and of Eton College (1918–1936). He is best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature.

H.H. Munro (Saki) is one of the undisputed masters of the short story. In this complete compendium, the full gamut of his subjects and themes is experienced. His stories are imbued with humorous satire, biting irony, and often the macabre, all of which have one target: the stupidities and hypocrisies of Edwardian upper-class society.

The definitive short story collection that established Ernest Hemingway's literary reputation, originally published in 1938. Ernest Hemingway is a cultural icon—an archetype of rugged masculinity, a romantic ideal of the intellectual in perpetual exile—but, to his countless readers...

The Origin series is empire building at its finest, with 100 episodes and over 2.5 million words in the military science fiction serial detailing the rise of Star Force from corporate entity into an interstellar empire over the course of more than a millennium. Follow a core group of characters known as the Trailblazers as they use alien technology and knowledge discovered in Antarctic ruins to obtain limited immortality and lead humanity out into the galaxy, encountering, befriending, and fighting hundreds of alien races.

Townie is a brief yet dramatic glimpse at a blossoming friendship between two young women in a small college town - Amal, a transplant from LA, and Bridgette, a local 20-something who feels lost in her own life and becomes enamored with her new friend’s confidence. At first, the new relationship is intoxicating, and the two women spend every spare minute getting drunk on cheap liquor, party-hopping, and binging reality TV. But soon, a secret is revealed that shifts the dynamic, and Bridgette makes a choice she can never take back.

Like many well-to-do Upper East Siders over the age of 65, esteemed art appraiser Percival Skinner had planned to spend his retirement living off his savings. But a market correction has left him living below his prior means. One day he’s visited by a dapper fixer in search of a famous work by a Renaissance master. Skinner knows the work well: The original was owned by his ancestor, and was passed down through his family over the generations. If, as an intermediary, he can coordinate a sale, a small fortune awaits. Problem is, he might not be the only one on the make.

Mia is reluctant to go camping with her boyfriend and sister, who are graduate students working on a dissertation about American folklore. But ultimately, they convince her to help document the trip. The group sets off to Black Creek, a remote destination in the Pacific Northwest where Bigfoot has allegedly been sighted. They think they’re prepared for anything, but their sense of terror grows as they find more and more evidence to suggest the monster really is out there. Eventually, Mia realizes she’ll be lucky just to make it out of the woods alive.

Ce livre réunit une série de courtes histoires pensées pour être racontées à voix haute à des enfants, notamment au moment du coucher. Chaque récit met en scène un personnage simple — un animal, un élément naturel, un objet du quotidien ou un phénomène — qui traverse une petite difficulté ou fait une découverte. Les situations servent à explorer des thèmes comme la patience, la persévérance, la curiosité, la différence, la peur du changement, la coopération et la confiance en soi. Le ton reste calme, rassurant et idéal pour accompagner un moment de détente ou la transition vers le sommeil.

The new United States in central Germany launches a one-plane Doolittle Raid on Paris, France. The target: their arch-enemy, Cardinal Richelieu. Meanwhile, an ambassador from the Mughal Empire of northern India is being held captive in Austria by the Habsburg dynasty. Mike Stearns decides to send a mercenary company to rescue him, led by two 17th-century mercenary officers: an Englishman and a Irishman, who seem to spend as much time fighting each other as they do the enemy.

A classic tale featuring two of the most-memorable characters in sword and sorcery, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Over a span of 50 years, the late Fritz Leiber wrote dozens of adventures, set in the fictional city of Lankhmar, featuring the seven-foot-tall barbarian and the diminuitive thief. The stories were recognized with both the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

Improve your Spanish skills and grow your vocabulary with these 10 entertaining Spanish short stories!

Gabriel has spent the last decade trying to forget his best friend, the first boy he ever loved: Jacob. Ripped away from each other in the midst of a family tragedy, Gabriel grieved for Jacob alone, surviving in their small religious town before finally breaking free to attend college, where they found new friends and relationships to pursue. To Gabriel, Jacob became a distant memory. Until one fateful Halloween night, when the two are reunited.

Now available in print for the first time with author's notes on each story, this short fiction addition to the Hugo Award-winning Expanse series includes a brand-new novella set after the events of Leviathan Falls. On Mars, a scientist experiments with a new engine that will one day become the...

When Catalina Cartagena returns home for her older sister’s wedding, she’s shocked to discover that her soon-to-be brother in law is possessed by a demon. To make matters worse, everyone else seems to be under the demon's spell - except for Diego Paz, younger brother of the groom and Cat’s childhood rival. With only three days until the wedding, Cat must join forces with her sexy nemesis to break the spell and defeat the demon. If they fail, demonic forces will control two of the most powerful witch families on Isla Bruja.

Iris Thomas thought she’d never have to see Sasha Everett again after Sasha seduced her husband and broke up their marriage in a devastating betrayal. But as luck would have it, when Iris’ stepdaughter, Molly, and Sasha’s daughter, Bailey, wind up in the same second-grade class at an elite private school in Los Angeles, they form an instant bond and force the two women back into each other’s lives. Iris wants to put the past behind her and support Molly, but as time goes on, she suspects that Sasha may be guilty of something even worse than adultery....

Novelist Mandy Freeman thinks her dreams have come true when she becomes owner of Summer Cottage, former home of her idol, author Ellen Grace. With her new life starting and love on the horizon, Mandy's future looks bright. But Mandy begins to learn all is not as it seems. A series of disturbing, sinister events force her to delve into the past of its former owner. Mandy finds herself caught in a nightmare that threatens to destroy her....

More Cumbrian Ghost Stories brings you 16 ghost stories, horror stories, weird tales, and dark fairy tales set in the English county of Cumbria and the Lake District by Tony Walker, author of Cumbrian Ghost Stories and narrator of the Classic Ghost Stories Podcast. From "The Milk-White Child of Ravenglass" to "A Brief Stop in Barrow in Furness", "The Screaming Skulls of Calgarth", and "The Dalston Vampire", these stories dance around the county of Cumbria to horrify, scare, terrify, and also make you smile and even laugh a bit, depending on the tale.

Warren is just a guardsman with a haunted past eager for a new castle to defend. All that changes when he's summoned to the edges of the kingdom, where walls protect cities against the diabolical foes of the wildlands. His mission is simple: save the Dragon Farm he just inherited, settle down as a lord, and help his new city thrive. As a soldier who normally lives by the blade, he's out of his element but up to the task... especially since tame dragons seem to like him.