Short Classics

A collection of horror/thriller stories with surprise endings to chill you and thrill you to the bone. The creepers include: THE KILLER IN THE CLOSET: Elvis awakes with a butcher knife in his gut and calls 911 to save his life. AS RARE AS A WHITE CROW: An Uber driver picks up a fare, and a series of calamities occur on his way to the airport. MASSANUTTAN ACRES: A family enjoys their vacations camping each summer until a truck transporting a polar bear runs off the road. WAXWORKS: Sue discovers the wax figure of Jack the Ripper at the museum looks exactly like her new boyfriend. THE END OF ...

Remarin is a thief. He was hired to steal a gem. No big deal, right? Yeah, right. He stole the gem, then everything went sideways, and now he's running for his life across rooftops, through sewers, and all over the godsforsaken world trying not to get dead. And who is this kid, Kit, anyway?

Recently rediscovered in the archives of the New York Public Library, these short stories provide an unparalleled look at Truman Capote writing in his teens and early twenties, before he penned such classics as Other Voices, Other Rooms, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and In Cold Blood. This collection of more than a dozen pieces showcases the young Capote developing the unique voice and sensibility that would make him one of the twentieth century’s most original writers.

Madame Mathilde Loisel is sure she was meant to be an aristocrat, but she was born into a middle-class family and married off to a middle-class clerk. When her husband procures them invitations to a high-society party, Loisel goes all out to impress. She borrows a diamond necklace from a wealthy acquaintance and has the time of her life - until the necklace goes missing. In “The Necklace”, de Maupassant showcases his signature twists of fate and social commentary in a story that will leave you speechless.

This Children’s Short Story Collection contains many short stories great for kids of all ages.

"The Lottery," one of the most terrifying stories of the twentieth century, created a sensation when it was first published in the New Yorker. "Powerful and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical reader responses. This collection, the only one to appear during Jackson's lifetime, unites "The Lottery" with 24 equally unusual stories. Together they demonstrate her remarkable range - from the hilarious to the truly horrible - and power as a storyteller.

The grand-prize winner of a writing contest sponsored by the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper, "The Gold-Bug" was one of Poe's most popular stories during his lifetime. Similar to his ratiocination tales - early versions of what we now call detective fiction - "The Gold-Bug" is full of mystery and adventure and includes a cryptogram, invisible ink, a scarab-like bug, and pirate treasure.

Marvelous creations, including a short story set in the world of The Matrix and others set in the worlds of gothic fiction and children's fiction, can be found in this extraordinary collection, which showcases Gaiman's storytelling brilliance as well as his entertaining (and dark) sense of humor.

A collection of short stories, including many photos, of the author's experiences building, buying, enjoying, fixing, showing, racing, and selling classic cars, while being active in his local car culture as a family man. There is an underlying thread, which follows the successful build of a built-from-scratch fake Lotus 7 "Locost", a project which took over six years to be roadworthy. The author infuses some humor into the writing, but maintains an appreciation and respect for American car culture.

Following the enormous success of 2004 bestseller and critics' favorite Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke delivers a delicious collection of ten stories set in the same fairy-crossed world of 19th-century England. With Clarke's characteristic historical detail and diction, these dark, enchanting tales unfold in a slightly distorted version of our own world, where people are bedeviled by mischievous interventions from the fairies.

In this collection of classic ghost stories from Japan, beautiful princesses turn out to be frogs, paintings come alive, deadly spectral brides haunt the living and a samurai delivers the baby of a Shinto goddess with mystical help. Here are all the phantoms and ghouls of Japanese folklore: 'rokuro-kubi', whose heads separate from their bodies at night; 'jikininki', or flesh-eating goblins; and terrifying faceless 'mujina' who haunt lonely neighbourhoods.

This audiobook is based on literature that was written in a past cultural or historical context, and includes language and depictions of people or cultures that are considered offensive to listeners. Please keep this in mind when deciding if, how and when you’ll listen. The third book in Agatha Christie's famous detective series takes listeners on an exciting journey through a collection of Poirot's trickiest cases. From finding the Prime Minister to solving a bank robbery, these 11 cases illustrate why Poirot is still considered one of the greatest literary detectives of all time.

From mystery and crime to romance and tragedy, in this collection you will discover award-winning writing that effortlessly spans genre and style. Witness the excess and luxury of 1920s America in The Great Gatsby, experience profound meditations on death in The Bridge of San Luis Rey, as well as Poirot's very first murder case in The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

Groundbreaking for the time in which they were written, the vampire stories of the 1800s have inspired many modern writers. Enjoy the thrilling stories that originated the genre of vampire fiction.

In his Commonplace Book and and his lengthy essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature", author H.P. Lovecraft carefully assessed weird tales through the ages. He named a great many stories that he admired. The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society has curated a collection of 43 of the best of them and recorded them as audiobooks for your listening enjoyment. Read by the HPLHS' own Andrew Leman and Sean Branney and featuring original music by Troy Sterling Nies, these eerie tales will delight your mind and chill your blood.

Experience the exciting breadth of #1 New York Times bestselling author James Rollins's wild imagination and adventurous spirit in this anthology of his short masterworks, including a new full-length novella featuring Captain Tucker Wayne and his military war dog, Kane, as well as nine previously published short stories, gathered together for the first time.

More than any other writer before or since, Louis L'Amour brought the American West to life. His action-packed stories deal with eternal themes: honor, deceit, passion, betrayal, loyalty, courage, love. His settings are historically accurate, his prose riveting, and his characters colorful: good guys, bad buys, toughs, roughs, sidekicks and saints.

The Complete Brontë Sisters and Jane Austen Collection brings together four of the most influential female authors of the 19th century. The collection includes Austen's 7 novels, selected short fiction, and a selection of her letters; alongside all 7 of the Brontë sisters' completed novels, as-well as a selection of the poetry which all three sisters published.

Bounty hunter Nate Carter's life was upended years ago when the Reese Gang killed his family during a bank robbery. Vowing to get justice for his family, Nate arrives back in Colorado, planning to take down the gang. As he relives what happened to his family, he knows vengeance must be swift, for the Reese Gang stole everything he loved. As a group of men from town form a posse to help Nate take down the gang, the woman he had loved reappears. Beth had lost her brother to the Reese Gang, and she will help Nate in whatever way she can to see that the Reese Gang pays for their horrific crimes...

This is a story from the Fall of the House of Usher collection. The horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, with its dungeon of death, and the overhanging gloom on the House of Usher demonstrate unforgettably the unique imagination of Edgar Allan Poe. Unerringly, he touches upon some of our greatest nightmares: Premature burial, ghostly transformation, words from beyond the grave. Written in the 1840s, they have retained their power to shock and frighten even now.