A Joke by Anton Chekhov
A Joke by Anton Chekhov was published in 1886. A young man recounts a wintertime romance during which he announces his love to his young lover – but only when they are tobogganing down a steep slope.
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Diary of a Madman by Nikolai Gogol
Diary of a Madman by Nikolai Gogol is considered to be one of Gogol’s greatest short stories. The tale centers on the life of a minor civil servant during the era of Nicholas I. The story shows the descent of the protagonist, Poprishchin, into madness.
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe was first published in 1845. The poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a mysterious visit by a talking raven.
Out of Season by Ernest Hemingway
Out of Season by Ernest Hemingway is taken from Three Stories and Ten Poems collection of short stories and poems by Ernest Hemingway. It was privately published in 1923 in a run of 300 copies by Robert McAlmon’s “Contact Publishing” in Paris.
The Kiss by Kate Chopin
The Kiss by Kate Chopin is a short story about a woman scheming to marry a wealthy man. Written in 1894 is appears in The Awakening and Selected Short Stories.
The Body-Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Body-Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson was originally published in 1884 in the Pall Mall Gazette. It’s the tale of two medical students who obtain bodies for dissection for an anatomy professor.
A Ghost in Love by Songling Pu
A Ghost in Love by Songling Pu is taken from a collection of Classical Chinese stories Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. Qing dynasty writer Songling Pu wrote close to 500 stories over a period of forty years from the late 1600s and ending in the early 1700s, but did not appear in print until 1766
The Man Who Would Manage by Jerome K. Jerome
The Man Who Would Manage by Jerome K. Jerome was published in 1920 and is taken from the short story collection Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green.
An Arrest by Ambrose Bierce
An Arrest by Ambrose Bierce was originally published in 1913 as part of his short story collection Present at the Hanging and Other Ghost Stories.
In The Penal Colony by Franz Kafka
In The Penal Colony by Franz Kafka, written in 1914 and published in German as In der Strafkolonie in 1919. An allegorical fantasy about law and punishment, it was also viewed as an existential comment on human torment and on strict devotion to an ambiguous task.