Short Stories
Free short stories by the all time great short story writers
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.
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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.
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Araby by James Joyce
Araby by James Joyce was published in his 1914 short story collection Dubliners. The story traces a young boy’s infatuation with his friend’s sister.
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The Unseen Blushers by Alfred Bester
The Unseen Blushers by Alfred Bester was first published in Astonishing Stories, June 1942. It looks into the world of a fiction writer’s social life and manages to tell a pretty good time travel story at the same time.
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Third Class in Indian Railways by M. K. Gandhi
Third Class in Indian Railways by M. K. Gandhi offers a poignant account of his experiences and observations while traveling in the third class compartments of Indian railways during the British occupation.
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The Mark on the Wall by Virginia Woolf
The Mark on the Wall by Virginia Woolf was her first published story. It was released in 1917 as part of Two Stories a collection of short stories written by Virginia Woolf and her husband, Leonard Woolf. Later, in 1921, it also was included part of another collection entitled Monday or Tuesday.
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A Little Journey by Ray Bradbury
A Little Journey by Ray Bradbury first in appeared in Galaxy Magazine in 1951 and follows the misadventures of a group of elderly women who have poured their life savings into a final trip to an outer-space paradise.
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Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker
Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker was first published in the short story collection Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories in 1914.
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Her Lover by Maxim Gorky
Much of Maxim Gorky writing reflects his own terrible life experiences and suffering. It is in his short stories that he reveals his true genius. Her Lover by Maxim Gorky describes the plight of a lonely, alienated woman who creates an imaginary lover for herself.
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The History of England by Jane Austen
The History of England by Jane Austen was written when she was just 15. It’s a lively and somewhat disrespectful overview of the history of England’s monarchy.
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