Free short stories by the all time great short story writers
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.
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.
Dick Baker’s Cat by Mark Twain was published in the anthology, Lords of the Housetops: Thirteen Cat Tales in 1921
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.
The Lay of a Golden Goose by Louisa May Alcott, describes a world inhabited by talking geese, ducks, and other birds, but it is an autobiographical poem. It reflects her desire to explore the world and the hardships that can build against people.
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.
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.
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.
Ex Oblivione by H. P. Lovecraft is a prose poem written in late 1920 or early 1921 and first published in The United Amateur in March 1921, under the pseudonym Ward Phillips.
Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker was first published in the short story collection Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories in 1914.
