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.
Short Stories
Free short stories by the all time great short story writers
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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.
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.
Dick Baker’s Cat by Mark Twain
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
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
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.