Classic Mystery Short Stories

The dark strains of madness that permeate many of the works of Edgar Allan Poe make their way through this macabre story. This memorable short story bears a resemblance to Poe's Tell Tale Heart. In both stories guilt leaves a murderer with a singular choice.

Poe’s characters often take turns for the worse, and this is the literal case in this shipwreck story by the author. Aboard a ship taking off from Indonesia, the narrator’s ship and crew is struck by a storm that kills everyone but the narrator and one other crewmember. As the ship sales on under the enchantment of the storm, it collides with another seemingly enchanted object - a large black galleon crewed by blind men. The narrator keeps a ship’s log while aboard and is forced to abandon it over the side of the ship with the hopes of someone reading it someday.

Time is a luxury in today's busy lifestyle. These short stories will give you the thrill and chill in short order. Just a few chapters and you are on to the next story. These stories will give you the excitement of a full-size novel that fits into any busy schedule.

The Fall of the House of Usher is a gothic novel by Edgar Allen Poe. The story tells of a mysterious house and an unnamed narrator's horrific experience with it.

A gripping collection of mystery stories, strange tales and horrible crimes: 'The Perfect Murder', by Stacy Aumonier; 'The Magic Casket', by F. Austin Freeman; 'The Shadow of the Shark', by G. K. Chesterton; 'The Marionettes', by O. Henry; 'Charles', by A. J. Alan; 'Moon's Gibbet', by Egerton Castle; 'The Severed Hand', by Wilhelm Hauff; 'The Man with the Watches', by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; 'The Adventure of the Diamond Necklace', by G. F. Forrest; 'My Adventure at Chislehurst', by A. J. Alan; 'Blackmail', by John Galsworthy.

Frank Pettingell reads pages from David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Martin Chuzzlewit, Great Expectations and The Pickwick Papers.

A couple of law students, Tom Donague and Jack Turnbull, who have run out of money, set off for South Africa to make their fortune. For three years, they fail to make any money, but then one day, as they are up country in a remote spot, their luck changes. A friend, Dick Wharton appears unexpectedly one night during heavy rain, telling a strange tale of having seen a ghost in the cursed Sasassa Valley. Tom Donague is particularly excited by the story, and determines to uncover the mystery of the apparition.

A selection of ghost stories which make your blood run cold.

When the body of the popular Parisian perfume-shop assistant, Marie Roget, is found floating in the Seine, the whole of Paris is alive with rumours. But despite many clues and the offer of a substantial reward, the French police are unable to solve the mystery. The only solution is to call upon the super-sleuth Dupin.Poe's story, inspired by the unsolved murder of Mary Cecilia Rogers in New York, contains many parallels to that crime and was viewed at the time by many as a convincing solution to the American case.