Psychological Anthology

In stories like "A Night in the Cemetery," "Night of Horror," and "Murder," not only will Chekhov's dark humor and twisted crimes satisfy even the most hardboiled of mystery fans, but readers will again appreciate the penetrating, absurdist insight into the human condition that only Chekhov can bring. Whether it is the death of a young amateur playwright at the hands of an editor who hates bad writing, or a drunken civil servant who ends up trapped in a graveyard, these stories overflow with the unforgettable characters and unique sensibility that will forever make Chekhov one of the most fascinating figures in literature.

In these otherworldly landscapes, characters resort to extreme survival strategies to navigate the terrors of adulthood, one opting to live in a lightless cave and another methodically setting out to recover total childhood innocence; an automaton discovers love and has to reinvent language to accommodate it; filial loyalty is seen as a dangerous weakness that must be drilled away; and the distance from a cubicle to the office coffee cart is refigured as an existential wasteland, requiring heroic effort. In these piercing, brilliantly observed investigations into human vulnerability and failure, it is often the most absurd and alien predicaments that capture the deepest truths.

This was the late John Updike's first collection of new short fiction since the year 2000. My Father's Tears finds the author in a valedictory mood, as he mingles narratives of his native Pennsylvania with stories of New England suburbia and of foreign travel. American experience from the Depression to the aftermath of 9/11 finds reflection in these glittering pieces of observation, remembrance, and imagination.

A gripping gothic page-turner told in a startlingly different and wonderfully captivating voice. In a remote and crumbling New England mansion, 12-year-old orphan Florence is neglected by her guardian uncle and banned from reading. Left to her own devices she devours books in secret and talks to herself in a unique language of her own invention. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors and is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman appears to threaten her younger brother Giles.

A high-altitude lake is the point of departure for these stories of dark adventure, in which fishing guides, amateur sportsmen, teenage misfits, scientists, mountaineers, and expatriates embark on disquieting journeys of self-discovery in far-flung places.

The old roads have new ghosts. The familiar legends have learned to code. From the unsettling mind of Damien Huxley comes Urban Legends and Other Strange Scares, a collection of ten short stories that peels back the placid surface of the modern world to reveal the timeless horrors lurking just beneath. Including urban legends, creepypastas, and folklore stories reimagined. A cynical travel blogger discovers a roadside inn that resists the internet, where the five-star reviews are written by permanent "assets." A group of friends test a viral VR game that allows them to swap bodies, only to ...

Some places remember. Some don’t let you leave. In this chilling collection of haunted house stories, abandoned motels, cursed train carriages, and forgotten clinics, terror waits behind every door. From supernatural encounters to unsettling real-world horrors, these 10 haunting short stories will take you to places you’ll wish you never found. Perfect for fans of urban legends, ghost stories, and psychological horror. Stories in this collection: Dead Ends A shortcut through the desert traps a delivery driver in an endless loop where the only way out is to stop trying to escape. The ...

In this new anthology offered by Blunder Woman Productions, you’ll take a trip down twisty roads into forests, back alleys, and even across the border between life and death. Together these tales are funny, creepy, weird, contemplative, traditional, and speculative. The characters in these stories might take a wrong turn, but it’s the right move for any fan of thrillers and mysteries.

TV actor Charles Keating provides superb narratives of "Araby", "Eveline", and "Counterparts" from Joyce's brilliant collection of stories, rich with memorable characters and displaying his genius for the subtleties and nuances of language.

Diary of a Murderer captivates and provokes in equal measure, exploring what it means to be on the edge - between life and death, good and evil. In the titular novella, a former serial killer suffering from memory loss sets his sights on one final target: his daughter's boyfriend, who he suspects is also a serial killer. In other stories we witness an affair between two childhood friends that questions the limits of loyalty and love; a family's disintegration after a baby son is kidnapped and recovered years later; and more.

El Alienista de Machado de Assis es una novela corta satírica que explora el tema de la cordura y la locura. Ambientada en Río de Janeiro a finales del siglo XIX, la historia sigue al Dr. Bacamarte, un científico que establece un asilo para estudiar enfermedades mentales. Mientras clasifica y aísla a la gente del pueblo basándose en la cordura percibida, la narrativa critica con humor las normas sociales y la naturaleza subjetiva de la cordura. La novela profundiza en las consecuencias de la autoridad desenfrenada, desafiando las nociones de razón y destacando el ingenio.

"Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by the American writer Herman Melville, first serialized anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 issues of Putnam's Magazine, and reprinted with minor textual alterations in his The Piazza Tales in 1856. A Wall Street lawyer hires a new clerk who, after an initial bout of hard work, refuses to make copy and any other task required of him, with the words "I would prefer not to".

I've wormed my way into Jeremy's heart, just as I promised myself I would. But whereas before I wanted to be there to strike at him...now I'm not so sure. My life is still defined by secrets. Secrets I can never tell another living soul.

In this, the most memorable of her works, Gertrude Stein paints striking portraits of three women. "The Good Anna" is the story of a sober housekeeper of German stock. "The Gentle Lena" is concerned with a passive German girl who endures her woeful life until she dies in childbirth. "Melanetha" tells of a young, intelligent, half-white girl's sexual searching and tragic love affair.

Innocence is lost to unforgettable experience in these brilliant stories by E. L. Doctorow, as full of mystery and meaning as any of the longer works by this American master. In "The Writer in the Family", a young man learns the difference between lying and literature after he is induced into deceiving a relative through letters. In "Wili", an early-20th-century idyll is destroyed by infidelity. In "The Foreign Legation", a girl and an act of political anarchy collide with devastating results. These and other stories flow into the novella "Lives of the Poets".

In the nine masterful stories that comprise Thrillville, USA, debut author Taylor Koekkoek depicts Americans living on the margins of society, seeking escape from isolation and underemployment in drugs, booze, and self-destructive relationships. While the action is set largely in the rural Pacific Northwest, the characters’ malaise and disaffectedness is endemic of the country as a whole. The title takes its name from the aforementioned amusement park, but Thrillville is as much a state of mind as an actual place.

She saves lives with steady hands. He takes them with deadly precision. In the war-torn jungles of Corazón, Dr. Lauren Valentino runs a field hospital under siege—treating the wounded, protecting the innocent, and risking everything to hold the line. Knowing the danger is getting critical, Lauren’s family sends Citadel Solutions security expert Logan Kane to get her out. One doctor should be no problem for a battled-hardened Marine who specializes in impossible missions—even when the mission doesn’t want to be rescued and a hurricane is closing in. They clash instantly. The heat ...

His tour is over, but the war rages on for Dickie, one of the forever-haunted veterans who gave up his soul during the Forgotten War. Here is a glimpse of his story, of the battleground he can never leave. Only death can conclude his final objective: closure, and peace. Join him on his road, the Korean Road, as he battles horrors he carries and those that he meets along the way.

Edgar Allan Poe proposed that “the boundary line between instinct and reason is of a very shadowy nature” (1840). With its 21 stories of serial killers and sociopaths, fixations and fetishes, breakdowns and bad decisions crafted by authors as diverse as their writing styles, Shadowy Natures leads fans of psychological horror down dark and treacherous roads to destinations they will be too unsettled to leave.

Many of the novella's core themes, such as the struggle between individualism and collectivism, are echoed in Rand's later books, such as The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. However, the style of "Anthem" is unique among Rand's work, more narrative-centered and economical, lacking the intense didactic expressions of philosophical abstraction that occur in later works.