Short Classics

Though The Arabian Nights are generally known as stories for children, they were originally tales for adults full of adventure, sexuality, violence, and the supernatural. They certainly inspired the imagination of Sir Richard Burton, the 19th century explorer, linguist, and erotologist who brought all his worldly experience and superbly expressive prose style to bear on the tales of Sindbad the Seaman and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) was a pre-eminent Ukrainian-born story writer. He is particularly famous for those stories which veer in the direction of surrealism and the grotesque. "The Nose" is a classic example of this genre. The story opens with the barber, Ivan Yakovlevitch at breakfast. Things take an odd turn when Yakovlevitch finds a disembodied nose hidden in his bread roll. Yakovlevitch is at pains to rid himself as quickly as he can of the nose, which he recognizes as belonging to one of his clients, Major Kovalev.

Originally published in The New Yorker in 1954, The Ponder Heart is easily Eudora Welty’s most comic novel, a lighthearted burlesque that rivals Caldwell’s Tobacco Road for capturing rural idioms, and the novels of Mark Twain for high farce.

From the secret reels of a notoriously cursed cinematic masterpiece to the debauched livestreams of modern movie junkies who will do anything for clicks, Final Cuts brings together new and terrifying stories inspired by the many screens we can't peel our eyes away from. Inspired by the rich golden age of the film and television industries as well as the new media present, this new anthology reveals what evils hide behind the scenes and between the frames of our favorite medium.

The Irish are arguably the most literate people in the world. The number of famous Irish authors, from Joyce to Trevor and from Goldsmith to O'Brien, is a clear testimony to that. In this rich selection, we have concentrated on some of the early Irish writers who were particularly adept at the difficult art of writing good short stories.

"To Build a Fire" is the best known of all London's stories. It tells the story of a new arrival to the Klondike who stubbornly ignores warnings about the folly of traveling alone. He falls through the ice into a creek in 70-below weather, and his survival depends on being able to build a fire and dry his clothes - which he is unable to do. The famous version of this story was published in 1908.

Revisit the famous and fantastic realms conjured up by the world's most celebrated authors of fantasy in Legends - the greatest collection of original fantasy short novels ever published, where the best of the best tell all-new original tales set in the lands they created. Each audiobook presents the novels complete and unabridged, and will be sensational listening for the millions of fans of these writers and worlds.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells the story of the lawyer Gabriel John Utterson as he investigates some disturbing incidents involving his old friend, the talented doctor Henry Jekyll, and his mysterious and sinister new companion, Edward Hyde. The lawyer is worried about his friend after he changes his will to include Hyde in case of his death or disappearance. Fearing that the doctor is being blackmailed by the stranger, the lawyer sets out to confront him.

This collection comprises stories by and inspired by the originators of weird fiction. From Allen's "The Arctic Death", through to Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", Stoker's "Dracula's Guest", and beyond. Time immemorial; worlds unimaginable.

After the untimely death of their parents, Cytheria and Owen Graye must go out into the world and fend for themselves. Cytheria's journey leads her to the dark and mysterious household of Miss Aldclyffe, a capricious and eccentric woman, who steers Cytheria into a love affair with her charismatic steward, Aeneous Manston. All is not what it seems, and Cytheria finds herself entangled in a violent web of lust, murder, deception, and blackmail.

Bukowski's mad immortal origins, surfaced from the literary underground, have addicted legions of audiences who've recognized Bukowski as one of America's greatest realist writers and poets. Audible Studios narrator and OBIE winner Will Patton ( Remember the Titans, The Good Wife, Armageddon) gives a tour de force performance of Bukowski's greatest work in his prime.

What made Sherlock Holmes a household name and cultural icon? This very first collection of stories featuring the astute sleuth and his loyal assistant, Dr. Watson. In these twelve ingenious mysteries, Holmes is embroiled in betrayal, abduction, thievery, deception, and murder. Relying on logic, driven by instinct, and employing his uncanny powers of observation, Holmes cracks the cases that elude Scotland Yard. This Baker Street dozen by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is all the evidence listeners will need to understand why Sherlock Holmes is an enduring legend in detective fiction.

Riuniti in raccolta dallo stesso Buzzati questi racconti brevi rappresentano una vera "summa" del mondo poetico dello scrittore, uno dei maestri nella narrativa italiana contemporanea.

I have been many years training in the way of strategy, called Ni Ten Ichi Ryu, and now, I think I will explain it for the first time. It is now during the first 10 days of the 10th month in the 20th year of Kanei (1645). I have climbed mountain Iwato of Higo in Kyushu to pay homage to heaven, pray to Kwannon, and kneel before Buddha. I am a warrior of Harima province, Shinmen Musashi No Kami Fujiwara No Geshin, age 60 years. With the virtue of strategy, I practice many arts and abilities - all things with no teacher.

Irish Fairy Tales is a collection of 14 Irish stories, edited by W. B. Yeats. Originally published in 1892, this collection is beautifully narrated by John Dunleavy and includes Yeats' notes and his "Classification of Irish Fairies."

Tus personajes clásicos favoritos—y alguno más que pronto lo será—te invitan a disfrutar de 25 cuentos que duran 5 minutos, que es lo que tú tardas en quedarte dormido.

Charles Dickens was a master of the macabre. His stories of madness, murder and revenge, often imbued with a sympathetic moral undertone, have continued to thrill and chill fans ever since they were written. Here then are 15 tales that display the full range of Dickens' Gothic talents. "The Signalman," perhaps the most well-known, is a chilling story about a mysterious figure and its deathly omen. "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain" shows the consequences for those who make deals with the dead. Listen for more.

Volume 11 begins with Doug's well-researched insight into the stories and their authors. This is followed by Edgar Allan Poe’s highly acclaimed gothic romance "Ligeia", Ambrose Bierce's haunting "A Fruitless Assignment", H. P. Lovecraft's dark and disturbing "Pickman's Model", Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sinister masterpiece "Blue John Gap", and more.

The 1925 New York edition of Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time trails readers through the years before, during, and after World War I. The collection’s first two stories, “Indian Camp” and “The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife,” introduce Hemingway’s semiautobiographical character Nick Adams as a child. In total, seven stories portray the young man’s coming of age. All fourteen, including interspersed vignettes, embody the themes that Hemingway would return to throughout his career: alienation, grief, loss, and separation, as well as the regenerative powers of nature.

From the vast lore surrounding King Arthur, Camelot, and the Knights of the Round Table comes an anthology of gender-bent, race-bent, LGBTQIA+ inclusive retellings.