Dan Burke steps out of a stuffy New York City party hoping to get some air and peace in Central Park, but instead he meets a gnomelike man who asks him, "But what is reality?". Sci-fi luminary Stanley G. Weinbaum first broke through with the hugely influential story A Martian Odyssey, one of the first to depict an... read more »
Amidst Sinclair Lewis s many remarkable novels are more than a hundred short stories which he wrote over forty-four years. Selected Short Stories contains those selected by Lewis himself and illustrates the wide range of his art and interest: tales of romantic fantasy or escape, melodramas of heroic or mock-heroic... read more »
Part of this prolific author's popular Terra-Human Future History series, this tale takes place just prior to the devastating world war that occurs in 1973, wiping out much of humanity and leading to the ascendance of a new world order. The story focuses on a protagonist who is plagued by brief glimpses of the... read more »
The time was late in the summer the place a ranch in southwestern Kansas and Lewiston and his wife were two of a vast population of farmers wheat growers who at that moment were passing through a crisis-a crisis that at any moment might culminate in tragedy. Wheat was down to sixty-six. read more »
The, self-aclaimed "great", Haskel van Manderpootz has been "cheated" out of the coveted Morrell Award and unable to accept of life of modesty and in the discussion of varying points of view, van Manderpootz sets in motion his next great experiment. One of science fiction's classic duos – wacky inventor Professor... read more »
'A pair of lunatics, you two,' observed Harrison. He squinted through the port at the gray gloom of the Mare Cimmerium. 'There comes the sun.' He paused. 'Listen, Dick--you and Leroy take the other auxiliary rocket and go out and salvage those films.' read more »
Sapper leads us into a very pleasant world in which the mighty, such as the Oliver Samuelsons, the vulgar nouveaux riches, are turned out of their newly acquired country seat through their terror of a faked ghost, and in which the humble--like Molly Delmont, the pretty little governess—-are exalted by the timely... read more »
When you open this book you will be lost - lost in a world of dreadful nightmare brought to screaming life by the century's greatest master of adult fantasy and horror. 'They were removing the stones quietly, one by one, from the centuried wall. And then, as the breach became large enough, they came out into the... read more »
A four-man crew crash lands on Mars, and Dick Jarvis, who sets out on his own meets Tweel, a sympathetic creature who shows him the ways of the planet. A strange pyramid building creature, a tentacled 'dream beast', and broken record cart people. Check out for yourself why A Martian Odyssey came in 2nd in the best... read more »
Evil men had stolen his treasure, and Raud set out with his deer rifle and his great dog Brave to catch the thieves before they could reach the Starfolk. That the men had negatron pistols meant little--Raud was the Keeper... The old men speak of a time many years ago when hundreds of starships were visible in the... read more »
Lytton has presented a wicked and malicious persona that fulfills all demonic characteristics. This It is a fantastic epic romance is referred to as a ghost story as it is written in gothic style. The mysterious, exciting actions and shadowy atmosphere successfully ensnare reader's attention. read more »
The story is told by Albert N. Wilmarth, an instructor of literature at Miskatonic University in Arkham. When local newspapers report strange things seen floating in rivers during a historic Vermont flood, Wilmarth becomes embroiled in a controversy about the reality and significance of the sightings, though he... read more »
A story of the shocking revelation that came to the twenty-first Baron Kralitz. Kuttner's contribution to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, a dark gothic tale, in which he introduces the lesser known diety; Iod. read more »
There was no stopping General Zarvas' rebellion. Hunted and hated in two worlds, Hradzka dreamed of a monomaniac's glory, stranded in the past with his knowledge of the future. But he didn't know the past quite well enough... read more »
The life of an anthropologist is no doubt filled much of the time with the monotonous routine of carefully assembling powdery relics of ancient races and civilizations. But White's lone Peruvian odyssey was most unusual. A story pseudonymously penned by one of the greats in the genre. Fra Rafael saw strange things... read more »
Wilbraham was obviously a sentimentalist and an enthusiast; there was the extraordinary case shortly after I first met him of his championship of X., a man who had been caught card-sharping and received a year's imprisonment for it. On X. leaving prison, Wilbraham championed and defended him, put him up for months... read more »
Walpole's third collection of short fiction, sixteen stories, including several of his best supernatural tales. Walpole's two strongest stories in the genre are Tarnhelm; or, The Death of My Uncle Robert, a strangely moving and poignant werewolf tale told from the point of view of a sensitive little boy; and The... read more »
Here and Beyond is a collection of six short stories, which includes ghost stories, social dramas and character studies set in Brittany, New England, and Morocco. Two of these tales, The Young Gentleman and Bewitched, display distinct gothic leaning in their emphasis on looming architecture and the slow reveal of... read more »
Daniel Upton, the story's narrator, begins by telling that he has killed his best friend, Edward Derby, and that he hopes his account will prove that he is not a murderer... The Thing on the Doorstep is an important part of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. read more »
Recounting the misadventures of an alcoholic investigator while he probes the mystery of a graveyard—full of saintly corpses—that migrate across a stream to escape association with the body of a newly buried sinner..."A strange sight arrested me on the landing of the grand staircase. Through an open door I saw... read more »
Set during World War I, a married Scottish soldier, instead of returning home, courts a displaced German countess in occupied Germany. The narrative revolves around a relationship that is not condoned by the society. The complexities of a love that is not reciprocated and whose boundaries are not defined. D. H... read more »
A collection of humorous short stories with a diverse set of characters and settings from the vivid imaginations of Connell, that will remind of you The Twilight Zone, with critiques against idle curiosity, arrogance, superficiality, and uninformed decision-making. read more »
The scenes of this story are laid in Egypt -- Abu-Tabah, the inscrutable Egyptian, who appears and disappears so mysteriously, is not so blood-curdling a villain as Fu Manchu, but his exploits possess the same breathless interest that characterized the activities of the yellow doctor. In the latter half of the book... read more »
With twenty-five stories, The Cook's Wedding and Other Stories provides a great introduction to the ironic, moving, and thought-provoking tales of Anton Chekhov. An average student, Chekhov reportedly learned far more from his gifted mother, whose compelling stories interested him in storytelling at an early age... read more »
Mr. Hector Ratichon-onetime aide to Robespierre and confidant of Napoleon Bonaparte-is a rascal and rogue of the highest order. Nevertheless, his service to France and his resulting adventures make entertaining reading. read more »
During the last ten years of his life, Anton Chekhov penned his great plays, spent time treating the sick, and wrote a small number of stories that are considered his masterpieces. The eleven stories collected here-The Lady with the Little Dog, The House with the Mezzanine, My Life, Peasants, A Visit to Friends... read more »
The Pat Hobby Stories are a collection of 17 short stories written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, first published by Arnold Gingrich of Esquire magazine between January 1940 and May 1941. Pat Hobby is a down-and-out screenwriter in Hollywood, once successful as "a good man for structure" during the silent age of cinema... read more »
Rumours abound of sinister goings-on in the ancient Massachusetts seaport of Innsmouth. The once prosperous town, which has fallen into a state of decrepitude and decay, is a stopover destination for Robert Olmstead, a young historian on a tour of the region. Despite hearing ominous tales of the town and its... read more »
In this classic short story, Chekhov takes a snapshot of the Russian life, illuminating the harsh complexities and yet subtle simplicities that interact seamlessly together. The cold and gloom of the Russian environment cannot compare to the relationship that Pavel Andreitch, a rich aristocratic, has with his wife... read more »
He was afraid -- not of the present or the future, but of the past. He was afraid of the thing tagged Reed Kieran, that stiff blind voiceless thing wheeling its slow orbit around the Moon, companion to dead worlds and silent space.... Hamilton was a thoughtful SF writer, and you can surely see that here: this is the... read more »