First published in a 1842 edition of Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine, The Masque of the Red Death tells the story of Prince Prospero as he tries to avoid a plague by confining himself and his nobles to a masquerade in an abbey...
Classic fiction
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Author:Poe, Edgar AllanSummary: - Author:Bulgakov, MikhailSummary:
The Devil comes to Moscow; but he isn't all bad. Pontius Pilate sentences a charismatic leader to his death, but yearns for redemption; and a writer tries to destroy his greatest tale, but discovers that manuscripts don't burn. Multi-...
- Author:Pyle, HowardSummary:
Robin Hood follows one of our favorite heroes as he embarks on various adventures and antics, recruiting the Merry Men from what appears to be every corner of Europe and pursuing his quest to "steal from the rich and give to the poor."...
- Author:Kafka, FranzSummary:
Described by Nobel laureate Elias Canetti as, "one of the few great and perfect works of the poetic imagination," this short fable about a man who wakes up one morning transformed into a giant insect is deeply funny in its tragedy and...
- Author:Poe, Edgar AllanSummary:
First published in a 1841 edition of Graham's Magazine, The Murders in the Rue Morgue is often cited as the first modern detective story. The first of three stories to center around C. Auguste Dupin, Poe's fictional detective, The...
- Author:Conrad, JosephSummary:
The tale of a mortally ill man on a homeward bound ship and the effect he has on his ship mates.
- Author:Hodgson, William HopeSummary:
In the far future, an unnamed narrator, who along with what remains of the human race dwells uneasily in an underground fortress-city surrounded by brooding, chaotic, relentless Watching Things, Silent Ones, Hounds, Giants, 'Ab-humans...
- Author:HomerSummary:
The Ancient Greek tale of Odysseus, cursed to wander the perilous world on his epic voyage home. The decade-long Trojan War has come to an end and Odysseus, the King of Ithaca instrumental in securing victory for the Greeks, finally...
- Author:Hemingway, ErnestSummary:
The story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal, a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream.
- Author:Grimm, Wilhelm, Grimm, JacobSummary:
When Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published their 'Children's and Household Tales' in 1812, followed by a second volume in 1815, they had no idea that such stories as 'Rapunzel, ' 'Hansel and Gretel, ' and 'Cinderella' would become the most...
- Author:Melville, HermanSummary:
"The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids" is a short story written by American writer Herman Melville (1819-1891). A combination of two sketches, one set in the center of London's legal industry and the other in a New...
- Author:Steinbeck, JohnSummary:
The insensitivity between neighbors leads to the gradual disintegration of a small California farm community.
- Author:Sparks, EdwardSummary:
Trapped in a London laboratory during a worker uprising in 1924, ex-artillery officer and physics instructor Jeremy Tuft awakens 150 years later - in a neo-medieval society whose inhabitants have forgotten how to build or operate...
- Author:Wilde, OscarSummary:
Young and beautiful Dorian Gray wishes that a newly commissioned portrait would age in place of his splendid body. His wish is granted, and the newfound lack of consequence attracts him to dark deeds and decadence. A classic fable about...
- Author:Poe, Edgar AllanSummary:
First published in a 1842 literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843, The Pit and the Pendulum takes place during the Spanish Inquisition and follows the plight of a prisoner in a cell that has a pit and a...
- Author:Camus, AlbertSummary:
In the small coastal city of Oran, Algeria, rats begin rising up from the filth only to die as bloody heaps in the streets. Shortly after, an outbreak of the bubonic plague erupts and envelops the human population. Albert Camus'...
- Author:James, HenrySummary:
Following the death of her father, Isabel Archer leaves the comforts of Albany, New York to stay with her aunt Lydia Touchett at her London estate. There she meets Lydia's rich husband, David, her cousin Ralph, and the Touchetts's proud...
- Author:Machado de AssisSummary:
A revelatory new translation of the playful, incomparable masterpiece of one of the greatest black authors in the Americas. The mixed-race grandson of ex-slaves, Machado de Assis is not only Brazil's most celebrated writer but also...
- Author:Goldman, WilliamSummary:
William Goldman's beloved story of Buttercup, Westley, and their fellow adventurers. This tale of true love, high adventure, pirates, princesses, giants, miracles, fencing, and a frightening assortment of wild beasts was unforgettably...
- Author:Poe, Edgar AllanSummary:
First published in a 1844 literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1845, The Purloined Letter is the third and final story that features Poe's detective, C. Auguste Dupin. In it, Dupin is approached by the...
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