Great Short Stories: #41-50

41. "The Monkey's Paw" (1902) by W.W. Jacobs. This is the story Jacobs is remembered for, but as you've seen I've listed a number of his works, there is more to commend in his bibliography than just this one tale. That said, this is one of the all-time great short stories. I'm sure you already know (or think you know?) the story and its moral: be careful what you wish for.

"The Monkey's Paw" can be found in The Lady of the Barge and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.

42. "The Well" (1902) by W.W. Jacobs. Another fine story by Jacobs, this relates the falling out between two brothers, culminating in one's disappearance. When the beloved of the remaining brother loses a ring inside an old well, he suddenly becomes quite perturbed and determined to retrieve the ring alone. Why doesn't he want anyone else looking inside the well?

"The Well" can be found in The Lady of the Barge and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.

43. "The Adventure of the Second Stain" (1904) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Another great Sherlock Holmes story, this involves the titular second stain - one stain lies on the rug, the other on the floor. Why was the rug moved after the murdered man died?

"The Adventure of the Second Stain" can be found in The Complete Sherlock Holmes. You can read the text online here.

44. "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" (1904) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A great Holmes story where a man goes about smashing busts of Napoleon, seemingly insane. It takes Holmes to realize that there's more going on here.

"The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" can be found in The Complete Sherlock Holmes. You can read the text online here.

45. "The Country of the Blind" (1904) by H.G. Wells. "In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king," so goes the proverb. In this wistful story, a mountain climber discovers the country of the blind, but finds that the proverb does not hold true. He soon discovers that his senses may be superior, but they mean less than nothing in a society which has made to do without.

"The Country of the Blind" can be found in The Country of the Blind and Other Selected Stories. You can read the text online here.

46. "Number 13" (1904) by M.R. James. A frightening James story which slowly builds up to one immensely effective moment. A guest in a hotel notices some odd occurrences. The room seems smaller during the night, larger during the day. At night, he sees a room next to him numbered "13." He can't find number 13 during the day. And someone is in that room.

"Number 13" can be found in Complete Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

47. "Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" (1904) by M.R. James. Possibly James' finest story, certainly one of his best-known. Between his fun prose, James brings out a terrific ghost story about a man who digs up an unusual whistle, then blows into it. Unfortunately for him, something answers the call.

"Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" can be found in Complete Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

48. "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" (1904) by M.R. James. This was my first exposure to James, it was in a filmstrip collection along with Amelia Edward's "Phantom Coach." A researcher solves the riddle of Abbot Thomas' supposed hidden treasure, but when he reaches in to take it...well, it's a moment that lived long in my imagination.

"The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" can be found in Complete Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

49. "A Tropical Horror" (1905) by William Hope Hodgson. A ship at sea is visited by a creature from the depths, something apparently prehistoric...something with little love for humans. Told in frantic passages as the narrator tries to conceal himself from the sea creature which tears through his fellow crewmen.

"A Tropical Horror" can be found in The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson Volume 3. You can read the text online here.

50. "A Suspicious Gift" (1906) by Algernon Blackwood. Blackwood is best regarded for his supernatural tales, but this one manages to terrify without bringing in anything otherwordly. A man takes in a strange guest who has a gift of money for him. So what's the catch? And why does the guest walk so strangely?

"A Suspicious Gift" can be found in The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

Great Short Stories: #31-40

31. "A Scandal in Bohemia" (1891) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. One of the best Sherlock Holmes stories, this is the famous tale of Irene Adler, the woman who outsmarted Holmes. It's a great story that shows Holmes at his best, even though he meets his match. Much has been made of Moriarty as Holmes' ultimate nemesis, but Adler is the only one of his adversaries who proved a genuine intellectual equal.

"A Scandal in Bohemia" can be found in The Complete Sherlock Holmes. You can read the text online here.

32. "Lot No. 249" (1892) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is a mummy story, although it follows some of the traditional zombie story maneuvers as well. A young man has found a way to command a mummy to do his bidding and he sees it as his opportunity to eliminate all of his rivals.

"Lot No. 249" can be found in Return From the Dead. You can read the text online here.

33. "Lost Hearts" (1893) by M.R. James. This is one of James' earliest tales and it's rather unlike the main body of his work (I'll be listing a lot of them over the next two days). A poor child is taken in by a doctor who provides for his every need. But it seems that children have a way of disappearing around his home...

"Lost Hearts" can be found in Complete Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

34. "How the Brigadier Won His Medal" (1894) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Of all the great Brigadier Gerard stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this is certainly one of them. If you know Doyle for Holmes or the Lost World you should try a Brigadier Gerard story, they're quite different and very funny. In this tale, Gerard is sent on what could only be an impossible task - impossible for any man but Gerard! The only problem is his superiors meant for him to be captured. Poor Gerard, ever bringing competance to the job of an incompetant.

"How the Brigadier Won His Medal" can be found in Exploits and Adventures of Brigadier Gerard. You can read the text online here.

35. "Canon Alberic's Scrap Book" (1895) by M.R. James. Now then, this is another M.R. James story, but it follows a formula he used time and again thereon. A researcher visiting an old church befriends the parson, who shows him an incredible text full of rare illustrations from chuch history. He's quite eager to be rid of it...and before the day is over, the researcher learns why...

"Canon Alberic's Scrap Book" can be found in Complete Ghost Stories. You can read the text online here.

36. "The Open Boat" (1897) by Stephen Crane. Based on an incident which occurred to Crane, this is the story of four men cast adrift in a lifeboat trying desperately to save themselves as the situation grows increasingly bleak.

"The Open Boat" can be found in The Open Boat and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.

37. "The Damned Thing" (1898) by Ambrose Bierce. A fine combination of wit and horror, this quick tale recounts the circumstances surrounding the unusual death of a hunter who believes there are things existing slightly outside man's ken, but not necessarily beyond that of nature.

"The Damned Thing" can be found in The Spook House. You can read the text online here.

38. "Drums of the Fore and Aft" (1898) by Rudyard Kipling. An excellent story about two young men who play in a regiment band and find themselves stranded on the battlefield when the rest of their party retreats. The duo see only one course open to them: they march, trying to inspire their forces to come back and continue the fight.

"Drums of the Fore and Aft" can be found in War Stories and Poems. You can read the text online here.

39. "Captain Rogers" (1901) by W.W. Jacobs. A familiar tale with a twist; a good man raising his daughter alone is confronted by a figure from his past who knows him as "Captain Rogers," a wanted man. He uses this information as blackmail to get whatever he wants from the man, gradually forcing him out of his own home and property and threatening to take his daughter as well. It all leads up to a well-earned twist...

"Captain Rogers" can be found in The Lady of the Barge and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.

40. "An Adulteration Act" (1902) by W.W. Jacobs. A humourous story of a doctor and a lawyer who are shanghaied and forced to serve aboard a ship at sea. The two men are ill-prepared for lives of drudgery and to regain their old lives they use the only strengths they have - those of their normal vocations.

"An Adulteration Act" can be found in The Lady of the Barge and Other Stories. You can read the text online here.