Short Stories audiobooks

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

By: Ambrose Bierce

Narrated by: Kyle Munley

Length: 27 minutes

Abridged: No

Set during the American Civil War, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is the classic short story of Peyton Farquhar, a Confederate sympathizer condemned to death by hanging from Owl Creek Bridge. Flashing between the present and the past—from Peyton's thoughts as he stands on the bridge to his memories as a major Confederate supporter in the... Read more

Adventure

By: Sherwood Anderson

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

Length: 16 minutes

Abridged: No

Sherwood Anderson's most enduring work, Winesburg, Ohio, is considered one of earliest works of modernist literature. The sequence of short stories centers on the life of George Willard and those who live in the rural, pre-industrial town. "Adventure," a short story within the novel, tells the tale of Alice Hindman, a twenty-something girl, and... Read more

The Ice Palace

By: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Narrated by: Vanessa Hart

Length: 54 minutes

Abridged: No

One of F. Scott Fitzgerald's earliest short stories, "The Ice Palace" is about Sally Carrol Happer, a young Southern woman who is bored with her conventional life. She's engaged to Harry Bellamy, a young man from the North. Despite concern from her family and friends, Sally travels to Harry's hometown to meet his family. Hoping for an exciting... Read more

The Monkey’s Paw

By: W. W. Jacobs

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

Length: 24 minutes

Abridged: No

Originally published in 1902, "The Monkey's Paw" is a classic horror short story written by author W. W. Jacobs. In the story, the paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with an enormous price. Proceeds from sale of this title go to Reach Out and Read, an innovative literacy advocacy... Read more

The Diamond as Big as the Ritz

By: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 1 hour 41 minutes

Abridged: No

Written in the same vein as "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" is one of F. Scott Fitzgerald's most imaginative shorter works. John T. Unger is a young southerner who goes to Montana for summer vacation with a wealthy college classmate. But the classmate's family proves to be much more than simply... Read more

Eveline

By: James Joyce

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 10 minutes

Abridged: No

"Eveline" is a short story from James Joyce's classic Dubliners. Nineteen-year-old Eveline has decided to leave home, but her future journey may not be all that she hopes. Like other stories in Dubliners, "Eveline" offers a penetrating analysis of Dublin society, especially its stagnation and paralysis. Each story incorporates epiphanies, by... Read more

Pickman’s Model

By: H. P. Lovecraft

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 36 minutes

Abridged: No

Widely regarded as one of the one of the greatest horror writers of the twentieth century, H. P. Lovecraft's stories are known for their profound indifference to human beliefs and affairs. Here is "Pickman's Model," one of his more terrifying stories. Richard Upton Pickman is a Bostonian painter, notorious for creating horrifying paintings. His... Read more

Eve’s Diary

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Cris Dukehart

Length: 44 minutes

Abridged: No

Though known for his classic novels of adventure and coming of age, Mark Twain is equally esteemed for his short stories, which abound with the colorful characters and often comic antics readers have come to expect from his longer works. Included here is "Eve's Diary," the comic tale of Eve, the first woman in the Judeao-Christian creation... Read more

The Gift of the Magi

By: O. Henry

Narrated by: Coleen Marlo

Length: 14 minutes

Abridged: No

O. Henry was a prolific American short-story writer—a master of surprise endings—who wrote about the life of ordinary people in New York City. In "The Gift of the Magi," one of his best-known works, a young couple at Christmas time who, despite having little money, buy secret gifts for each other. A moral lesson on the importance of love and... Read more

The Prophets’ Paradise

By: Robert W. Chambers

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Robert W. Chanbers' The King in Yellow, a collection of short stories, is considered one of the most important works of American supernatural fiction. Within the collection is "The Prophets' Paradise," a dream-like narrative of prose and poetry. Featuring personifications of Love and Truth, the story's structure has a palindrome-like quality... Read more

Death and the Woman

By: Gertrude Atherton

Narrated by: Rachel Fulginiti

Length: 17 minutes

Abridged: No

Gertrude Atherton was a gothic novelist and short story writer. A prot├®g├®e of Ambrose Bierce, his influence can be seen in many of her stories, which often have overt references to the supernatural. In "Death and the Woman," a woman sits all alone in grief at her dying husband's side, waiting for Death to claim him. In the creepy, desolate... Read more

A Pair of Silk Stockings

By: Kate Chopin

Narrated by: Arielle DeLisle

Length: 11 minutes

Abridged: No

Kate Chopin is a widely considered a forerunner to the feminist authors of the twentieth century. Focusing on themes of race and gender, her short stories largely center on life in rural Louisiana. In "A Pair of Silk Stockings," a young woman unexpected finds herself with fifteen dollars. Inspired by her newfound wealth, she ignores her natural... Read more

The Story of an Hour

By: Kate Chopin

Narrated by: Tish Hicks

Length: 9 minutes

Abridged: No

Kate Chopin is a widely considered the forerunner to the feminist authors of the twentieth century. Focusing on themes of race and gender, her short stories largely center on life in rural Louisiana. In "The Story of an Hour," Louise Mallard has just learned that her husband is dead—believed to have died during a train accident. Her family fears... Read more

Brown Wolf

By: Jack London

Narrated by: Adam Verner

Length: 38 minutes

Abridged: No

Jack London was one of the first fiction writers to achieve worldwide fame. Though he is best remembered for his novels The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set during the Klondike Gold Rush, his short stories are considered masterful. Here in "Brown Wolf," a couple living on a homestead in Northern California who take in a stray sled dog... Read more

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith

Length: 15 minutes

Abridged: No

Though known for his classic novels of adventure and coming of age, Mark Twain is equally esteemed for his short stories, which abound with the colorful characters and often comic antics readers have come to expect from his longer works. Included here is "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," a wild yarn involving a case of mistaken... Read more

The Necklace

By: Guy de Maupassant

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 20 minutes

Abridged: No

A lesson on the power of vanity, "The Necklace" tells the story of Madame Mathilde Loisel and her husband. Mathilde always imagined herself as a socialite with beautiful gowns and wonderful jewels. Her husband, however, is a lowly clerk and the two have little money. Desperate to attend an important party, she borrows a friend's diamond necklace... Read more

Mad Hope

By: Heather Birrell

Narrated by: Tandy Cronyn, Erin Moon, Morgan Hallett & Graha...

Length: 8 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

In the stories of Mad Hope, Heather Birrell finds the heart of her characters and lets them lead us into worlds both unrecognizable and alarming. We think we know these people but discover we don't-they are more alive, more real, and more complex than we first imagined. A high school science teacher is forced to re-examine the role he played in... Read more

The Selfish Giant

By: Oscar Wilde

Narrated by: Diane Havens

Length: 11 minutes

Abridged: No

A perennial classic that is sure to inspire a new generation of parents and childrenAfter seven years, the Giant has nothing left to say to his friend, the Cornish ogre, and so he returns home to his castle—only to find that in his absence, the children have been playing in his beautiful garden.At once the selfish Giant builds a high wall to... Read more

The Nice People

By: Henry Cuyler Bunner

Narrated by: Scott O’Neill

Length: 20 minutes

Abridged: No

Henry Culyer Bunner is considered a comedic genius of the short story form. Known for choosing distinctly American themes and characters, his stories are often seen as trivial, merely expanded anecdotes, yet they are so vitally treated that they grip and remain, and, often, lift and chasten. Here is "The Nice People," one of his best known... Read more

The Lottery Ticket

By: Anton Chekhov

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Length: 14 minutes

Abridged: No

Considered one of the greatest short story writers of all time, Anton Chekhov heavily influenced the evolution of the modern short story. Most notably, he used a technique that would later be called "stream of consciousness," in which he eschewed the traditional story structure and simply wrote as though he was thinking aloud. Written in that... Read more

The Stone of Invisibility

By: Giovanni Boccaccio

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 14 minutes

Abridged: No

The most enduring work by the Renaissance humanist Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron is a collection of one hundred stories about ten young noblemen and noblewomen who escape the plague by moving to a country villa outside the Italian city of Florence. Highly influential, numerous writers have borrowed from Boccaccio's tales, including Edgar... Read more

The Pit and the Pendulum

By: Edgar Allan Poe

Narrated by: Richard Powers

Length: 38 minutes

Abridged: No

Edgar Allen Poe is seen today as one of the greatest practitioners of gothic and detective fiction that ever lived, and popular culture is replete with references to him. In "The Pit and the Pendulum," one of his most famous short works, a condemned man is judged guilty by the Spanish Inquisition and sentenced to die. Locked away in a... Read more

Two Illuminating Stories

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 23 minutes

Abridged: No

Though known for his classic novels of adventure and coming of age, Mark Twain is equally esteemed for his short stories, which abound with the colorful characters and often comic antics readers have come to expect from his longer works. Included here are two of his most beloved short stories: "The Story of the Bad Little Boy Who Didn't Come to... Read more

Prince Bull

By: Charles Dickens

Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir

Length: 17 minutes

Abridged: No

Charles Dickens created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters. Widely regarded as the greatest writer of the Victorian period, his novels and short stories continue to be widely popular today. One of his lesser known works, "Prince Bull" is the story of a powerful prince named Bull; his lovely wife called Fair Freedom; and... Read more