Featured Stories

A Woman’s Help

A Woman’s Help: Short story by Henry SlesarIn this story by Henry Slesar, a sensitive, handsome man has spent his life having his every need catered for by the women in his life. Unfortunately, he now finds himself trapped in a loveless marriage to a rich, bed-ridden woman who takes pleasure in having him at her beck and call. Things take a positive turn when she hires an attractive nurse/companion. Romance blossoms and the two come up with a plot to do away with the wife. Things don’t go as expected, but the desperate husband has a backup plan. Themes include control, despair, manipulation, deception, jealousy, crime.

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The Learned Adventure of the Dragon’s Head

The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head: Novelette by Dorothy SayersLord Peter Wimsey, Dorothy Sayers’s eccentric amateur sleuth, is saddled with his ten-year-old nephew while his parents are away overseas. As the two browse an antiquarian bookshop, the boy is attracted to the maps and pictures in a badly damaged copy of Cosmographia Universalis, an early description of the world. He buys the book, and shortly afterwards a strange man visits and offers Wimsey two hundred times what the boy paid. This leads to a “Boys Own” type adventure involving attempted robbery, Scotland Yard and a riddle leading to buried pirate treasure. Themes include curiosity, greed, mystery, deception, and philanthropy.

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How Much Land Does a Man Need?

How Much Land Does a Man Need?: Short story by Leo TolstoyIn this Leo Tolstoy story, a Russian peasant thinks to himself: Our only trouble is that we haven’t enough land. If I had a lot of land, I shouldn’t fear the Devil himself! The Devil ‘overhears’ this and puts him to the test. The more land the man gets, the more he thinks he needs. He hears of a place where for almost nothing you can buy all the land you can walk around in a day. In rushing to encircle as much land as possible, he learns the answer to the titular question. Themes: class, exploitation, temptaion, envy, avarice.

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Halfway to the Moon

Halfway to the Moon: Short story by Vasily AksyonovIn this story by Vasily Aksyonov (Aksenov), a hard-drinking Russian logging-truck driver is infatuated with a stylish stewardess he meets on a flight to Moscow. He becomes so obsessed with finding her again that he spends his entire winter vacation traveling to and fro on the same flight. Disillusioned over the fruitless search, he has a moral awakening and develops feelings of guilt over a woman he had recently misled. When he does see the stewardess again, he decides to walk away and treasure the memory. Themes include machismo, unrequited love, disillusionment, moral conscience, Western influence on Russian culture.

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The End of the Party

The End of the Party: Short story by Graham GreeneAlthough the 9-year-old twins in this Graham Greene story look the same, they have very different psychological dispositions. The first-born (Peter) is self-confident and has a special connection with his brother. The younger (Francis) has an anxiety disorder that results in unreasoning fear, particularly of the dark. Peter feels what Francis feels, and is fiercely protective of him. Despite their best efforts to avoid it, the two attend a birthday party that will include a game of hide-and-seek in the dark. During the game, a thoughtless act by Peter has tragic results. Themes: innocence, brotherhood, connection, fear, adult insensitivity, death.

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The Key Game

The Key Game: Short story by Ida FinkSome years ago we featured Ida Fink‘s story A Spring Morning in which a Jewish couple question the wisdom of bringing their five-year-old daughter into the world as they sit at home waiting for the German SS to come for them. In this story by the same author, a family moves from place to place to avoid capture. Rather than feel guilty, they are thankful for their three-year-old son whose skill at “The Key Game” may be his Jewish father’s only means of survival. Themes include family, fear, desperation, role reversal, loss of innocence, premature responsibility.

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A Wagner Matinée

A Wagner Matinée: Short story by Willa CatherWilla Cather’s A Wagner Matinée highlights the gulf between the hard, isolated life of the American West’s early settlers and the civilized, cultured life of the cities they left behind. The contrast is even greater for the protagonist’s Aunt Georgiana who is not only highly educated, but also accomplished in and passionate about classical music. Her state of almost catatonic shock upon returning to the city and tearful reaction to the musical performance may also indicate regret over her rash elopement thirty years earlier. Themes: hardship, isolation, loneliness, kindness, appreciation, the inspirational/healing power of music.

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The Treasure of Abbot Thomas

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas: Short story by M. R. JamesIn this story by M. R. James, a British antiquary comes across an old book written in Latin that tells of a German monastery in which a fortune in gold is believed to have been hidden. He believes the key to the treasure lies on a stained-glass window removed from the Abby and returned to England when the monastery was closed. He finds the window, decodes the message hidden on it and, despite the warning contained in the message, finds the gold. His only problem… dealing with the treasure’s monstrous guardian. Themes include treasure hunting, cryptography, fear, the supernatural.

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