Short Stories to Read Online
Read original short fiction from Dreamworld, or choose a classic short story collection. Explore coastal suspense, contemporary fiction, detective short stories, Gothic tales, and fairy tales.
Original Short Fiction
- The Light at Slack Water
When rising water cuts off two workers, a ferry mechanic and her brother return to the channel where their father died, guided by an old chart and a brass lamp.
- The Last Seat at Table Seven
On the night her family diner closes, Ada finds a paid reservation for five at a table where she has spent years forgetting to count herself.
- The Plus-One Agreement
Clara and her neighbour Jamie agree to attend two family weddings as friends. Then a job offer in Glasgow makes them ask what they want from each other once the invitations run out.
- A Key for the Blue Door
On the last week of her alterations shop, Elena calls an old friend to help trace a coat left behind in 1999. The search brings them back to the decision that ended their partnership.
- The Saturday Book Mystery
A bakery notebook vanishes at a library fundraiser. A bicycle mechanic, a young raffle contestant and two nearly identical cake tins hold the clues.
Classic Short Story Collections
- Three Hundred Aesop’s Fables
In Aesop’s fables, animals bargain, boast, and outwit each other. This English collection brings together brief moral tales that can be read in a few minutes each.
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Dr. Watson recounts twelve Sherlock Holmes mysteries, from a royal request in “A Scandal in Bohemia” to a baffling advertisement in “The Red-Headed League.”
- Andersen's Fairy Tales
Hans Christian Andersen’s literary fairy tales follow misfits, talking animals, and unlikely travelers. Read “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Little Match Girl,” and “The Snow Queen.”
- Grimms' Fairy Tales
This English collection of Grimm fairy tales includes “Hansel and Gretel,” “Rapunzel,” and other folk tales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.
- The Happy Prince, and Other Tales
Oscar Wilde uses fairy tales to ask what people owe one another. A swallow helps a gilded statue give away its riches, while a selfish giant discovers why his garden never warms.
- The Jungle Book
Mowgli’s adventures among the wolves share this collection with stories of other animals, including the mongoose Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Each tale can be read on its own.
- The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2
This volume of Edgar Allan Poe’s short fiction brings together unsettling narrators, Gothic settings, and tales of suspense, including “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat.”