Thousands of pdf books of free short stories, grouped by genre and age. Old public domain pdf short stories and modern. Best-of year collections. Classic short stories pdf free. Audiobook collections.
Table of contents
Collections of Public Domain and Modern Short Stories
Fiction Short Stories PDF – Collection
Over 15,000 free books of classic short stories pdf at the Internet Archive. A few examples: John Updike Trust Me stories of husbands and wives and lovers, Noel Coward the Complete Stories, short stories E. M. Forster, English Short Stories, American Classic Short Stories, Stories by Langston Hughes, Stories by Great American Writers, William Accorsi Short Short Short Stories, The Best American Short Stories 2009, Hindi Stories, Frederick Forsyth, Clare Boylan, Zambia Stories, Rudyard Kipling, Sci Fi by Isaac Asimov, Mark Twain, and more.
American Short Stories – Collection
Over 2,000 free books of pdf fiction American short stories at the Internet Archive. A few examples: Dorothy Parker pdf Short Stories, American short stories anthologies pdf, Best Women’s Erotica pdf short stories, Philip K. Dick pdf sci fi short stories, Katherine Anne Porter pdf short stories, Larry Niven short stories, Robert A. Heinlein pdf sci fi, Tales of Erotic Romance, Oxford Book of Scary Tales, The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2012, Great Stories of the American West, Spider Woman’s Granddaughters, and more.
American Stories for Children – Collection
Thousands of fiction short stories pdf online for kids in 1,900 free books at the Internet Archive. Includes: The Cat in the Hat, The Stinky Cheese Man, 30 Tales to Give You Goosebumps, Disney Scary Storybook Collection, Beverly Cleary Henry Huggins, Nancy Drew Ghost Stories, Goosebumps Monster Edition, Encyclopedia Brown, Disney’s Christmas Storybook, The Hardy Boys Ghost Stories, Your Favorite Seuss, Scary Stories for Stormy Nights, and more.
Canadian Fiction Short Stories PDF – Collection
About 620 free online books of Canadian fiction short stories in PDF. Includes: Linda Holeman Flying to Yellow, Margaret Atwood Dancing Girls, Budge Wilson Cordelia Clark, Alice Munro Dance of the Happy Shades, Shani Mootoo Out on Main Street, Absolutely Amazing Five Minute Mysteries, Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories, Monique Proulx Aurora Montrealis, Two Lands New Visions Stories from Canada and Ukraine, Leon Rooke Painting the Dog, Write Across Canada, Zsuzsi, Gartner Better Living through Plastic Explosives, and more.
Modern Short Stories PDF
Ashmun, Margaret Eliza, ed.
MacMillan 1914
Public domain short story collection published in 1914. Contents: The cask of Amontillado, by E. A. Poe; The return of a private, by H. Garland; Mateo Falcone, by P. Merimee; The hiding of Black Bill, by O. Henry; The substitute, by F. Coppee; Rip Van Winkle, by W. Irving; The thief, by F. Dostoievski; The king of Boyville,by W. A. White; The father, by B. Bjornson; What was it? a mystery, by F. J. O’Brien; The real thing, by H: James; Dr. Heidegger’s experiment, by N. Hawthorne; more.
Index to Short Stories
Firkins, Ina Ten Eyck, comp.
Wilson 1915 Dewey Dec. 016.8
Author and title entries showing where to find in books or magazines short stories of about two hundred and fifty English and American authors; no author included who has not had one volume of collected stories published.- A.L.A. Catalog 1912-1921.
The Best Psychic Stories
French, Joseph Lewis, ed.
Boni & Liveright 1920
Public domain short stories, by Jack London, Algernon Blackwood, Katherine Rickford, George Warton Edwards, Edgar Allan Poe, Elsa Barker, Lafcadio Hearn, Ambrose Bierce, William T. Stead, Fiona Macleod, Gambier Bolton, Hereward Carrington, Andrew Jackson Davis, St. John D. Seymour, Nizida, Helena Blavatsky, and Dr. Walter F. Prince. Psychic short stories public domain. Public domain short stories pdf.
Great Sea Stories
French, Joseph Lewis, ed.
Brentano’s 1921
Fifteen excerpts illustrating the ‘virility and beauty’ of the sea as a source of really epic stories. They are chosen from Westward ho, Peter Simple, Tom Cringle’s log, Hard cash, Chamber’s miscellany, The red rover, Moby Dick, Ninety-three, Broken stowage, The wreck of the Grosvenor, An Iceland fisherman, In blue waters. Spun gold, South sea tales, and A tarpaulin muster.
The Standard Index of Short Stories 1900-1914
Hannigan, Francis J., comp.
Small, Manard 1918 Dewey Dec. 016.8
Author and title index in one alphabet; includes all short stories published in twenty-four of the more important magazines.- American Library Association Catalog 1912-1921.
Collections of Best Short Stories
The Best American Humorous Short Stories
Audio Short Stories
Jessup, Alexander, ed.
Carlton House 1920
Contents: The little Frenchman and his water lots, by G. P. Morris; The angel of the odd, by E. A. Poe; The schoolmaster’s progress, by C. M. S. Kirkland; The Watkinson evening, by E. Leslie; Titbottom’s spectacles, by G. W. Curtis; My double, and how he undid me, by E. E. Hale; A visit to the asylum for aged and decayed punsters, by O. W. Holmes; The celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County, by Mark Twain;The hotel experience of Mr. Pink Fluker, by R. M. Johnston; More.
The Best Short Stories of 1916 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story
O’Brien, Edward Joseph, ed.
Small, Manard 1916
Contents: The sacrificial altar, by G. Atherton; Miss Willett, by B. Benefield; Supers, by F. Booth; Fog, by D. Burnet; Ma’s pretties, by F. Buzzell; The great auk, bv I. S. Cobb; The lost Phoebe, by T. Dreiser; The silent infare, by A. C. Gordon; The cat of the cane-brake, by F. S. Greene; Making port, by R: M. Hallet; “Ice water, pl—!” by F. Hurst; Little selves, by M. Lerner; The sun chaser, by J. Marks; more.
O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1920
Doubleday, Page 1920
Contents: Each in his generation, by M. S. Burt; “Contact!” by F. N. Hart; The camel’s back, by F. S. Fitzgerald; Breakneck hill, by E. Forbes; Black art and Ambrose, by G. Gilpatric; The judgment of Vulcan, by L. F. Hartman; The argosies, by A. Hull; Alma Mater, by O. F. Lewis; Slow poison, by A. D. Miller; More. Public domain short stories pdf.
Atlantic Narratives; Modern Short Stories. Second Series
Audio Short Stories
Thomas, Charles Swain, ed.
Atlantic Monthly 1918
Contents: The lie, by M. Antin; Blue reefers, by E. Ashe; The debt, by K. Carman; Seth Miles and the sacred fire, by C. A. P. Comer; Buried treasure, by M. de la Roche; The princess of make-believe, by A. H. Donnell; The two apples, by J. E. Dunning; The purple star, by R. H. Eastman; Ruggs—R. O. T. C, by W. A. Ganoe; The way of life, by L. Huffaker; A year in a coal-mine, by J. Husband; Rosita, by E. Mackubin; Perjured, by E. R. Mirrielees; What Mr. Grey said, by M. P. Montague; More. Biographical and interpretative notes.
Short Story Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Works of Short Fiction Writers (Volumes 1-217)
Trudeau, Lawrence J., ed.
Cengage Gale 1988 – 2016
“Short Story Criticism assembles critical responses to the writings of the worlds most renowned short fiction writers and provides supplementary biographical context and bibliographic material to guide the reader to a greater understanding of the genre and its creators. Each of the more than 250 volumes in this series profiles approximately 3-6 writers of short fiction from all time periods and all parts of the world. Entries provide an introductory biographical essay, a primary bibliography, a selection of full-text or excerpted critical essays reproduced from books, magazines, literary reviews, newspapers and scholarly journals, and sources for additional research; many entries include an author portrait. A full citation and annotation precede each of the approximately 50 essays per volume. The series currently covers more than 500 authors and also includes numerous entries focusing on individual works and topics.” – Publisher 2018 description. This link contains about 150 volumes between vol 1 and vol 217. Refer to the cumulative indexes in the most recent volume.
The Best American Short Stories
Various Editors
Houghton Mifflin and others
Around 130 volumes of collected American short stories. Most are annual collections, throughout the 20th century. From various editors and publishers.
The Year’s Best Science Fiction – Annual Collections
Dozois, Gardner R., comp.
St. Martin’s 1962-2016
Annual collections by St. Martin’s of PDF Science Fiction short stories, containing most volumes up to volume 33, published in 2016. This webpage of search results also contains other similar science fiction short stories collection pdf.
The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories – Annual Collections
Saha, Arthur W., comp.
DAW
Annual collections of short stories of fantasy. This page has links to vols 9, 12 & 13 (1983-1987).
The Year’s Best Mystery and Suspense Stories – Annual Collections
Hoch, Edward D., comp.
Walker 1983-2020
Annual collections from 1983 to 2020 of Mystery and Suspense short stories.
Vintage Book Collections of Short Stories
More Free Public Domain Fiction Books at HathiTrust with Short Stories
Most books were published before 1928.
Audio Short Stories
Librivox Free Audio Short Stories – Collections
Here are more than 700 online audio books, each containing a collection of public domain short stories. Listen to free audio short stories online, read by volunteers.
How to Carry out a Search for Free Audiobooks
The Librivox Audiobook collection has (as of early 2024) over 19,000 books in the public domain that you can listen to online or download. Here’s how to search for audiobooks on your subject.
Go to Internet Archive Librivox Free Audiobook Collection
- In the Search field above the first row of books, paste: collection:(librivoxaudio) AND
- After AND, add a space and then your search word or search phrase. Put quotation marks at the beginning and end of it (one word or a short search phrase gets more results).
- Example: collection:(librivoxaudio) AND “humorous stories”
- Under the search line are the choices: “Search metadata” and “Search text contents“. Try both.
- In the search results, you can open some books to get ideas for other relevant search terms to try.
Librivox Children’s Public Domain Short Stories
Here are over 40 online audio books, each containing about 15 free audio short stories for children in the public domain, read in English by volunteers. Free audio short stories online for kids.
Librivox Short Mystery and Suspense Audio Short Stories Free
Online audio books, each containing a collection of short stories of mystery or suspense, read in English by volunteers.
Librivox Science Fiction Short Stories Collections in Audio
Over 100 online audio books, each containing a collection of short science fiction stories.
Librivox Audio Short Stories in English – Ghost and Horror Collections
Collected volumes of short ghost and horror stories, for listening. Scary stories, horror stories in the public domain. Fantasy short stories in English.
Multilingual Audio Stories Free – Poetry & Prose
Here are audio books that each contain a collection of short pieces, poetry or prose, fiction and non-fiction, in several different languages, read by various volunteers.
Christmas Audio Short Stories Free – Annual Volumes 2006-2021
Online audio books, each containing a collection of short Christmas pieces, including short stories, essays, poems, hymns, and scripture passages. They are in several languages, including English, and are read by volunteers. Stories about Christmas.
Search for Books on the Internet Archive
The Best American Humorous Short Stories
Audio Book
Jessup, Alexander, ed.
Audio short stories in public domain. Contents: The little Frenchman and his water lots, by G. P. Morris; The angel of the odd, by E. A. Poe; The schoolmaster’s progress, by C. M. S. Kirkland; The Watkinson evening, by E. Leslie; Titbottom’s spectacles, by G. W. Curtis; My double, and how he undid me, by E. E. Hale; The celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County, by Mark Twain; Elder Brown’s backslide, by H. S. Edwards; The Buller-Podington compact, by F. R: Stockton; The duplicity of Hargraves, by O.” Henry; Bargain day at Tutt House, by G: R. Chester; A call, by G. M. Cooke; How the widow won the deacon, by W. J. Lampton; Gideon, by W. Hastings.
Great Pirate Stories
Audio Book
French, Joseph Lewis, ed.
A companion volume to Great sea stories. This includes seventeen well-chosen stories of buccaneering and piracy, peopled with some of the most romantic figures that ever drew cutlass.
— Bacon, Corinne, compiler, Standard Catalog: Fiction Section (1923).
Miscellaneous Poe Audio Collection: Poems and Short Stories by Edgar Allen Poe
A collection of 19 public domain short horror stories by Edgar Allen Poe. Total time 2 hrs 26 min. Includes Annabel Lee, The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, and many others.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Return of Sherlock Holmes – Audio
Here are 2 online audio books, containing a total of 25 Sherlock Holmes short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They are read in English by volunteers.
Related Pages on Century Past
These Century Past Pages May Be of Interest
Reading Guides for Popular Fiction
Fantasy, Supernatural, and Horror Novels
Novels for Teens and Young Adults