Completed Short Fiction

I’m gradually compiling this list, which is still fairly incomplete. Still, better than nothing.

Poul Anderson —

“Security”: A scientist assigned to a super-secret project finds himself in a brand new life. A very likeable story set in a very unlikeable world. 1 hr, 22 min.

“The Valor of Cappen Varra”: A wandering troubadour spending winter in the Northern lands gets a lot more adventure — and ladies — than he bargained for. 44 min.

Anonymous —

“Our Lady’s Tumbler: A Twelfth Century French Tale”: In this medieval romance, an illiterate acrobat and jongleur enters the Cistercian monastery of Clairvaux, but finds it difficult to contribute to the prayer and work of the house. After all, his one skill couldn’t possibly be of any use to God. Or could it? 35 min.

Anne Beale —

“A Welsh Halloween”: Excerpted chapter from Beale’s novel Traits and Stories of the Welsh Peasantry. 54 min.

Eando Binder —

“Shipwreck in the Sky”: In a story from the days when the edge of space was still near-future sf, an astronaut of the US Air Force finds himself getting a bit more into exploring space than he’d planned. 22 min.

J.F. Bone —

“Pandemic”: While a mysterious pandemic ravages the world of the future, an annoying pathologist and annoyed lab assistant race to find the cure. 51 min.

“A Question of Courage”: In the future, a naval officer finds himself assigned in wartime to an unhappy spaceship with a notorious captain — notoriously cautious, that is. 1 hr. 1 min.

Colin Cameron —

“El Tiro de Gracia”: A cowboy riding alone in Mexico unexpectedly finds himself facing a deadly choice. Should he give “el tiro de gracia” — the mercy shot? 30 min.

Anton Chekhov —

“Shrove Tuesday” (aka “On the Eve of the Fast”): A glimpse of a Russian family on the day before Lent begins. 13 min.

Joseph Conrad —

“The Brute”: The ship was a nasty brute, determined to kill someone every voyage. But he was determined not to let her. 41 min.

Charles Dickens and Charles Allston Collins —

“The Trial for Murder”: A murder trial is attended by a very interested spectator — the victim! 35 min.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle —

“The Ring of Thoth”: A mysterious man lurks among the mummies of the Louvre. What strange secret is held by the Ring of Thoth? 48 min.

Lord Dunsany —

“The Loot of Bombasharna”: Arrrr! ‘Tis a story of pirates wishing to retire and not get hanged! 11 min.

“The Hoard of the Gibbelins”: This 1912 fantasy short story tells of the quest of a valiant and shrewd knight to win the hoard of the Gibbelins. But it won’t be easy. “The Gibbelins eat, as is well known, nothing less good than man.” 11 min.

“The Sword of Welleran”: An undefended city. Citizens who have forgotten war. Enemies on the march. And seven dead heroes of old. 39 min.

R. Austin Freeman —

“The Blue Sequin”: Meet Dr. Thorndyke, the Victorian forensics expert! When a woman’s killed on a train, the last man seen speaking to her is accused of murder. 38 min.

“A Message from the Deep Sea”: For once, Thorndyke gets to a crime scene before the police. It’s his forensics dream — and a criminal’s nightmare. 1 hr, 6 min.

Jacques Futrelle —

“The Prisoner of Cell 13”: Is Mind really the master of all things? Even a modern correctional institution? A bet leads to a duel of wits between prison warden and professor! 1 hr, 19 min.

“The Superfluous Finger”: Professor Van Dusen returns as a surgeon asks him, “Why would a beautiful woman want to cut off her perfectly healthy finger?” 45 min.

Randall Garrett —

“Despoilers of the Golden Empire”: A seasoned military commander travels to another world to find a metal of great power, and ends up bringing down a barbaric empire. 2 hrs, 5 min.

“Hail to the Chief”: In a future election, a presidential candidate confronts one of the hard truths of politics: sometimes the best person for the job isn’t the easiest one to elect. 1 hr, 44 min.

George Griffith —

“500 Carats”: Nobody could have stolen the huge diamond. But somebody did. 39 min.

Edward Everett Hale —

“The Man without a Country”: The classic story of a man who learns to love his country when it is taken away from him. 1 hr, 17 min.

“My Double and How He Undid Me”: Famous people have doubles to spare them danger. Wouldn’t a normal person find one useful, too? Until something went wrong, anyway…. 48 min.

Dashiell Hammett —

“Arson Plus”: The Continental Op investigates a rural case of arson and insurance fraud. 44 min.

Alice B. Haven —

“An Armistice”: Two men, a woman, a bad cold, a love story, and an 1859 Thanksgiving. 31 min.

Clemence Housman —

“The Were-Wolf”: In the depths of a medieval winter, a Norse household is torn apart by uncanny events. 2 hrs., 5 min.

William Dean Howells —

“Christmas Every Day”: A little girl wishes for it to be Christmas every day — and gets her wish — in this 1892 story. Much imitated and adapted! 13 min.

Keith Laumer —

“The Yillian Way”: Junior Terran diplomat Jame Retief visits a government whose members seem determined to insult their delegation. This’ll take some sharp thinking…. 43 min.

Fritz Leiber —

“The Creature from Cleveland Depths”: A crazy idea for a fad device goes wrong. Very wrong. 2 hrs, 14 min.

Murray Leinster —

“The Street of Magnificent Dreams”: Couples walk together dreaming magnificent dreams, passing others who are older but have not yet achieved the stuff their dreams were once made of. But what is the worth of a man who makes others’ dreams come true — even at the cost of his own? 31 min.

“Tanks”: In a January 1930 story, Leinster depicts a horrific near future with tanks run wild. But no matter how powerful the mechanized cavalry, they still need the regular infantry…. 1 hr. 18 min.

“Morale”: In a December 1931 story set in the same world as “Tanks” but ten years after, the most powerful weapon is the one that attacks civilian morale.
1 hr. 12 min.

William J. Locke —

“A Christmas Mystery: The Story of Three Wise Men”: Three very different men take a train through the English countryside, and find more than they ever expected. 34 min.

C.L. Moore —

“Song in a Minor Key”: Even a two-fisted action hero like Northwest Smith has quiet moments. 7 min.

Christopher Morley —

“The Curious Case of Kenelm Digby”: When a literary agent’s clients start dying, he must act as a detective and stop the killer. 1 hr.

Kathleen Thompson Norris —

“What Happened to Alanna”: When a little girl gets put in charge of a raffle at a parish festival, she finds herself beset by moral dilemmas. 32 min.

Fitz-James O’Brien —

“An Arabian Nightmare”: An Arab merchant stays over in Russia for the winter. Oops. 18 min.

“Captain Alicant”: A lonely old man and a cute Skye terrier. 21 min.

“The Diamond Lens”: A crazy student with a dream of the perfect microscope, upstate New York spiritualism, and a strange classic of early science fiction and fantasy. 1 hr, 5 min.

“The Dragon-Fang Possessed by the Conjuror Piou-Lu”: A magician in ancient China has a dragon fang and a plan. 48 min.

“The Golden Ingot”: The sad tale of an alchemist’s obsession and a daughter’s devotion. 38 min.

“How I Lost My Gravity”: A humorous tale of speculative steampunk physics. 18 min.

“Jubal the Ringer”: A dreamlike horror story, and a little wedding at St. Phantasmos Church. 15 min.

“The Man Without a Shadow: A New Version”: A humorous tale of a strange critter one might meet any day. 4 min.

“The Pot of Tulips”: Lost treasure! A wronged heiress! Fearless investigators! Communication from beyond the grave! 48 min.

“Three of a Trade”: Two street children wait for Kris Kringle in antebellum New York. Sad. 15 min.

“A Terrible Night”: Two young men traveling through the wilderness of upstate New York face nightmarish danger. 18 min.

“What Was It? A Mystery”: Fantasy, science fiction, and horror blend in this influential story of weirdness in a New York apartment building. Stand-alone sequel to “The Pot of Tulips”. 33 min.

“The Wondersmith”, Part 1 and Part 2: A creepy Christmas thriller on the demonically mean streets of New York. 1 hr, 32 min.

William Douglas O’Connor —

“The Brazen Android”: History, science fiction, and fantasy meet in this tale of Friar Roger Bacon, English politics, and the legendary Brazen Head. (Not particularly pro-Catholic, alas, but famous as an early sf story by a literary guy.) 3 hrs, 30 min.

Elia Peattie —

“Two Pioneers”: Based on actual events, this is the story of how a town was saved by Father DeSmet, Catholic missionary, and Mademoiselle Ninon, one of the black sheep of his flock.

Melville Davisson Post —

“The Reward”: I found a drunken hobo at Atlantic City who was the best detective I ever saw. 36 min.

Rick Raphael —

“Code Three”: If people could drive the highways at a routine 200 mph, what would the highway patrol be like? Hugo Award nominee. 2 hrs, 27 min.

Arthur B. Reeves —

Craig Kennedy stories from the collection The Silent Bullet: In the early 1900’s, the science detective Craig Kennedy was famous and influential. Backed by research into crime and then-cutting edge technology by the author, these stories are still fascinating.

Constance Dunlap: Collection of stories about a woman on the wrong side of the law who tries to help others caught there.

Mack Reynolds —

“Medal of Honor”: A hero who holds the Galactic Medal of Honor can do no wrong. But what if they award it to a man who’s no hero? 1 hr. 27 min.

Saki —

“Sredni Vashtar”: A young boy with a terrible life finds rescue in a disturbing way. 12 min.

Harriet Prescott Spofford —

“In a Cellar”: A diplomat goes detecting for diamonds. 56 min.

Henry Van Dyke —

“The First Christmas Tree”: Historical fiction about early medieval Germany and the world’s first Christmas tree. By the author of “The Story of the Other Wise Man”. 55 min.

Harl Vincent (Harold Vincent Schoepflin) —

“Old Crompton’s Secret”: The dark side of science and a lonely man’s dreams collide in a small American town. 1 hr.

Carolyn Wells —

“The Adventure of the Mona Lisa”: In the Society of Infallible Detectives, Sherlock Holmes and a band of his most infallible deductive friends solve mysteries. Infallibly, of course.

Donald A. Westlake —

“The Risk Profession”: Insurance investigation in the future can take you all the way out to the asteroids and into trouble. 1 hr, 13 min.

Advertisement