Other books that might interest you

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  The Sea Raiders

  H. G. Wells

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  H.G. Wells has widely been considered the "Father of Science-Fiction," having invented the alien invasion genre with The War of the Worlds; the time-travel adventure with The Time Machine; and created iconic mad scientists with The Invisible Man and The Island of Dr. Moreau. "The Sea Raiders" tells of an unusual occurrence in which a shoal of large, aggressive cephalopods, Haploteuthis ferox  (translating as "singularly fierce squid") enter English waters and begin attacking boats and people.

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  Top 10 Short Stories The - The...

  Charles W. Chesnutt

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  Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart.  A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. 
   
  In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?  
   
  The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme.  Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. 
   
  Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made.  If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. 
   
  Across the American continent African Americans have never achieved equal status.  Civil war, societal upheavals white ignorance have still left many at the bottom of the heap. For them the American dream is just that, a long way from real life.  Yet these authors are unafraid to spell out their lives for future generations, it is a powerful legacy.  Hope endures. 
   
  01 - The Top 10 - The African American Short Story - An Introduction 
  2 - The Scapegoat by Paul Laurence Dunbar 
  3 - The Grist in the Mill by Wallace Thurman 
  4 - The Stones of the Village by Alice Dunbar Nelson 
  5 - The Quadroons by Lydia Maria Child 
  6 - Two Offers by Frances W Harper 
  7 - The Wife of His Youth by Charles W Chesnutt 
  8 - The City of Refuge by Rudolph Fisher 
  9 - Talma by Pauline E Hopkins 
  10 - The Hoodoo by Martha Gruening 
  11 - The Black Vampyre by Uriah Derick D'Arcy

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  Female Short Story The - A...

  Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Amy...

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  A wise man once said ‘The safest place for a child is in the arms of his mother’s voice’.  This is a perfect place to start our anthology of female short stories. 
   
  Some of our earliest memories are of our mothers telling us bedtime stories. This is not to demote the value of fathers but more to promote the often-overshadowed talents of the gentler sex. 
   
  Perhaps ‘gentler’ is a word that we should re-evaluate. In the course of literary history it is men who dominated by opportunity and with their stranglehold on the resources, both financial and technological, who brought their words to a wider audience.  Men often placed women on a pedestal from where their talented words would not threaten their own.   
   
  In these stories we begin with the original disrupter and renegade author Aphra Behn.  A peek at her c.v. shows an astounding capacity and leaves us wondering at just how she did all that. 
   
  In those less modern days to be a woman, even ennobled, was to be seen as second class.  You literally were chattel and had almost no rights in marriage.  As Charlotte Smith famously said your role as wife was little more than ‘legal prostitute’.  From such a despicable place these authors have used their talents and ideas and helped redress that situation.   
   
  Slowly at first.  Privately printed, often anonymously or under the cloak of a male pseudonym their words spread.  Their stories admired and, usually, their role still obscured from rightful acknowledgement. 
   
  Aided by more advanced technology, the 1700’s began to see a steady stream of female writers until by the 1900’s mass market publishing saw short stories by female authors from all the strata of society being avidly read by everyone.  Their names are a rollcall of talent and ‘can do’ spirit and society is richer for their works.   
   
  In literature at least women are now acknowledged as equals, true behind the scenes little has changed but if (and to mis-quote Jane Austen) there is one universal truth, it is that ideas change society.  These women’s most certainly did and will continue to do so as they easily write across genres, from horror and ghost stories to tender tales of love and making your way in society’s often grueling rut.  They will not be silenced, their ideas and passion move emotions, thoughts and perhaps more importantly our ingrained view of what every individual human being is capable of.    
   
  It is because of their desire to speak out, their desire to add their talents to the bias around them that we perhaps live in more enlightened, almost equal, times.   
   
  Within these stories you will also find very occasional examples of historical prejudice.  A few words here and there which in today’s world some may find inappropriate or even offensive.  It is not our intention to make anyone uncomfortable but to show that the world in order to change must reconcile itself to the actual truth rather than put it out of sight.  Context is everything, both to understand and to illuminate the path forward.  The author’s words are set, our reaction to them encourages our change. 
   
  01 - The Female Short Story. A Chronological History - An Introduction - Volume 6 
  02 -A Rich Woman by Katharine Tynan 
  03 - An Expiation by Arabella Kenealy 
  04 - Her Murderer by Mary Cholmonderly 
  05 - The Moving Finger by Rose Champion de Crespigny 
  06 - Lucy Wren by Ada Radford 
  07 - A Lost Masterpiece by Mary Chavelita Dunne Bright writing as George Egerton 
  08 - Talma Gordon by Pauline E Hopkins 
  09 - The Yellow Wall Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman 
  10 - In the Séance Room by Lettice Galbraith 
  11 - The Perfect Tribute by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews 
  12 - The Christ of Toro by Gabriela Cunninghame Graham 
  13 - Aunt Lindy. A Sto

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  Under the 82nd Airborne - Stories

  Deborah Eisenberg

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  Seven knowing, witty stories from the widely praised author of Transactions in a Foreign Currency.

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  Street Tales

  Shannon Holmes, Wahida Clark

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  For some, the allure and power of the streets are elusive but yet, a wonder to behold. Some engage in this lifestyle of self-destructive criminal behavior, knowing one day it might cost them their family, freedom, or something even far more valuable . . . their lives. Four-Times New York Times Besting-Selling Author Wahida Clark is no stranger to the streets. She served nine-and-a-half years in federal prison. The Bronx's very own Shannon Holmes, author of the National Best-Seller B-More Careful, is no stranger to "Street Lit or the Streets." He served five years himself. Together, they handpicked a select group of authors, each with his or her style and unique flavor of urban literature. So, take a walk on the wild side with us through a hood near you, into sticky situations, where everything is not always what it seems. For the characters in this book, the money stakes are high, and lives are up for grabs. Respect is earned-and power is taken. In Street Tales, you'll read stories of survival and redemption, as well as tales of greed, lies, betrayal, and street justice. You will come face-to-face with life-altering choices and circumstances beyond your control. What would you do in the same situation? These are Street Tales. Around the clock, life and death stare you in the face. There are no second chances-the streets play for keeps. Many learn the hard way that the streets are undefeated. Authors of Street Tales: An Anthology: Shannon Holmes ,Wahida Clark, Victor L. Martin, Sa'id Salaam, Reds Johnson, Hood Chronicles, Joe Awsum, and Vance Phillips

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  The Empty House

  Algernon Blackwood

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  Algernon Blackwood was born on 14th March 1869 in Shooter’s Hill, South East London, to a religious middle-class family. His mother was a widowed Duchess and his father was a Post Office administrator.  
   
  Blackwood was interested in the paranormal and the supernatural at an early age, and had a thirst for anything on Buddhism, other Oriental philosophies, mysticism and occultism.  In his writings the weaving of the supernatural into his various works, from ghost stories and children’s stories to plays and long novels is clearly seen, his writings beautifully enriched by his long and diversified life experience.  
   
  After leaving university and visiting parts of Europe, mainly Switzerland, the young writer went to Canada and the United States where he took on jobs including work as a farmer, a bartender, a secretary, a journalist, a reporter, running a hotel and teaching the violin.  He was voracious in meeting new people and absorbing new ideas.  
   
  In his late thirties, he returned to England where he published two of his supernatural stories in Pall Mall Magazine. As more of his highly entertaining stories were published so did his reputation and his bank balance.  All those years of curiosity and experiences were starting to emerge from his writing. 
   
  In 1906, ‘The Empty House & Other Ghost Stories’ was published with tremendous success.  Further volumes of short stories followed and with it a larger audience and bigger paydays. He also published children’s stories. 
   
  Blackwood also had ideas for novels and to explore on a larger canvas the paranormal world and the relationship between man and metaphysical powers including, in 1911, ‘The Centaur’.  
   
  With the outbreak of the First World War, Blackwood was assigned to British intelligence to write propaganda to support the war effort. 
   
  He was a prolific author with a quite staggering output which was also to include many plays. The exact number of his works is unknown as he would frequently write a story for a newspaper or periodical at very short notice.  
   
  In 1949, Blackwood was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his literary talents and his services during the First World War.  
   
  Algernon Blackwood died on 10th December 1951 after a series of strokes.  
   
  The Empty House is one of his most famous ghost stories. A man accompanies his adventurous aunt to a notorious haunted house. As the two exploring its’ dark, empty rooms, it becomes apparent that the house has not forgotten the earlier tragedy.

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