An Alpine Idyll
Ernest HemingwayAfter the thaw, a peasant brings his wife’s body down from the mountains—and the villagers reveal the grotesque ritual he performed while waiting.
9 min · Chilling
The story shelf
Follow your curiosity.
A name you know. A mood you’re in. Ten minutes to yourself. Start anywhere.
The Killers
Ernest HemingwayTwo strangers take over a small-town lunchroom and wait for a former prizefighter who knows exactly why they have come.
13 min · Suspenseful
A Retrieved Reformation
O. HenryA celebrated safecracker tries to build an honest life under a new name, but his old skills are not finished with him.
13 min · Hopeful
After Twenty Years
O. HenryTwo old friends keep a twenty-year appointment, but the lives they built have carried them to opposite sides of the law.
6 min · Bittersweet
Hearts and Hands
O. HenryOn a train crossing the West, a chance reunion forces a young man to choose between truth and the image he once hoped to become.
4 min · Bittersweet
Holding Up a Train
O. HenryA former Southwestern outlaw explains how train robberies work—and why the life is not worth the price.
21 min · Suspenseful
The Clarion Call
O. HenryA detective recognizes an old friend as a murderer, but an unpaid debt makes arrest more complicated than duty should allow.
12 min · Suspenseful
The Hiding of Black Bill
O. HenryA talkative sheepherder takes a job on a lonely Texas ranch where a notorious train robber may be hiding nearby.
21 min · Suspenseful
The Roads We Take
O. HenryAfter a daring train robbery, two partners must decide who gets the only horse capable of carrying them away.
8 min · Suspenseful
9 stories