The story shelf

Follow your curiosity.

A name you know. A mood you’re in. Ten minutes to yourself. Start anywhere.

2 stories · Selected from the catalog

Science fiction

Keep Your Shape

Robert Sheckley

Three shape-changing aliens land on Earth to open an invasion route, but the planet offers forms their rigid caste system forbids.

26 min · Adventurous

More details

Themes: Identity · Autonomy & control · Transformation
Settings: The countryside
Tone: Wry
Style: Plain · Conversational
Pace: Brisk
Written for: For adults
Craft: Allegorical
Motifs: Shapeshifters & werewolves

Folklore, myth & moral tales

The Badger

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

A moonlit song outside a village house becomes the first chapter in a legend about Japan’s shape-shifting badgers.

5 min · Dreamlike

More details

Themes: Superstition · Faith & doubt · Appearance vs reality
Settings: Villages & small towns · The countryside
Tone: Moralizing
Style: Ornate · Descriptive
Pace: Measured
Written for: For adults
Craft: Allegorical
Motifs: Shapeshifters & werewolves

2 stories