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Readers will recognize their favorite horror stories in the collection «The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings.» Edgar Allen Poe was a master of suspense, horror, and mystery, and his stories, while truly terrifying, are also delightfully entertaining. In «The Tell-Tale Heart,» the narrator has just killed a man and buried him under his floor. As he sits right above the body, he begins to hear the dead man's heart thumping loudly in his ears. Guilt and paranoia flood the narrator, and the audience experiences the narrator's plunge into madness as his fears begin to manifest. Many of Poe's other popular works are included in the anthology, such as «The Fall of the House of Usher» and «The Cask of Amontillado.» Murder is a theme in both the works, though Poe executes his characters in decidedly different ways. Still, madness, anger, and retribution all make their way into the majority of Poe's works. Also in the collection are select poems such as «Lenore» and «The Raven.» Both stories tell tales of death and lost love about two different women named Lenore; Poe's poems mourn these characters, making his words even more poetic and poignant. He speaks through his verses to convey his devastated feelings of despair. For these and all the included works, «The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings» is a must-have for every horror or suspense fan.

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Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a master of the short story. The son of a former serf in southern Russia, he attended Moscow University to study medicine, writing short stories for periodicals in order to support his family. What began as a necessity became a legitimate career in 1886 when he was asked to write in St. Petersburg for the Novoye Vremya (New Times), owned by millionaire magnate Alexey Suvorin. Chekhov began paying more attention to his writing, revising and developing his own principles and conceptions of truth, for a time coming under the influence of Leo Tolstoy. As a result of his widespread popularity, Chekhov amassed a vast collection of short stories displaying an early use of stream-of-consciousness writing, as well as his powerful ideas concerning the individual, the tedium of life, and the beauty nature and humanity. This edition contains «The Darling», «Ariadne», «Polinka», «Anyuta», «The Two Volodyas», «The Trousseau», «The Helpmate», «Talent», «An Artist's Story», and «Three Years».

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Early American writer Herman Melville is best known for his great American novel «Moby Dick.» However, Melville was also a prolific and honest short story writer. His stories play with irony, twisting the fates of his protagonists and making sure that the reader is left with a deep sense of wonder and enlightenment. Many of his works are set from an «outsider's» perspective of immigrants in early America, which is interesting considering that Melville was an American. Yet in the 1800's, many Americans were still struggling to find their identities. Some were recent immigrants, and others were trying to catch up with the changing times and moralities. America was becoming more obsessed with wealth and status, leaving very little room for those that were not able to make it to the top. Innocence was lost in America, and Melville wanted to give those lost souls a voice with his works. With stories like «Bartleby: The Scrivener, A Story of Wall-Street» and «Billy Budd, Foretopman,» Melville gave the stereotypical impersonal American a relatable face for his audience. He did not receive much praise during his own time. However, now Melville is praised as an early American philosopher of theoretical and political subjects due to the 20th century «Melville Revival.» His mix of styles may seem difficult, but his mastery speaks to the genius that is Melville.

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"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, and Other Stories" is the collection of Washington Irving's stories originally published as «The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.» This collection of Washington Irving's stories are some of his most loved and includes the following: The Author's Account of Himself, The Voyage, Roscoe, The Wife, Rip Van Winkle, English Writers on America, Rural Life in England, The Broken Heart, The Art of Book-making, A Royal Poet, The Country Church, The Widow and her Son, A Sunday in London, The Boar's Head Tavern, The Mutability of Literature, Rural Funerals, The Inn Kitchen, The Spectre Bridegroom, Westminster Abbey, Christmas, The Stage-Coach, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, The Christmas Dinner, London Antiques, Little Britain, Stratford-on-Avon, Traits of Indian Character, Philip of Pokanoket, John Bull, The Pride of the Village, The Angler, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and L'Envoy

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In this early collection of eight short stories by Virginia Woolf conventional notions of plot and character are abandoned for a stream of consciousness, almost dream-like and experimental form of prose. Readers while find the relative brevity of this volume, and the stories within it, helpful in overcoming any unfamiliarity with this style of writing. «Monday or Tuesday: Eight Stories» was first published in 1921 and includes the following stories: «A Haunted House,» «A Society,» «Monday or Tuesday», «An Unwritten Novel,» «The String Quartet,» «Blue & Green,» «Kew Gardens,» and «The Mark on the Wall».

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"The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" is a collection of twelve detective stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous literary creation, Sherlock Holmes. Contained within this collection are the following tales: A Scandal in Bohemia, The Red-headed League, A Case of Identity, The Boscombe Valley Mystery, The Five Orange Pips, The Man with the Twisted Lip, The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb, The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor, The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, and The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.

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Honore de Balzac is widely considered as one of the most influential writers in the history of French literature. His multi-volume collection of interlinked novels and short stories entitled «The Human Comedy» is his magnum opus. It is an examination of the human experience depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and the July Monarchy. Thirteen of the short stories of Balzac's masterpiece makeup this collection. They include the following tales: «El Verdugo», «Domestic Peace», «Study of a Woman», "Another Study of Woman, «An Episode Under the Terror», «The Conscript», «The Red Inn», «The Purse», «La Grande Bretêche», «A Seaside Tragedy», «The Atheist's Mass», «Facino Cane», and «Pierre Grassou».

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Henry James (1843-1916) was an America-born English writer whose novels, short stories and letters established the foundation of the modernist movement in twentieth century fiction and poetry. His career, one of the most significant and influential in English literature, spanned over five decades and resulted in a body of work that has had a profound impact on generations of writers. Born in New York, but educated in France, Germany, England and Switzerland, James often explored the cultural discord between the Old World (Europe) and the New World (United States) in his writings. Included in this fourth volume of «The Complete Tales of Henry James» are the stories published between 1876 and 1882, at the beginning of James' rise to popularity: «Crawford's Consistency,» «The Ghostly Rental,» «Four Meetings,» «Rose-Agathe,» the popular «Daisy Miller: A Study,» «Longstaff's Marriage,» «An International Episode,» «The Pension Beaurepas,» «The Diary of a Man of Fifty,» «A Bundle of Letters,» and «The Point of View.»

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There is no greater detective in fictitious London than Sherlock Holmes. Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 1880's, the nimble-minded detective was known for his logical reasoning and early forensic science skills to solve England's most gruesome crimes. Along with his trusted sidekick Dr. John H. Watson, Holmes proves his ability as a gumshoe and a master of disguise. Stories like «The Adventure of the Speckled Band» require inventive and creative measures for Doyle's intelligent detective to solve a murder. The crime took place in a locked room with no way in or out, and it is only when Holmes locks himself in the room that he able to solve the mystery and reveal the true killer. In another story, Holmes is outsmarted by a woman in «A Scandal in Bohemia,» though he looks upon the case with fond memories because he was dazzled by the woman and her wit and charms. The stories do not all focus on mere intelligence, though. Holmes faces a great deal of action, fighting, and gun play in his line of work. He was also one of the first fictitious characters to use forensic evidence to help solve crimes. Most of the forensic sciences had not been developed at the time of Doyle's writing; thus, Sherlock Holmes' stories actually helped create and shape forensics. This collection, «The Sherlock Holmes Mysteries», is a wonderful addition to any book collection, and it is an exciting read for audiences of all ages.

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Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer who lived at the turn of the 20th century. His works explored a number of subjects such as philosophy, poetry, journalism, lectures, criticism, and theatrical plays. However, his best-known stories feature the character of an English priest and detective named Father Brown. While the character was based on a real priest who was involved in Chesterton's own conversion of faith, the adventures and mysteries that Father Brown solves are purely fictional. Included in the collection «Father Brown: Essential Tales» are «The Blue Cross,» «The Invisible Man,» «The Strange Crime of John Boulnois,» and twelve other thrilling stories. What is interesting about Father Brown is that he does not rely on deductive reasoning like other famous detectives, namely Sherlock Holmes. Instead, Father Brown relies on intuition. He puts himself into the mind of the perpetrator and figures out the criminal's steps along the way. Part of what makes him a great detective is that Father Brown is never shocked by the atrocities that he sees. As a priest, he says that he has already heard about all the awful things people do and think; nothing surprises him anymore. He also refuses to believe in any supernatural explanations and instead focuses on a case's reasonable explanation. Anyone wanting a fun and entertaining read with a great character to lead the way should add «Father Brown: Essential Tales» to their reading list.

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