Short Stories
-
Circles of Stone: Weird Tales of Pagan Sites and Ancient Rites: 44 (British Library Tales of the Weird)
In the wood the grey stone rose from the grass, and she cried out and ran back in panicked terror. ‘What a silly little girl,’ the nurse had said. ‘It’s only the… stone.’Standing stones, stone circles, tumps, barrows and ancient clearings still remain across the British Isles, and though their specific significance may be obscured by the passing of time, their strange allure and mysterious energy persist in our collective consciousness.
Assembled here in tribute to these relics of a lost age are accounts of terrifying spirits haunting Stonehenge itself, stories of awful fates for those who impose modernity on the sacred sites and grim tales in which unwitting trespassers into the eternal rites of pagan worship find themselves part of an enduring legacy of blood. To represent the breadth of the sub-genre, authors include Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood and Rosalie Muspratt alongside lesser-known writers from the periodicals and journals of the British Library collections.
Read more
£8.70£9.50 -
Midnight Surrender To The Spaniard / Her Diamond Deal With The Ceo: Midnight Surrender to the Spaniard (Heirs to the Romero Empire) / Her Diamond Deal with the CEO
Cinderella unravelled by the billionaire
For dedicated single mother Anna, attending her friend’s Spanish wedding is a huge milestone. But as the clock strikes midnight she surrenders to her chemistry with super-rich best man Sebastián. He can only offer one pleasure-filled night…but will Anna want more?
The CEO’s terms? Marriage!
When lifeguard Ondine rescues Jack Walcott from drowning, she almost regrets it. The billionaire is as rude and entitled as he is gorgeous, so Ondine doesn’t expect any thanks. And certainly not his convenient marriage proposal!
Read more
£7.60£12.30 -
Other Minds and Other Stories
* An ABA “December 2023 Indie Next List” pick.
From the award-winning author of A Questionable Shape and White Dialogues, a brilliant, anxious, and hilarious new collection.
A man lends his phone to a stranger in the mall, setting off an uncanny series of Unknown calls that come to haunt his relationship with jealousy and dread. A well-meaning locavore tries to butcher his backyard chickens humanely, only to find himself absorbed into the absurd violence of the pecking order. A student applying for a philosophy fellowship struggles to project himself into the thoughts of his hypothetical judges, becoming increasingly possessed and overpowered by the problem of other minds. And in “The Postcard,” a private detective is hired to investigate a posthumous message that a widower has seemingly received from his dead wife, leading him into a foggy landscape of lost memories, shifting identities, and strange doublings.
Cerebral and eerie, captivating and profound, these twelve stories expertly guide us through the paranoia and obsession of everyday horrors, not least the horrors of overthinking what other people might be thinking. With all of Sims’s trademark virtuosity, innovation, and wit, Other Minds and Other Stories continues to expand the possibilities of contemporary fiction.Additional reading:
For Electric Literature, Other Minds and Other Stories author Bennett Sims recommends “10 Books About Nonhuman Consciousness”Read an excerpt:
BOMB Magazine hosts an excerpt of the short story “Medusa” from Bennett Sims’ Other Minds and Other Stories: “MEDUSA” by BENNETT SIMS
Literary Hub hosts an excerpt of the short story “Other Minds” from Bennett Sims’ Other Minds and Other Stories: “OTHER MINDS” by BENNETT SIMS
Menagerie Magazine hosts an excerpt of the short story “The New Violence” from Bennett Sims’ Other Minds and Other Stories: “THE NEW VIOLENCE” by BENNETT SIMS
Ploughshares hosts an excerpt of the short story “Pecking Order” from Bennett Sims’ Other Minds and Other Stories: “PECKING ORDER” by BENNETT SIMSRead more
£14.40 -
Pet Rapport: Illustrated Humorous and True Tales of Pet Characters
Pets as part of the family, their inclusion in everyday life and their mishaps or adventures are reflected in these stories. Each story is accompanied by an illustration that is personally drawn by the author from a photo received from the owner and reflects their unique character and personality. Some true and real-life examples include: A cat which was inadvertently included in a parcel (but survived), a dog that was stolen from outside a shop but was restored to her owner and a rescue dog who found a wonderful home. These are all true, but there are also four fictitious and humorous examples ‘hidden’ amongst the others, which the author invites readers to discover. Adults will find these stories heartwarming and children will like the ‘happy endings’ and trying to spot which stories are ‘made up.’ A book with stories that appeal to the heart and illustrations that appeal to the eye, whatever your age and whether or not you have pets of your own.Read more
£14.20 -
Relatos – Yuki – El lado equivocado: Language Gym: Spanish Sentence Builder – Readers
Yuki, a spirited but innocent Japanese student, arrives in rural Spain excited to immerse herself in the Spanish way of life. She is quickly bewitched by the passion and excitement of the local culture but soon learns that beneath the colourful Iberian flair, there are secrets that threaten to tear apart this charming community. Befriending a group of local gitanos, she is immediately swept up in their youthful exuberance but later learns that not everyone shares her enthusiasm for these youngsters and that passion can, at times, boil over into hostility.Can Yuki uncover the secrets that divide the town? Will her efforts to bring the residents together bring peace or bloodshed?
El Lado Equivocado is a story about the excitement of experiencing a foreign culture, about broken relationships and social exclusion, and about the incredible healing power of music.
Written for, and with input from, GCSE students, El Lado Equivocado, is the ideal accompaniment to the GCSE course.
Yuki, a spirited but innocent Japanese student, arrives in rural Spain excited to immerse herself in the Spanish way of life. She is quickly bewitched by the passion and excitement of the local culture, but soon learns that beneath the colourful iberian flair, there are secrets that threaten to tear apart this charming community. Befriending a group of local gitanos, she is immediately swept up in their youthful exuberance, but later learns that not everyone shares her enthusiasm for these youngsters and that passion can, at times, boil over into hostility.Can Yuki uncover the secrets that divide the town? Will her efforts to bring the residents together bring peace or bloodshed?
El Lado Equivocado is a story about the excitement of experiencing a foreign culture, about broken relationships and social exclusion, and about the incredible healing power of music.
Written for, and with input from, GCSE students, El Lado Equivocado, is the ideal accompaniment to the GCSE course.
Read more
£8.10 -
Stories of the Prophets
Stories of the Prophets
Compiled by Imam Imaduddin Abul-Fida Ismail Ibn Kathir
Translation by Rashad Ahmad AzamiIn this book, the stories of the prophets have been compiled from ‘Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah’ (The Beginning and the End) which is a great work of the famous Muslim exegete and historian Ibn Kathir and has a prominent place in the Islamic literature. The stories of the prophets and all the events in their lives have been supported by the Qur’anic Verses and the Sunnah (traditions) of the Prophet (S). Wherever it was necessary, other sources have also been reported for the sake of historical accounts, but on such places a comparative study has been made to prove the authenticity of the sources. Ibn Kathir has reproduced the views and interpretations of all the great exegetes of the Qur’an of his time. The systemic narratives of the Stories of the Prophets have been written in chronological order which renders a historical style to the book.
Allah the Most Exalted says in the Qur’an:
“We are relating unto you the most beautiful of stories in that what We have revealed to you from the Qur’an, though before it you were from among those who were not aware of them.” (12:3)
“We have indeed sent aforetime Messengers before you, of them there are some whose stories We have related to you, and whose stories We have not related to you…” (40:78)
“We relate to you the important news of their story in truth…” (18:13)
“And all that We relate to you of these stories of the Messengers, We strengthen with them your heart. Through them there come to you the truth as well as admonition and reminder to all those who believe.” (11:120)
“There is, indeed, in their stories lessons for people endowed with understanding. It is not any invented tale, but a confirmation of what went before it, and a detailed exposition of all things, and a guide and a mercy to the people who believe.” (12:111)
“…so relate the stories, perhaps they may reflect.” (7:176)Read more
£17.00Stories of the Prophets
£17.00 -
The Shrieking Skull and other Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories
Thirteen rare tales by the most prolific Victorian Christmas ghost story author, collected and republished for the first time!
Move over, Charles Dickens! The author of “A Christmas Carol” may be the most famous Victorian author of Christmas ghost stories, but the king of the genre was James Skipp Borlase (1839-1909), who published dozens of them in obscure British and Australian periodicals during a nearly fifty-year span. Now for the first time, thirteen of Borlase’s best tales have been unearthed from newspaper archives and compiled in a single volume for modern readers.
In “A Weird Wooing” (1898) an impecunious suitor braves a house haunted by the ghosts of plague victims in search of a legendary treasure. “The Steel-Bound Valise” (1875) tells of a horrid murder and a spectral vision that reveals the truth behind the awful deed. In “A Bride from the Dead” (1899), a man races against time on horseback to save his beloved from a forced marriage-but arrives too late to prevent an even more horrible and macabre fate. This volume showcases Borlase’s wide range, featuring macabre and bone-chilling stories alongside more lighthearted pieces, all of them just as entertaining to read on a winter’s night as they were more than a century ago.
Read more
£14.00
