Showing results by author "O Henry" in All Categories

Rats and mice, and beetles and creaky doors, and loose slates, and broken panes, and stiff drawer handles, that stay out when you pull them and then fall down in the middle of the night...Rats is bogeys, I tell you, and bogeys is rats, and don't you get to think anything else! Ghosts, vampires, werewolves and even rats, all make an appearance in this collection of frighteningly good classic stories from Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling and more!

A vintage collection of some of the greatest short stories ever written: "The Purloined Letter", by Edgar Allan Poe; "The Nose", by Nikolai Gogol; "The Story of an Hour", by Kate Chopin; "The Gift of the Magi", by O. Henry; "The Apparition of Mrs. Veal", by Daniel Defoe; "The Lifted Veil", by George Eliot; "Life of Ma Parker", by Katherine Mansfield; "The Baron", by Katherine Mansfield; "The Cask of Amontillado", by Edgar Allan Poe; "The Seventh Pullet", by Saki; and more.

A well-known story of holiday generosity and true love, The Gift of the Magi has long been a Christmas classic. Husband and wife Jim and Della want to give each other beautiful gifts for the holiday, but they have very little money. On Christmas Eve, each of them makes a bold sacrifice to give the other something truly special. First published in 1905 in The New York Sunday World, O. Henry’s tale is just as relevant and touching now as ever.

In The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry weaves a touching tale of love and sacrifice between a young couple, Jim and Della, who struggle to make ends meet in their modest one-room apartment. As Christmas approaches, each is determined to buy a special gift for the other, leading to a series of ironic twists that reveal the profound truth about love and material possessions. O. Henry beautifully illustrates how their selfless acts of devotion transcend the value of any physical item, ultimately drawing a parallel between their love and the legendary Magi. This timeless story showcases O. Henrys knack...

O. Henry’s The Ransom of Red Chief is a hilarious short story about a kidnapping gone terribly wrong. When two con men kidnap a rambunctious young boy, they quickly realize they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. The boy, who calls himself "Red Chief," turns the tables on his captors with his wild imagination and mischievous antics, making their scheme more of a nightmare than a payday.

A classic Christmas story with a special moral, Della Dillingham Young has very little money to buy her husband a present. She sells her beautiful brown hair; a treasure to the couple, to buy her husband a gift. But when he returns home with her gift, she's in for a very heartfelt surprise.

In O. Henry's classic story about Christmas and the holiday spirit, a young married couple deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money...

Included: The Gift of the Magi (O. Henry) The Fir Tree (Hans Christian Andersen) The Little Match Girl (Hans Christian Andersen) The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Hans Christian Andersen) The Holy Night (Selma Lagerlöf) Little Gretchen and the Wooden Shoe (Elizabeth Harrison) A Letter from Santa Claus (Mark Twain) Mary Returns The Doll The Tale of Peter Rabbit (Beatrix Potter) Toinette and the Elves (Susan Coolidge) The Mistletoe Bough (Anthony Trollope) Not if I Know It (Anthony Trollope) The Two Generals (Anthony Trollope) Christmas Every Day (William Dean Howells) and more

Trying to make some fast cash, two small-time crooks devise a plan to kidnap the son of a wealthy family in a village and hold him for ransom. When the kidnapped boy pulls out his Hong Hou (“Red Monkey”) costume, the two burglars realize they may be in for more than they planned. As their ransom notes remain unanswered and their scheme starts to drag on, the two crooks find out for themselves how a child's imagination can spell disaster for two inexperienced criminal minds.

Petty criminals Bill and Sam decide to kidnap 10-year-old Johnny for ransom money from his wealthy father. The plan turns on its head, however, when Johnny “Red Chief” Dorset decides he likes his captors better than his father.

Fifty of the world's greatest classic short stories: 1.The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant 2.The One Million Pound Banknote by Mark Twain 3.The Phantom Rickshaw by Rudyard Kipling 4.The Fly by Katherine Mansfield 5.The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe 6.My Favorite Murder by Ambrose Bierce 7.The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe 8.One Thousand Dollars by O. Henry 9.Regret by Kate Chopin 10.The Nose by Nikolai Gogol 11.The Mezzotint by M. R. James 12.The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

A poor young couple demonstrates the meaning of love and self-sacrifice in the Christmas Classic, "The Gift of the Magi". Also included is "The Last Leaf". This tale follows a young woman artist who is stricken with pneumonia. She watches the leafy vine opposite her window with hollow eyes, and she determines to stay alive until the last leaf falls. O. Henry, always a master with the surprise ending, delivers two fine tales of his beloved New York City.

Step into the world of O. Henry, the master of surprise endings, in this captivating collection of short stories. Originally published in 1906, Four Million features twenty-five tales of varying lengths, including some of his most beloved works like The Gift of the Magi and The Cop and the Anthem. The title reflects the vibrant population of New York City, the backdrop for many of these stories. While some elite society members believed only Four Hundred individuals were worthy of attention, O. Henry celebrated the idea that every person in New York had their unique story to tell. This ...

O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings. Includes: "By Courier", "Jimmie Hayes and Muriel", "School and Schools", "Roads of Destiny", "A Blackjack Bargainer"," A Cosmopolite in a Café", "Christmas by Injunction", "Mammon and the Archer", "A Bird of Bagdad", "After 20 Years", "From The Cabby’s Seat", "Lost on Dress Parade", "Memoirs of a Yellow Dog", "Tobin’s Palm", "Transients in Arcadia", "The Trimmed Lamp", and more.

A compilation of popular short stories from American literature narrated by professional voice actor Jake Phillips.

Catch the holiday spirit with this magical collection of beloved Christmas tales. Christmas favorites from L.M. Montgomery, O. Henry, Willa Cather, Hans Christian Anderson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Bret Harte and Anthony Trollope are lovingly recorded and presented here in one enchanting volume.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. A new century dawns, one in which America would become pre-eminent as its industrial might and military power rose above all others. In literature too its authors tackled new forms and new ideas, they shied away from little, immersing themselves and their readers in the promise of a new Century.

Four favorite tales from the pen of American short-story writer O. Henry that burst with his humor, pathos, and endearing observations on children, the poor, and dogs! In this collection: “The Ransom of Red Chief” (two kidnappers hatch a plot and get more than they bargain for!), “Memoirs of a Yellow Dog” (a put-upon pup and his master yearn for a better life), “The Cop and the Anthem” (all poor Soapy wanted was a warm bed for the winter), and “The Gift of the Magi” (the classic Christmas tale of love and giving from the heart).

The Four Million was written in 1906 when roughly four million people lived in New York City. It opens with a reference to Ward McAllister's "assertion that there were only "400" people in New York City who were really worth noticing.

One of the most oft-used themes for an author to explore is that of themselves and how they see authors in stories coping with everything around them.