This superb collection of 20 stories gathers the work of such legends as Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, Shirley Jackson, Jean Paul Sartre, Franz Kafka, William Faulkner, James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, Anton Chekhov, and more. I’d read about half of these stories in years past and was delighted to find just how much detail remained with me. My favorites included

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe – A deranged killer, sickened by an elderly man’s bulging eye, murders the man in the middle of the night and buries the body under the floorboards. He considers it a perfect crime, even when the police arrive, until he hears a ringing in his ears, which turns into a ticking, then a heartbeat…

“The Jewels” by Guy de Maupassant – A young clerk becomes annoyed at his wife’s penchant for collecting costume jewelry. When she passes away, he eventually takes to them to a jeweler for an appraisal…

“A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway – A lonely man refuses to leave the outdoor cafe he frequents—to the chagrin of one young exhausted waiter, but his coworker understands that there are those, desolate and unloved, who need a clean, well-lit place…

“The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence – A young boy flawlessly predicts the winners of horse races by rocking on his hobby horse, but each time he must exert more effort until…

“The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Stephen Vincent Benét – A hapless farmer strikes a deal with the devil, but when it comes time to pay up, he reaches out to legendary farmer, lawyer, and patriot Daniel Webster to save his soul.

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner – An reclusive elderly woman, once popular in the town and a source of gossip, passes away, leaving behind a grisly revelation.

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson – A small town, steeped in tradition, holds an annual lottery, but the winner is far from lucky.

“The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka – A young traveling salesman awakens one morning to find himself transformed into a giant cockroach.

“The Ledge” by Lawrence Sargent Hall – A fisherman and two boys venture out to a small island for Christmas morning for a day of duck hunting—until they find themselves stranded as high tide rushes in.