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Arguably the founder of fantasy fiction, Lord Dunsany offers a perspective that renders the reader's familiar surroundings somehow exotic and amazing. See where he takes us in "A Tale of London."

Herman Melville's gimlet-eyed take on passes for charity among complacent donors.

Drawing on his time in Texas, O. Henry narrates "A Blackjack Bargainer," a tale of loss and redemption.

A bored young man's life is transformed by a mysterious woman in "Scarlet Stockings," a story by Louisa May Alcott.

A murder mystery and much more: "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell

An adolescent's memorable encounter with a brilliant fiction detective

Two short and intriguing stories: Kate Chopin, Dr. Chevalier's Lie, and Leo Tolstoy, The Three 'Questions

Two short stories, one classic, one contemporary, both about children

Two short ones by the Edwardian master Saki: The Lumber-Room and The She-Wolf

From his story volume The Happy Prince and Other Tales, Oscar Wilde's "The Model Millionaire"

Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey finds himself in the private center of a lethal criminal organization: "The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba."

Surviving on the fringes of glamorous show business: W. Somerset Maugham's "Gigolo and Gigolette"

A story by one of the inventors of science fiction: H. G. Wells, "The New Accelerator"

Introducing Lord Peter Wimsey, Dorothy L. Sayers's most famous creation

W. Somerset Maugham sets sail for points east with "Straight Flush" and "The End of the Flight."