The Top 10 Short Stories - European Gothic: The ten best gothic short stories of all time by European authors

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.
In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?

The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.

Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.

In this volume our authors present tales of dark, macabre, and disturbing deeds. From the pens of Nikolai Gogol, Miguel de Cervantes, Mor Jokai, E T A Hoffman and many others come carefully crafted literary journeys designed to disrupt reality, jangle nerves and feed upon our souls.

1 - The Top 10 Short Stories - European Gothic -An Introduction

2 - The Signalman by Charles Dickens

3 - St Johns Eve by Nikolai Gogol

4 - The Force of Blood by Miguel de Cervantes

5 - Olalla - Part 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson

6 - Olalla - Part 2 by Robert Louis Stevenson

7 - The Ghost at the Wrath by Rosa Mulholland

8 - The Sand-Man - Part 1 by E T A Hoffman

9 - The Sand-Man - Part 2 by E T A Hoffman

10 - The Spectral Hand by Jean Lorrain

11 - The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth by Rhoda Broughton

12 - Green Tea - Part 1 by Sheridan Le Fanu

13 - Green Tea - Part 2 by Sheridan Le Fanu

14 - The Bundle of Letters by Moritz Jokai

15 - Wake Not the Dead - Part 1 by Ernst Raupach

16 - Wake Not the Dead - Part 2 by Ernst Raupach