The American High School Short Story Canon
Open any American high school literature anthology and the same names appear: Poe, Hawthorne, Irving, Twain, Bierce, Chopin, London, Crane, O. Henry. These are the stories on the reading lists, the quizzes and the essay prompts from ninth grade to AP Literature, and all of them are in the public domain.
Each guide gives the complete plot including the ending, the themes a teacher expects you to find, the key passages, and the one technique worth stealing for your own writing. Read them in the order below, which runs roughly by author and period, or jump to the one due tomorrow.
When you have read them, write your own and enter the short story contest for US writers.
- Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving (Washington Irving): Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving: full summary with the ending, the twenty-year sleep, characters, themes of change and identity, and the tale's craft.
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (Washington Irving): The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Irving: full summary with the ending, Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, the pumpkin, themes, and the tale's craft.
- The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving (Washington Irving): The Devil and Tom Walker by Irving: full summary with the ending, Old Scratch's bargain, the usurer carried off, themes of greed, and the story's craft.
- Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Nathaniel Hawthorne): Young Goodman Brown by Hawthorne: complete summary with the ending, Faith and the pink ribbons, the forest meeting, themes of doubt, and the craft of ambiguity.
- The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Nathaniel Hawthorne): The Minister's Black Veil by Hawthorne: full summary with the ending, Mr Hooper's veil explained, themes of secret sin, and the craft of the parable.
- Dr. Heidegger's Experiment by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Nathaniel Hawthorne): Dr. Heidegger's Experiment by Hawthorne: full summary with the ending, the water of youth, four foolish guests, themes, and the story's tidy moral craft.
- The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (Edgar Allan Poe): The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe: full summary with the ending, the vulture eye and beating heart, themes of guilt and madness, and the unreliable narrator.
- The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe (Edgar Allan Poe): The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe: full summary with the ending, Montresor's motive, the layers of irony, and the craft behind the confession.
- The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe (Edgar Allan Poe): The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: a complete summary with the ending, Roderick and Madeline, the themes of decay, and the story's craft.
- The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe (Edgar Allan Poe): The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, summarised with the ending: Prospero's abbey, the seven rooms, the ebony clock, and the symbols explained.
- The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe (Edgar Allan Poe): The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe, summarised with the ending: Pluto, the second cat, the walled-up wife, and the themes of guilt, drink and perverseness.
- The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe (Edgar Allan Poe): The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe: a full summary including the rescue ending, the pit, pendulum and closing walls as symbols, and Poe's craft.
- Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville (Herman Melville): Bartleby the Scrivener by Melville: full summary with the ending, I would prefer not to, characters, themes of refusal and walls, and the story's craft.
- The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain (Mark Twain): The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain: full summary and ending, Jim Smiley and the quail shot trick, themes, humour and frame craft.
- The Outcasts of Poker Flat by Bret Harte (Bret Harte): The Outcasts of Poker Flat summary and analysis: Bret Harte's 1869 tale of a gambler, two fallen women and a snowstorm, with themes, irony and the ending explained.
- An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce (Ambrose Bierce): An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce: full summary with the ending explained, Peyton Farquhar's escape, the time twist, themes and craft.
- Chickamauga by Ambrose Bierce (Ambrose Bierce): Chickamauga by Ambrose Bierce: full summary with the ending explained, the deaf child among the wounded, the burning home, themes of war and innocence.
- A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett (Sarah Orne Jewett): A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett: full summary with the ending, Sylvia and the hunter, themes of nature versus money, and the craft of the great pine climb.
- The Revolt of 'Mother' by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (Mary E. Wilkins Freeman): The Revolt of 'Mother' by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: full summary with the ending, Sarah Penn's barn move, themes of women's work and property, and its craft.
- The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Charlotte Perkins Gilman): The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: full summary with the ending explained, characters, themes of the rest cure and control, and its diary craft.
- The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin (Kate Chopin): The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin: full summary with the ending, Louise Mallard's hour of freedom, irony, themes, and the craft of the 1894 story.
- Désirée's Baby by Kate Chopin (Kate Chopin): Désirée's Baby by Kate Chopin: full summary with the ending explained, characters, themes of race and pride, and the craft behind its double twist.
- The Lady, or the Tiger? by Frank R. Stockton (Frank R. Stockton): The Lady, or the Tiger? by Frank R. Stockton: full summary and ending explained, the princess's choice, the semi-barbaric king, themes and craft analysis.
- The Open Boat by Stephen Crane (Stephen Crane): The Open Boat by Stephen Crane: full summary including the ending, the four men in the dinghy, themes of indifference and brotherhood, and Crane's craft.
- The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky by Stephen Crane (Stephen Crane): The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky by Stephen Crane, summarised with the ending: Jack Potter, Scratchy Wilson, the death of the Old West, themes and craft.
- To Build a Fire by Jack London (Jack London): To Build a Fire by Jack London, summarised in full: the ending, the man and the dog, naturalism and hubris as themes, and the craft behind the famous cold.
- The Law of Life by Jack London (Jack London): The Law of Life by Jack London: full summary including the ending, old Koskoosh and the wolves, themes of nature's law, and how London builds the story.
- The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry (O. Henry): The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry: full summary with the ending explained, Della and Jim's characters, themes of love and sacrifice, and the double irony.
- The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry (O. Henry): Summary and analysis of The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry: the full plot with the ending, characters, themes, comic irony and craft notes for writers.
- After Twenty Years by O. Henry (O. Henry): After Twenty Years by O. Henry: full summary with the twist ending explained, Bob and Jimmy's characters, themes of friendship, loyalty and duty, and the craft.
- A Retrieved Reformation by O. Henry (O. Henry): A Retrieved Reformation by O. Henry, explained: full summary with the ending, Jimmy Valentine and Ben Price, themes of redemption, irony and craft analysis.
- The Last Leaf by O. Henry (O. Henry): The Last Leaf by O. Henry: complete summary with the ending, Behrman's masterpiece explained, characters, themes of hope and sacrifice, and the story's craft.
- A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell (Susan Glaspell): A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell: full summary with the ending, the dead canary, characters, themes of justice and women's evidence, and its craft.
- Paul's Case by Willa Cather (Willa Cather): Paul's Case by Willa Cather: complete summary with the ending, characters, themes of beauty and money, and the craft behind its cold, clinical title.
- The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell (Richard Connell): The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell: complete summary with the ending, Rainsford and Zaroff explained, themes, irony, and the craft of its suspense.
- Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F. Scott Fitzgerald (F. Scott Fitzgerald): Bernice Bobs Her Hair summary and analysis: Fitzgerald's 1920 story of social coaching, betrayal and revenge, with themes, the haircut scene and ending explained.
- The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs (W. W. Jacobs, a British staple of the American anthology): The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs, summarised with the ending explained: the three wishes, the knock at the door, the characters, themes and craft.
- The Open Window by Saki (Saki, a British staple of the American anthology): The Open Window by Saki: full summary with the ending explained, Vera's invented tragedy, Framton Nuttel's flight, themes of deception and the craft of the twist.
- The Interlopers by Saki (Saki, a British staple of the American anthology): The Interlopers by Saki: complete summary with the famous one-word ending, the feud of Ulrich and Georg, themes of reconciliation and nature's indifference.
- The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant (Guy de Maupassant, in translation): The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant: full summary with the famous ending, Mathilde Loisel's character, themes of pride and appearance, and how the twist works.
- The Bet by Anton Chekhov (Anton Chekhov, in translation): The Bet by Anton Chekhov: full summary with the ending, the lawyer's renunciation of the two million, themes of money, life and knowledge, and craft notes.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working writers. Updated September 2026.
All classic short stories. Enter the short story contest and have your own story read and scored.