Deep dive into this 'Classic Werewolf Collection' from the very best fantasy, adventure, and literary fiction writers.From the creator of 'The Three Musketeers', Alexandre Dumas, to Frank Powell, author of the first pioneering science-fiction novel about lost worlds and the mastermind of the short story himself, Guy de Maupassant, this unmissable collection paints a dark and dramatic anthology of twilight's most frightening foe.You'll encounter the poetic prose of Marie de ...

"The Thief" tells the tragic story of a soldier enamoured with life and with a girl as disquieting and wayward as she is beautiful.Through masterful storytelling within a story, Guy de Maupassant portrays a fiery and passionate romance, initiated in secrecy and heartbreakingly brought to light, when on one dark, fateful evening, the soldier is mistaken for a thief.With "The Thief", Maupassant calls upon the reader to question the nature of crime, the appropriateness of juri...

"People talked of a colossal wolf with gray fur, almost white, who had eaten two children, gnawed off a woman's arm..."A werewolf terrorises locals, devouring livestock and killing children, but brothers Jean and François are determined to find and kill the beast once and for all.Will the hunters become the hunted?

Despite its title. 'The Effeminates' has nothing to do with sexuality.Instead, it's a satire on the fickle natures of Parisians and those who work in the Chamber of Deputies (a French parliamentary body).According to Maupassant's observations, these 'man-girls' are a bane of society, forever changing their minds, following their whimsies, and plotting behind the backs of even their closest friends.An interesting psychological snapshot of 19th Century France, 'The Ef...

'A Mother of Monsters' is a dark and disturbing story.The narrator is visiting his friend, and they walk along the seafront. As their conversation continues, the friend tells him of the eponymous mother, and they decide to visit her.What they are met with is both horrific and tragic and can be read as a commentary on the plight of the lower classes. Maupassant's concise and simple style only serves to increase the horror and brutality of this short tale.A story that...

Laying the foundations for films, such as 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' starring Jack Nicholson, 'Bertha' is a study on mental illness.While the narrator visits his old friend, Dr Bonnet, the doctor asks him to wait while he visits a patient. The patient is Bertha, a woman who was once young and beautiful but with no way of communicating with the outside world.Rightly or wrongly, Dr Bonnet subjects her to a series of experiments before her family decides there's an ans...

Later made into a film, starring Vincent Price, 'The Diary of a Madman' is a dark and disturbing short story.In just three pages, Maupassant introduces us to an upright magistrate who has just condemned a prisoner, Blondel, to death.Blondel is convicted of prolicide, and the magistrate wants to work out why he's committed this terrible crime. Through his diary, we see how the idea takes root and becomes something much more sinister...A gripping read that's as releva...

Just like Jack Nicholson's character in 'About Schmidt,' the narrator of 'A Recollection' is feeling useless.He feels, to quote Morrissey, that ´Everyday is Like Sunday.' To shake himself from his drudgery, he decides to take a stroll from Paris to catch a boat to Saint-Cloud.After a dreamy stroll, he encounters a married couple, who seem to be in a spot of bother. Taken with the wife, the narrator agrees to help them, but will her company help or hinder his need for excite...

Colone Laporte has an opinion about everything. Colonel Laporte is also right about everything. Or so he thinks.During a conversation with a friend, he is preaching his opinion about French people. He claims that they are famous for their attitudes towards members of the opposite sex. His friend disagrees. Frustrated and attempting to get his point across, he begins to tell the story of an encounter he had during the Franco-Prussian War. Only as his story continues does it become c...

Set during the hunting season, the Chateau Baneville is peopled with guests waiting for the weather to improve.After half-heartedly playing board games, they tell stories. None is so shocking as the one told by Genevieve and the boy who loved her in her youth.With allusions to mental illness and obsession, this is a dark romantic tale, sure to promote some heated conversation.Touching on similar themes as Robert Redford's 'Ordinary People,' 'A Widow' is a tragic lov...

What if you had to put a roof over the heads of your enemies?Anthony is a farmer. Sturdy and patriotic, he will stop at nothing to fight the Prussians. Bringing glory to his country is his main priority. When Prussians arrive on his doorstep he is prepared to sacrifice everything. But when he is forced to shelter, feed, and take care of a Prussian soldier he is forced into a change in outlook.The soldier's inability to speak French puts him in a vulnerable position and Anth...

A masterpiece in literary manipulation, 'A New Year's Gift' plays with our expectations while delivering a sobering dose of social commentary.We begin with Jacques, who is writing a letter to his sweetheart, Irene. When Irene appears on his doorstep, she brings with her a scandalous plan. Will he agree to her demands, or is there more to them than meets the eye?A tale of adultery, fealty, violence, and honour, 'A New Year's Gift' also highlights the stifling social conventi...