Free Short Stories to Read Online

Short, complete stories you can finish in one sitting, from gentle bedtime stories to westerns, horror and mysteries. Free to read, no sign-up, new stories every day.

Latest Short Stories

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Western
His Father Left a Broken Violin in the Snow
- 7 min read
- Audio
A soldier follows his missing father’s shattered violin toward stolen flour and a snowbound camp’s reckoning.
New
Mystery
Someone Carried Her Red Boots Down to the Sea
- 6 min read
A disgraced doctor and a cobbler question what a missing resident’s pristine boot soles reveal.
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Christian
He Could Not Taste His Father's Stolen Bread
- 5 min read
A celebrated chef loses his taste and carries an overdue apology into his sister’s kitchen.
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Science Fiction
Three Knocks From His Late Wife’s Plum Jam
- 7 min read
An elderly fisherman’s treasured jam summons alien rescuers who mistake his tenement for a prison.
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Horror
Thirteen Dead Faces and One Dollar for a Father
- 6 min read
- Audio
A penniless musician claims a stranger’s photograph as family, and the dead begin believing him.
New
Love
Six Quarters and a Tooth for Grandpa’s Overdue Book
- 4 min read
- Audio
A stranded librarian finds more than an overdue book at a drought-stricken Kansas farm.
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Funny
A Gray Cat in a Former Swindler’s Toolbox
- 4 min read
A would-be honest repairman gains a supposedly lucky cat—and a tempting new business opportunity.
New
Detective Fiction
A Gold Flake on a Ginger Cat’s Nose
- 6 min read
With his son accused of murder, a carpenter follows a nursing cat toward stolen gold.

More new stories

Bedtime Stories Read Aloud

Press play and listen together: gentle stories for children, read aloud. Also as a podcast: Spotify Apple Podcasts Amazon Music

All bedtime stories

Western Short Stories

Outlaws, lawmen, cattle drives and dusty frontier towns.

All western stories

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