LitReading - Classic Short Stories

Short StoryVerses
  • 4.8 (292)
  • FICTION
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Litreading delivers classic short stories—carefully selected, beautifully narrated, and updated every week. From Poe to Twain, O. Henry to Wharton, each episode presents a complete tale in a clean, immersive performance lasting anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. These timeless stories are read with clarity, warmth, and just enough character to bring them fully to life. Litreading is part of Short Storyverses (shortstoryverses.com), a growing collection of podcasts devoted to exceptional storytelling. Explore New Tales Told—our companion series of original stories inspired by the tone and spirit of the classics; Season’s Readings to brighten your holidays any time of year; FRIGHTLY! for tales of terror; and Readastorus for for younger listeners. Search for all of these titles wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. The Bet – A Classic Short Story by Anton Chekov

    17H AGO

    The Bet – A Classic Short Story by Anton Chekov

    The Bet is a devastating meditation on freedom, knowledge, money, and the illusions we cling to when we mistake intellect for wisdom and wealth for meaning. Sparse, icy, and quietly explosive, this story leaves no one untouched—not the characters, and not the listener. Anton Chekhov was a Russian physician, playwright, and master of the modern short story. Writing at the turn of the twentieth century, Chekhov rejected melodrama in favor of moral ambiguity, emotional restraint, and brutal psychological honesty. His stories rarely offer heroes or villains—only people, trapped by their own beliefs, habits, and blind spots. With surgical precision and profound compassion, Chekhov reshaped fiction, influencing generations of writers who followed. He believed that a writer’s job was not to provide answers—but to ask questions so clearly that the reader could not escape them. The Bet is one of his sharpest. You're invited to explore our many short story podcasts at shortstoryverses.com We are expanding our universe of short story podcasts on our new podcast channel, Short StoryVerses. Listen to some of Don's new, original short stories on the "New Tales Told" podcast. Look it up on your favorite podcast player. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    19 min
  2. The Eternal Code — A Special Presentation of an Original Short Story

    6D AGO

    The Eternal Code — A Special Presentation of an Original Short Story

    This is a special presentation of my new original short story, "The Eternal Code," first released on my companion podcast, New Tales Told. Litreading will continue to feature classic short fiction, just as always. For listeners who enjoy original, contemporary stories, New Tales Told is where I share new work—standalone fiction meant to be experienced in audio. Just search for it on this podcast service or visit shortstoryverses.com No one remembers the first human thought. But it remembers us. We tell ourselves that memory lives in bones, in blood, in history books and hard drives. But memory is older than all of that. Memory is the original technology. And once it learned how to survive us, it never stopped evolving. The Eternal Code is a story about inheritance that has nothing to do with money and everything to do with continuity. About the quiet arrogance of believing we are the end of the line. About a signal so deeply embedded in humanity that we mistake it for destiny. We are expanding our universe of short story podcasts on our new podcast channel, Short StoryVerses. Listen to some of Don's new, original short stories on the "New Tales Told" podcast. Look it up on your favorite podcast player. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    36 min

  3. JAN 1

    Litreading – Classic Short Stories Live On

    Every story you've ever loved learned it from somewhere. The plot twist, the heartbreak, the monster in the dark—somebody wrote it first. Narrator Don McDonald brings classic literature back to life, read out loud the way it was meant to be heard. Dickens. Poe. Twain. Wharton. Doyle. Names you know. Stories you think you know—until you actually hear them. Some built entire genres. Some broke every rule. Some are just flat-out better than they have any right to be after a hundred years. No class. No test. Just your ears and a little time. Because the classics aren't homework. They're the stories that refused to die. Litreading is part of the "Short Storyverses" podcast network. If you love stories, check out our other shows: Season's Readings for holiday tales, New Tales Told for original fiction, Readastorus for stories the whole family can enjoy, and FRIGHTLY for when you want to lose a little sleep. Find them all at shortstoryverses.com. If you're enjoying Litreading, take a second to tap that five-star rating on Apple Podcasts (or "Rate the Show" five-stars on Spotify). It helps other listeners find the show—and keeps me from taking that two-star rating too personally. Thanks. We are expanding our universe of short story podcasts on our new podcast channel, Short StoryVerses. Listen to some of Don's new, original short stories on the "New Tales Told" podcast. Look it up on your favorite podcast player. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 min
  4. Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner – A Classic Short Story by Lucy Maud Montgomery

    12/30/2025

    Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner – A Classic Short Story by Lucy Maud Montgomery

    Uncle Richard’s New Year Dinner is a tender, early-20th-century family story about estrangement, reconciliation, and the quiet power of kindness. Set over the course of a single winter evening, it explores how long-standing rifts are rarely healed by grand speeches—but sometimes by a warm stove, a shared table, and a willingness to begin again. It’s a story of kindness, humanity, and hope that arrives without ceremony. Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874–1942) was a Canadian author best known for her enduring novel Anne of Green Gables. Writing with warmth, wit, and deep emotional intelligence, Montgomery captured the inner lives of ordinary people and the quiet dramas of home, family, and belonging. Her stories often found beauty in small moments and believed—without sentimentality—that kindness, imagination, and patience could heal even long-held wounds. Though her work is rooted in a specific place and time, its emotional truths remain timeless. If you love short stories, explore our multiverse of timeless tales at shortstoryverses.com We are expanding our universe of short story podcasts on our new podcast channel, Short StoryVerses. Listen to some of Don's new, original short stories on the "New Tales Told" podcast. Look it up on your favorite podcast player. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    11 min
  5. The Boy with the Box – A Classic Christmas Story by Mary Griggs Van Voorhis

    12/23/2025

    The Boy with the Box – A Classic Christmas Story by Mary Griggs Van Voorhis

    This holiday story will only be available for a limited time on Litreading, but will always be available on our holiday story podcast, Season's Readings. First published in 1905, “The Boy with the Box” is a gentle Christmas story about childhood pride, unexpected generosity, and the quiet ways kindness reshapes a heart. It captures a winter world of skates and shop windows, family love and small sacrifices—where the true gift arrives not in a box, but in understanding. Mary Griggs Van Voorhis (1876–1938) was an American writer whose short stories often focused on children, family life, and moments of quiet moral awakening. Writing in the early twentieth century, she was known for her warm realism and her ability to find emotional truth in everyday scenes. Her work appeared widely in magazines of the era and remains admired for its gentle humanity and timeless perspective. Check out our multiverse of short story podcasts at shortstoryverses.com. We are expanding our universe of short story podcasts on our new podcast channel, Short StoryVerses. Listen to some of Don's new, original short stories on the "New Tales Told" podcast. Look it up on your favorite podcast player. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    20 min
  6. On Christmas Day in the Morning – A Classic Christmas Story by Grace S. Richmond

    12/16/2025

    On Christmas Day in the Morning – A Classic Christmas Story by Grace S. Richmond

    This story is only available here during the holidays, but can be heard year-round at Season's Readings, a part of Short Storyverses at shortstoryverses.com On Christmas Day in the Morning is a story about family—not as it is imagined, but as it is lived—and the gifts that arrive without wrapping. It was written with music already echoing between its lines. The traditional song of the same name appears directly in the story, assumed to be familiar to its original readers. For this performance, the music is included not as embellishment, but as part of the text itself— the way it may have lived in the reader’s mind when the story was first published. Grace S. Richmond (1866–1959) was an American novelist and short-story writer whose work focused on family life, personal responsibility, and the quiet moral decisions that shape ordinary people. A frequent contributor to publications such as The Ladies’ Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post, Richmond was widely read in the early 20th century. Her Christmas stories, in particular, favored restraint over sentimentality—using the holiday as a setting for reflection, reconciliation, and emotional truth. Her fiction was written to be shared, remembered, and reread—often aloud, and often at Christmas. “I Saw Three Ships (Come Sailing In)” Traditional English carol Performed by Matt Norris & the Moon Audio sourced from Wikimedia Commons Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (CC BY 3.0) We are expanding our universe of short story podcasts on our new podcast channel, Short StoryVerses. Listen to some of Don's new, original short stories on the "New Tales Told" podcast. Look it up on your favorite podcast player. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    37 min
  7. A Chaparral Christmas Gift – Classic Western Christmas Story by O. Henry

    12/09/2025

    A Chaparral Christmas Gift – Classic Western Christmas Story by O. Henry

    This story is only available here during the holidays, but can be heard year-round at Season's Readings, a part of Short Storyverses at shortstoryverses.com Out on the western chaparral, Christmas doesn’t soften the land so much as sharpen what’s already waiting there—old grudges, old loves, and old wounds that never healed quite right. Madison Lane and Rosita McMullen have built a life together in the years since their wedding was interrupted by a jealous suitor… and a bullet. But Christmas Eve has a long memory in the Frio country, and something—or someone—may be riding back through the brush. O. Henry’s tale unfolds with warmth, tension, and a frontier kind of mercy that arrives in a shape no one expects. Chaparral Christmas was written by O. Henry (William Sydney Porter), the American master of the gently-twisted tale. Known for his frontier characters, ironic turns, and deep affection for ordinary people under pressure, Porter captured both the humor and the heartbreak of American life at the turn of the 20th century. This story reflects his gift for revealing unexpected kindness in the harshest of places. We are expanding our universe of short story podcasts on our new podcast channel, Short StoryVerses. Listen to some of Don's new, original short stories on the "New Tales Told" podcast. Look it up on your favorite podcast player. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    14 min
  8. An Angel in Disguise by T.S. Arthur

    11/20/2025

    An Angel in Disguise by T.S. Arthur

    Without individual compassion, the good, old days were rarely good for orphaned or disabled children. We are expanding our universe of short story podcasts on our new podcast channel, Short StoryVerses. Listen to some of Don's new, original short stories on the "New Tales Told" podcast. Look it up on your favorite podcast player. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    18 min
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4.8
out of 5
292 Ratings

About

Litreading delivers classic short stories—carefully selected, beautifully narrated, and updated every week. From Poe to Twain, O. Henry to Wharton, each episode presents a complete tale in a clean, immersive performance lasting anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. These timeless stories are read with clarity, warmth, and just enough character to bring them fully to life. Litreading is part of Short Storyverses (shortstoryverses.com), a growing collection of podcasts devoted to exceptional storytelling. Explore New Tales Told—our companion series of original stories inspired by the tone and spirit of the classics; Season’s Readings to brighten your holidays any time of year; FRIGHTLY! for tales of terror; and Readastorus for for younger listeners. Search for all of these titles wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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