W.W. Jacobs Archives

W.W. Jacobs

Easy Money

February 25, 2019 By W. W. Jacobs in Old Stories Tags: W.W. Jacobs, marriage, scams, young love, sailors

A lad of about twenty stepped ashore from the schooner Jane, and joining a girl, who had been avoiding for some ten minutes the ardent gaze of the night-watchman, set off arm-in-arm. The watchman rolled his eyes and shook his head slowly. English writer W.W Jacobs is best known for his story The Monkey’s Paw. This tale of sailors and their money turns on their prejudices — and ours. You can find it, and others like it, in Jacobs’ collection Night Watches, at Project Gutenberg. Nearly all his money on ‘is back, he said, and what little bit ‘e’s got [Read More]

The Monkey’s Paw

October 8, 2018 By W.W. Jacobs in Old Stories Tags: short fiction, horror, scary stories, W.W. Jacobs, fate, wishes

I Without, the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlour of Laburnam Villa the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly. Father and son were at chess, the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire. This is perhaps W.W. Jacobs most famous scary story — but can you remember how it works out? The English civil servant wrote plenty of short stories and a couple of novels, too, many [Read More]