O. Henry | |
| Born |
1862
|
|---|---|
| Died |
1910 (aged 48)
|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Surprise Endings |
| Nationality | American |
| Gender | Male |
O. Henry, the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862–1910), was an American short-story writer known for his clever and surprise twist endings. His stories, including “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Ransom of Red Chief,” continue to be celebrated for their wit and humor. O. Henry’s contributions to the short story genre are enduring.
Short Stories written by O. Henry
A Bird of Bagdad 1881 - Without a doubt much of the spirit and genius of the Caliph Harun Al Rashid descended to the Margrave August… ... Read more
A Blackjack Bargainer 1881 - The most disreputable thing in Yancey Goree's law office was Goree himself, sprawled in his creakv old arm- chair. The… ... Read more
A Call Loan 1881 - In those days the cattlemen were the anointed. They were the grandees of the grass, kings of the kine, lords… ... Read more
A Chaparral Christmas Gift 1881 - The original cause of the trouble was about twenty years in growing. At the end of that time it was… ... Read more
A Chaparral Prince 1881 - Nine o'clock at last, and the drudging toil of the day was ended. Lena climbed to her room in the… ... Read more
A Comedy in Rubber 1881 - One may hope, in spite of the metaphorists, to avoid the breath of the deadly upas tree; one may, by… ... Read more
A Cosmopolite in a Cafe 1881 - At midnight the cafe was crowded. By some chance the little table at which I sat had escaped the eye… ... Read more
A Departmental Case 1881 - In Texas you may travel a thousand miles in a straight line. If your course is a crooked one, it… ... Read more
A Dinner at——–* 1881 - The Adventures of an Author With His Own Hero All that day--in fact from the moment of his creation--Van Sweller… ... Read more
A Double-Dyed Deceiver 1881 - The trouble began in Laredo. It was the Llano Kid's fault, for he should have confined his habit of manslaughter… ... Read more
A Fog in Santone 1881 - The drug clerk looks sharply at the white face half concealed by the high-turned overcoat collar. "I would rather not… ... Read more
A Harlem Tragedy 1881 - Harlem. Mrs. Fink had dropped into Mrs. Cassidy's flat one flight below. "Ain't it a beaut?" said Mrs. Cassidy. She… ... Read more
A Lickpenny Lover 1881 - There, were 3,000 girls in the Biggest Store. Masie was one of them. She was eighteen and a selleslady in… ... Read more
A Little Local Colour 1881 - I mentioned to Rivington that I was in search of characteristic New York scenes and incidents -- some- thing typical,… ... Read more
A Little Talk About Mobs 1881 - "I see," remarked the tall gentleman in the frock coat and black slouch hat, "that another street car motorman in… ... Read more
A Madison Square Arabian Night 1881 - To Carson Chalmers, in his apartment near the square, Phillips brought the evening mail. Beside the routine correspondence there were… ... Read more
A Matter Of Mean Elevation 1881 - ONE winter the Alcazar Opera Company of New Orleans made a speculative trip along the Mexican, Central American and South… ... Read more
A Midsummer Knight’s Dream 1881 - "The knights are dead; Their swords are rust. Except a few who have to hust- Le all the time To… ... Read more
A Midsummer Masquerade 1881 - "Satan," said Jeff Peters, "is a hard boss to work for. When other people are having their vacation is when… ... Read more
A Municipal Report 1881 - The cities are full of pride, Challenging each to each-- This from her mountainside, That from her burthened beach. R.… ... Read more
A Newspaper Story 1881 - AT 8 a.m. it lay on Giuseppi's news-stand, still damp from the presses. Giuseppi, with the cunning of his ilk,… ... Read more
A Poor Rule 1881 - I have always maintained, and asserted ime to time, that woman is no mystery; that man can foretell, construe, subdue,… ... Read more
A Retrieved Reformation 1881 - A guard came to the prison shoe-shop, where Jimmy Valentine was assiduously stitching uppers, and escorted him to the front… ... Read more
A Ruler of Men 1881 - I walked the streets of the City of Insolence, thirsting for the sight of a stranger face. For the City… ... Read more
A Sacrifice Hit 1881 - The editor of the Hearthstone Magazine had his own ideas about the selection of manuscript for his publication. His theory… ... Read more
A Service of Love 1881 - When one loves one's Art no service seems too hard.That is our premise. This story shall draw a conclusion from… ... Read more
A Snapshot at the President 1881 - (It will be remembered that about a month ago there were special rates offered to the public for a round… ... Read more
A Strange Story 1881 - In the northern part of Austin there once dwelt an honest family by the name of Smothers. The family consisted… ... Read more
A Technical Error 1881 - I never cared especially for feuds, believing them to be even more overrated products of our country than grapefruit, scrapple,… ... Read more
A Tempered Wind 1904 - The first time my optical nerves was disturbed by the sight of Buckingham Skinner was in Kansas City. I was… ... Read more
According to Their Lights 1881 - Somewhere in the depths of the big city, where the unquiet dregs are forever being shaken together, young Murray and… ... Read more
After Twenty Years 1881 - The policeman on the beat moved up the avenue impressively. The impressiveness was habitual and not for show, for spectators… ... Read more
An Adjustment of Nature 1881 - In an art exhibition the other day I saw a painting that had been sold for $5,000. The painter was… ... Read more
An Afternoon Miracle 1881 - At the United States end of an international river bridge, four armed rangers sweltered in a little 'dobe hut, keeping… ... Read more
An Apology 1881 - The person who sweeps the office, translates letters from foreign countries, deciphers communications from graduates of business colleges, and does… ... Read more
An Unfinished Christmas Story 1919 - Now, a Christmas story should be one. For a good many years the ingenious writers have been putting forth tales… ... Read more
An Unfinished Story 1881 - We no longer groan and heap ashes upon our heads when the flames of Tophet are mentioned. For, even the… ... Read more
Aristocracy Versus Hash 1881 - The snake reporter of The Rolling Stone was wandering up the avenue last night on his way home from the… ... Read more
Babes in the Jungle 1881 - Montague Silver, the finest street man and art grafter in the West, says to me once in Little Rock: "If… ... Read more
Best-Seller 1881 - I One day last summer I went to Pittsburgh--well, I had to go there on business. My chair-car was profitably… ... Read more
Between Rounds 1881 - The May moon shone bright upon the private boarding-house of Mrs. Murphy. By reference to the almanac a large amount… ... Read more
Bexar Scrip No. 2692 1881 - Whenever you visit Austin you should by all means go to see the General Land Office. As you pass up… ... Read more
Blind Man’s Holiday 1881 - Alas for the man and for the artist with the shifting point of perspective! Life shall be a confusion of… ... Read more
Brickdust Row 1881 - Blinker was displeased. A man of less culture and poise and wealth would have sworn. But Blinker always remembered that… ... Read more
Buried Treasure 1881 - There are many kinds of fools. Now, will everybody please sit still until they are called upon specifically to rise?… ... Read more
By Courier 1881 - It was neither the season nor the hour when the Park had frequenters; and it is likely that the young… ... Read more
Calloway’s Code 1881 - The New York Enterprise sent H. B. Calloway as special correspondent to the Russo-Japanese-Portsmouth war. For two months Calloway hung… ... Read more
Caught 1881 - The plans for the detention of the flying President Miraflores and his companion at the coast line seemed hardly likely… ... Read more
Cherchez La Femme 1881 - Robbins, reporter for the /Picayune/, and Dumars, of /L'Abeille/--the old French newspaper that has buzzed for nearly a century--were good… ... Read more
Christmas By Injunction 1881 - Cherokee was the civic father of Yellowhammer. Yellowhammer was a new mining town constructed mainly of canvas and undressed pine.… ... Read more
Compliments of the Season 1881 - There are no more Christmas stories to write. Fiction is exhausted; and newspaper items, the next best, are manufactured by… ... Read more
Confessions Of A Humorist 1881 - There was a painless stage of incubation that lasted twenty-five years, and then it broke out on me, and people… ... Read more
Conscience in Art 1881 - "I never could hold my partner, Andy Tucker, down to legitimate ethics of pure swindling," said Jeff Peters to me… ... Read more
Cupid A La Carte 1881 - "The dispositions of woman," said Jeff Peters, after various opinions on the subject had been advanced, "run, regular, to diversions.… ... Read more
Cupid’s Exile Number Two 1881 - The United States of America, after looking over its stock of consular timber, selected Mr. John De Graffenreid Atwood, of… ... Read more
Dougherty’s Eye-Opener 1881 - Big Jim Dougherty was a sport. He belonged to that race of men. In Manhattan it is a distinct race.… ... Read more
Extradited from Bohemia 1881 - From near the village of Harmony, at the foot of the Green Mountains, came Miss Medora Martin to New York… ... Read more
Fickle Fortune or How Gladys Hustled 1881 - "Press me no more Mr. Snooper," said Gladys Vavasour-Smith. "I can never be yours." "You have led me to believe… ... Read more
Fox-in-the-Morning 1881 - Coralio reclined, in the mid-day heat, like some vacuous beauty lounging in a guarded harem. The town lay at the… ... Read more
Friends in San Rosario 1881 - The west-bound train stopped at San Rosario on time at 8.20 A.M. A man with a thick black-leather wallet under… ... Read more
From Each According to His Ability 1881 - Vuyning left his club, cursing it softly, without any particular anger. From ten in the morning un- til eleven it… ... Read more
From the Cabby’s Seat 1881 - The cabby has his point of view. It is more single-minded, perhaps, than that of a follower of any other… ... Read more
Georgia’s Ruling 1881 - If you should chance to visit the General Land Office, step into the draughtsmen's room and ask to be shown… ... Read more
Girl 1881 - IN GILT letters on the ground glass of the door of room No. 962 were the words: "Robbins & Hartley,… ... Read more
He Also Serves 1881 - If I could have a thousand years--just one little thousand years--more of life, I might, in that time, draw near… ... Read more
Hearts And Crosses 1881 - Baldy Woods reached for the bottle, and got it. Whenever Baldy went for anything he usually--but this is not Baldy's… ... Read more
Hearts And Hands 1881 - At Denver there was an influx of passengers into the coaches on the eastbound B. & M. Express. In one… ... Read more
Holding Up a Train 1881 - [Note. The man who told me these things was for several years an outlaw in the Southwest and a follower… ... Read more
Hostages to Momus 1881 - I I never got inside of the legitimate line of graft but once. But, one time, as I say, I… ... Read more
Hygeia At The Solito 1881 - If you are knowing in the chronicles of the ring you will recall to mind an event in the early… ... Read more
Innocents of Broadway 1881 - "I hope some day to retire from business," said Jeff Peters; "and when I do I don't want anybody to… ... Read more
Jeff Peters as a Personal Magnet 1908 - Jeff Peters has been engaged in as many schemes for making money as there are recipes for cooking rice in… ... Read more
Jimmy Hayes and Muriel 1881 - I Supper was over, and there had fallen upon the camp the silence that accompanies the rolling of corn-husk cigarettes.… ... Read more
Law and Order 1881 - I found myself in Texas recently, revisiting old places and vistas. At a sheep ranch where I had sojourned many… ... Read more
Let Me Feel Your Pulse 1881 - So I went to a doctor. "How long has it been since you took any alcohol into your system?" he… ... Read more
Little Speck in Garnered Fruit 1881 - The honeymoon was at its full. There was a flat with the reddest of new carpets, tasselled portieres and six… ... Read more
Lord Oakhurst’s Curse 1881 - ILord Oakhurst lay dying in the oak chamber in the eastern wing of Oakhurst Castle. Through the open window in… ... Read more
Lost on Dress Parade 1881 - Mr. Towers Chandler was pressing his evening suit in his hall bedroom. One iron was heating on a small gas… ... Read more
Madame Bo-peep, Of The Ranches 1881 - "AUNT ELLEN," said Octavia, cheerfully, as she threw her black kid gloves carefully at the dignified Persian cat on the… ... Read more
Makes the Whole World Kin 1881 - The burglar stepped inside the window quickly, and then he took his time. A burglar who respects his art always… ... Read more
Mammon and the Archer 1881 - Old Anthony Rockwall, retired manufacturer and proprietor of Rockwall's Eureka Soap, looked out the library window of his Fifth Avenue… ... Read more
Man About Town 1881 - There were two or three things that I wanted to know. I do not care about a mystery. So I… ... Read more
Masters of Arts 1881 - A two-inch stub of a blue pencil was the wand with which Keogh performed the preliminary acts of his magic.… ... Read more
Memoirs of a Yellow Dog 1881 - I don't suppose it will knock any of you people off your perch to read a contribution from an animal.… ... Read more
Modern Rural Sports 1881 - Jeff Peters must be reminded. Whenever he is called upon, pointedly, for a story, he will maintain that his life… ... Read more
Money Maze 1881 - The new administration of Anchuria entered upon its duties and privileges with enthusiasm. Its first act was to send an… ... Read more
Nemesis and the Candy Man 1881 - "We sail at eight in the morning on the Celtic," said Honoria, plucking a loose thread from her lace sleeve.… ... Read more
New York by Camp Fire Light 1881 - Away out in the Creek Nation we learned things about New York. We were on a hunting trip, and were… ... Read more
Next to Reading Matter 1881 - He compelled my interest as he stepped from the ferry at Desbrosses Street. He had the air of being familiar… ... Read more
No Story 1881 - To avoid having this book hurled into corner of the room by the suspicious reader, I will assert in time… ... Read more
One Dollar’s Worth 1881 - The judge of the United States court of the district lying along the Rio Grande border found the following letter… ... Read more
One Thousand Dollars 1919 - "One thousand dollars," repeated Lawyer Tolman, solemnly and severely, "and here is the money." Young Gillian gave a decidedly amused… ... Read more
Out Of Nazareth 1881 - Okochee, in Georgia, had a boom, and J. Pinkney Bloom came out of it with a "wad." Okochee came out… ... Read more
Past One at Rooney’s 1881 - Only on the lower East Side of New York do the houses of Capulet and Montagu survive. There they do… ... Read more
Proof of the Pudding 1881 - Spring winked a vitreous optic at Editor Westbrook of the _Minerva Magazine_, and deflected him from his course. He had… ... Read more
Psyche and the Pskyscraper 1881 - If you are a philosopher you can do this thing: you can go to the top of a high building,… ... Read more
Queries and Answers 1881 - Can you inform me where I can buy an interest in a newspaper of some kind? I have some money… ... Read more
Roads of Destiny 1881 - I go to seek on many roads What is to be. True heart and strong, with love to light-- Will… ... Read more
Roses, Ruses and Romance 1881 - Ravenel -- Ravenel, the traveller, artist and poet, threw his magazine to the floor. Sammy Brown, broker's clerk, who sat… ... Read more
Rouge et Noir 1881 - It has been indicated that disaffection followed the elevation of Losada to the presidency. This feeling continued to grow. Throughout… ... Read more
Round The Circle 1881 - "Find yo' shirt all right, Sam?" asked Mrs. Webber, from her chair under the live-oak, where she was comfortably seated… ... Read more
Rus In Urbe 1881 - Considering men in relation to money, there are three kinds whom I dislike: men who have more money than they… ... Read more
Schools And Schools 1881 - I Old Jerome Warren lived in a hundred-thousand-dollar house at 35 East Fifty-Soforth Street. He was a down-town broker, so… ... Read more
Seats Of The Haughty 1881 - Golden by day and silver by night, a new trail now leads to us across the Indian Ocean. Dusky kings… ... Read more
Shearing the Wolf 1881 - Jeff Peters was always eloquent when the ethics of his profession was under discussion. "The only times," said he, "that… ... Read more
Ships 1881 - Within a week a suitable building had been secured in the Calle Grande, and Mr. Hemstetter's stock of shoes arranged… ... Read more
Shoes 1881 - John De Graffenreid Atwood ate of the lotus, root, stem, and flower. The tropics gobbled him up. He plunged enthusiastically… ... Read more
Sisters of the Golden Circle 1881 - The Rubberneck Auto was about ready to start. The merry top-riders had been assigned to their seats by the gentlemanly… ... Read more
Smith 1881 - Goodwin and the ardent patriot, Zavalla, took all the precautions that their foresight could contrive to prevent the escape of… ... Read more
Sociology In Serge And Straw 1881 - The season of irresponsibility is at hand. Come, let us twine round our brows wreaths of poison ivy (that is… ... Read more
Sound and Fury 1881 - PERSONS OF THE DRAMA Mr. PENNE. . . . . . An Author Miss LORE. . . . . .… ... Read more
Springtime a la Carte 1881 - It was a day in March.Never, never begin a story this way when you write one. No opening could possibly… ... Read more
Squaring the Circle 1881 - At the hazard of wearying you this tale of vehe- ment emotions must be prefaced by a discourse on geometry.… ... Read more
Strictly Business 1881 - I suppose you know all about the stage and stage people. You've been touched with and by actors, and you… ... Read more
Suite Homes And Their Romance 1881 - FEW young couples in the Big-City-of-Bluff began their married existence with greater promise of happiness than did Mr. and Mrs.… ... Read more
Telemachus, Friend 1881 - Returning from a hunting trip, I waited at the little town of Los Pinos, in New Mexico, for the south-bound… ... Read more
The Admiral 1881 - Spilled milk draws few tears from an Anchurian administration. Many are its lacteal sources; and the clocks' hands point forever… ... Read more
The Adventures of Shamrock Jolnes 1881 - I am so fortunate as to count Shamrock Jolnes, the great New York detective, among my muster of friends. Jolnes… ... Read more
The Assessor of Success 1881 - Hastings Beauchamp Morley sauntered across Union Square with a pitying look at the hundreds that lolled upon the park benches.… ... Read more
The Atavism of John Tom Little Bear 1881 - I saw a light in Jeff Peters's room over the Red Front Drug Store. I hastened toward it, for I… ... Read more
Read More in Surprise Endings
O. Henry Surprise Endings - O. Henry, the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862–1910), was an American short-story writer known for his clever and surprise twist endings. His stories, including "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Ransom of Red Chief," continue to be… ... Read more
