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W. W. Jacobs

Although The Monkey’s Paw was included in the collection of Twenty Great American Stories, the fact is and stubbornly remains that W.W. Jacobs was born an English rather than American writer. William Wymark Jacobs was born in Wapping, London, England in 1863 and remained with us until 1943.
While Jacobs is best known for his horror story The Monkey’s Paw, his body of larger work is known for its humor. His father worked as a dockhand and wharf manager on the South Devon Wharf. Jacobs seems to draw heavily upon his father’s experiences working at the docks and his stories often feature the adventures of wayward seamen and mariners working themselves in and out of precarious predicaments.
W.W. Jacobs has become one of my favorite short story writers. If you are an enthusiastic reader of short stories I encourage you to explore more deeply into his short story collections. His stories are consistently well written and often of optimal length with most stories taking about fifteen minutes to read.
On this page you will find an exhaustive listing of his short stories. He is also a featured writer in our gallery of favorite Short Story Collections and Gothic Literature Study Guide. Enjoy reading his works and many other spooky tales in our Gothic, Ghost, Horror & Weird Library and Halloween Stories

Enjoy some illustrated Short Stories from W. W. Jacobs; click to read.
A Golden Venture
A Mixed Proposal
An Adulteration Act
Back to Back
Captain Rogers
Cupboard Love
His Other Self
In the Library
Money Changers
Sam’s Ghost
The Four Pigeons
The Lady of the Barge
The Monkey’s Paw
The Understudy
The Unknown
The Vigil
The Weaker Vessel
Watch-Dogs
A Golden Venture
A Mixed Proposal
An Adulteration Act
Back to Back
Captain Rogers
Cupboard Love
His Other Self
In the Library
Money Changers
Sam’s Ghost
The Four Pigeons
The Lady of the Barge
The Monkey’s Paw
The Understudy
The Unknown
The Vigil
The Weaker Vessel
Watch-Dogs
A Golden Venture
A Mixed Proposal
An Adulteration Act
Back to Back
Captain Rogers
Cupboard Love
His Other Self
In the Library
Money Changers
Sam’s Ghost
The Four Pigeons
The Lady of the Barge
The Monkey’s Paw
The Understudy
The Unknown
The Vigil
The Weaker Vessel
Watch-Dogs

Books

  • A Master of Craft
  • Dialstone Lane
  • Salthaven
  • The Skipper’s Wooing

    • Short Stories

  • A Benefit Performance
  • A Black Affair
  • A Case of Desertion
  • A Change of Treatment
  • A Circular Tour
  • A Disciplinarian
  • A Distant Relative
  • Admiral Peters
  • After the Inquest
  • A Garden Plot
  • A Golden Venture
  • A Harbor Refuge
  • Alf’s Dream
  • A Love-Knot
  • A Love Passage
  • A Marked Man
  • A Mixed Proposal
  • An Adulteration Act
  • An Elaborate Elopement
  • Angels’ Visits
  • An Intervention
  • An Odd Freak
  • A Rash Experiment
  • A Spirit of Avarice
  • A Tiger’s Skin
  • Back to Back
  • Bedridden
  • Bill’s Lapse
  • Bill’s Paper Chase
  • Blundell’s Improvement
  • Bob’s Redemption
  • Breaking a Spell
  • Brevet Rank
  • Brother Hutchins
  • Captain Rogers
  • Captains All
  • “Choice Spirits”
  • Contraband of War
  • Convert
  • Cupboard Love
  • Deserted
  • Dirty Work
  • Dixon’s Return
  • Double Dealing
  • Dual Control
  • Easy Money
  • English Fairy Tale: Tamlane
  • Establishing Relations
  • Fairy Gold
  • False Colours
  • Fine Feathers
  • For Better or Worse
  • Friends in Need
  • Good Intentions
  • Head of the Family
  • Her Uncle
  • His Lordship
  • His Other Self
  • Homeward Bound
  • Husbandry
  • In Borrowed Plumes
  • In Limehouse Reach
  • In Mid-Atlantic
  • In the Family
  • In the Library
  • Jerry Bundler
  • Keeping up Appearances
  • Keeping Watch
  • Lawyer Quince
  • Low Water
  • Made To Measure
  • “Manners Makyth Man”
  • Mated
  • Matrimonial Openings
  • Mixed Relations
  • Money Changers
  • Mrs. Bunker’s Chaperone
  • Odd Charges
  • Odd Man Out
  • Outsailed
  • Over the Side
  • Paying Off
  • Peter’s Pence
  • Pickled Herring
  • Private Clothes
  • Prize Money
  • Rival Beauties
  • Rule of Three
  • Safety Match
  • Sam’s Boy
  • Sam’s Ghost
  • Self-Help
  • Sentence Deferred
  • Shareholders
  • Skilled Assistance
  • Smoked Skipper
  • Stepping Backwards
  • Striking Hard
  • The Bequest
  • The Boatswain’s Mate
  • The Boatswain’s Watch
  • The Bully of the “Cavendish”
  • The Cabin Passenger
  • The Castaway
  • The Changeling
  • The Changing Numbers
  • The Constables Move
  • The Cook of the “Gannet”
  • The Disbursement Sheet
  • The Dreamer
  • The Four Pigeons
  • The Grey Parrot
  • The Guardian Angel
  • The Head of the Family
  • The Lady of the Barge
  • The Lost Ship
  • The Madness of Mr. Lister
  • The Money-Box
  • The Monkey’s Paw
  • The Nest Egg
  • The Old Man of the Sea
  • The Persecution of Bob Pretty
  • The Ressurrection of Mr. Wiggett
  • The Skipper of the “Osprey”
  • The Substitute
  • The Temptation of Samuel Burge
  • The Test
  • The Third String
  • The Three Sisters
  • The Toll-House
  • The Understudy
  • The Unknown
  • The Vigil
  • The Weaker Vessel
  • The Well
  • The White Cat
  • The Winter Offensive
  • Three at Table
  • To Have and to Hold
  • Tow of a Trade
  • Twin Spirits
  • Watch-Dogs