Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.

In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?

The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.

Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.

In this volume the Mad Scientist takes centre stage. Naturally the stories come in all shapes and sizes and in the pens of our classic authors the scientists more usually arrive as dark, twisted and evil as they go about their work illuminating humanity as only a mad scientist can.

1 - The Top 10 Short Stories - Mad Scientists - An Introduction

2 - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - Part 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson

3 - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - Part 2 by Robert Louis Stevenson

4 - A Thousand Deaths by Jack London

5 - A Diagnosis of Death by Ambrose Bierce

6 - The Facts In The Case of Monsieur Valdemar by Edgar Allan Poe

7 - The Mortal Immortal by Mary Shelley

8 - Carnivorine by Lucy Hamilton Hooper

9 - The Man Without a Body by Edward Page Mitchell

10 - Rappaccini's Daughter - Part 1 by Nathaniel Hawthorne

11 - Rappaccini's Daughter - Part 2 by Nathaniel Hawthorne

12 - The Blue Laboratory by L T Meade

13 - Herbert West - Reanimator - Part 1 by H P Lovecraft

14 - Herbert West - Reanimator - Part 2 by H P Lovecraft