Robert Louis Stevenson

This early work by Robert Louis Stevenson was originally published in 1885 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography as part of our Cryptofiction Classics series. 'Olalla' is a short story about an English soldier recovering from his wounds in Spain where he stays with a family that keep a dark secret. Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1850. . In 1880, he married Fanny Van de Grift, and they moved between France, Britain and California together. It was during these years that Stevenson produced much of his best-known work - 'Treasure Island', in 1883, 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', in 1886, and 'Black Arrow', in 1888. The Cryptofiction Classics series contains a collection of wonderful stories from some of the greatest authors in the genre, including Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Jack London. From its roots in cryptozoology, this genre features bizarre, fantastical, and often terrifying tales of mythical and legendary creatures. Whether it be giant spiders, werewolves, lake monsters, or dinosaurs, the Cryptofiction Classics series offers a fantastic introduction to the world of weird creatures in fiction.

'Kidnapped' is set in Scotland in 1751. It tells the story of David Balfour, a newly-orphaned young boy who is cheated out of his inheritance by his uncle and kidnapped. Amid the conflict between the Jacobites and supporters of King George II, David is falsely accused of murder and must flee for his life.

Retold for younger readers, this classic 1886 novel was not Robert Louis Stevenson's first novel, but it was one that helped to make him famous in his lifetime. The spine-chilling story shows the struggle between good and evil that Dr. Jekyll faced and how, in the end, his own good nature was overpowered by the evil in himself.

The narrator, Charles Darnaway, a recent graduate of the University of Edinburgh travels to the remote island of Aros off the north-west coast of Scotland. Aros is the home of his uncle, Gordon Darnaway, a hard-hearted and alcoholic Presbyterian. Charles has come in search of sunken treasure, as he believes a ship of the Spanish Armada sank in the bay under his uncle's home long before. Charles hopes to use the treasure to restore the Darnaways' fortunes and marry Gordon's daughter (and Charles' cousin) Mary Ellen. Charles is rowed out to the promontory by the only other inhabitant, Gordon's servant Rorie. Charles is surprised to find both Rorie and Gordon anxious and full of foreboding, though both furtively evade his questions. He is further surprised to find his uncle's austere home decorated with expensive lamps and rugs. He realizes at once they must have come from a shipwreck, and feels uneasy about this looting of the dead. His cousin Mary Ellen confirms that a ship was recently cast away nearby, having been driven by a storm into the dreadful breakers around the promontory, breakers that roar a hundred feet high around the rocks and are called "the Merry Men" due to the vast noise they make, like shrieking laughter. Charles goes down to the shore on his treasure-hunt. While there he sees the shattered hull of the wrecked ship, and also a fresh grave. He realizes the grave must be for the body of a mariner washed ashore. He takes this as a bad omen, but still sets out to the point where he thinks the Spanish ship must be. His first dive locates a weed-grown structure which appears to be the sunken ship, but a second dive shows it to be only a rock formation. He hauls himself along the weed-grown rocks, looking for signs of the wreck, until the signs of an approaching storm warn him to return to shore. As he makes for the surface his handhold breaks off in his grip; when he pulls himself on shore he looks at it and is horrified to recognize a human leg bone. He lays the bone on the sand, resolving to do no more hunting for the wreck.

In this sequel to the highland adventure Kidnapped, young David Balfour must defend himself and his friend, Alan Breck Stewart, against false murder charges, becoming further entangled in a political conspiracy between feuding Scottish clans. His new adventure will include shipwreck, murder, intrigue, and a Scottish lass named Catriona, with whom he falls in love at first sight. Stevenson considered this novel to be his best work.

This classic tale by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) was first published as a serial between 1881 and 1882 in the children's magazine Young Folks, where it received little attention, and then in the form of this book in 1883, which secured its everlasting fame. Telling the story of the young Jim Hawkins' search for the buried treasure of Captain Flint, it had a profound impact on how pirates were perceived in the popular imagination, immortalising treasure maps marked with an 'X', exotic locations, and one-legged seamen with parrots on their shoulders. Vividly drawn, the character of Long John Silver remains one of the most compelling antagonists in all of children's literature. The work of a masterful storyteller at the height of his powers, this coming-of-age adventure has been adapted for film and television countless times, and continues to delight readers of all ages.