Tales of characters questioning their existence and place in the world. Everything we know must end. In the fundamentals of our lives its usually our own deaths which bring that to an end. But what if we widen that premise. What if we are caught in its quixotic jaws. Held fast with escape merely a fleeting thought. In this volume authors of real note bring their narratives of existential crisis and threat directly to our senses. That conflict can yield terrible results. And for that place the blame on Franz Kafka, Boleslaw Prus, Herman Melville, Oscar Wilde and many others.1 - Existential Stories - An Introduction2 - The Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Fyodor Dostoyevsky3 - Bartleby the Scrivener - Part 1 by Herman Melville4 - Bartleby the Scrivener - Part 2 by Herman Melville5 - A Legend of Old Egypt by Boleslaw Prus6 - An Egyptian Cigarette by Kate Chopin7 - A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka8 - Mold of the Earth by Boleslaw Prus9 - Solid Objects by Virginia Woolf10 - An Honest Thief by Fyodor Dostoyveskey11 - The Bet by Anton Chekhov12 - Shades by Boleslaw Prus13 - An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce14 - In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka15 - The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde16 - Youth - Part 1 by Joseph Conrad17 - Youth - Part 2 by Joseph Conrad