One of my favorite short stories from last year’s Spring Break Short Story Recommendations was Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Bottle Imp.” It tells the story of a Hawaiian sailor who finds a bottle. Inside the bottle is a terrifying imp, one that will grant wishes, but the owner of the bottle is doomed to Hell. The only way to avoid that fate is to sell the bottle, but the bottle must be sold for a price lower than what they paid for it.
It’s a fun little story that, despite some heavier moments and some genuine suspense, warns against quick riches and deals with the infernal. The Hawaiian setting is also unique, and gives the whole story a quirky bent.
With that, here is 12 April 2023’s “Spring Break Short Story Recommendation 2023: ‘The Bottle Imp’“:
