TBT: Spring Break Short Story Recommendation 2023: “The Bottle Imp”

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’“:

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Lazy Sunday CXCVIII: Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2023

Another Spring Break is in the books and I’m back to the grind tomorrow.  It’s five weeks of classes, one week of exams, and one week of teacher meetings until I’m free—free!

Before heading into the final leg of the school year, here’s a look back at last week’s Spring Break Short Story Recommendations:

Happy Sunday—and Happy Reading!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Spring Break Short Story Recommendation 2023: “The Bottle Imp”

While visiting family over the long Easter Weekend, my mom had me go through a collection of her old books, inviting me to take whatever I wanted (with the [stated] ulterior motive of clearing out my parents’ house).  Among the treasure trove of books was my mom’s 1963 Scholastic book sale edition of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  In that edition are a few of Stevenson’s short stories, including the subject of today’s edition of Spring Break Short Story Recommendations, “The Bottle Imp.”

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