3020+ Historical Fiction Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Whether you’re looking to step back into ancient civilizations, the 19th-century, or anywhere in between, our collection of historical fiction stories is here to keep you riveted.

🏆 Winning stories

“Men on the Moon” by Lonnie Russo

🏆 Winner of Contest #264

Nobody at NASA gave a goddamn about the weather in Jersey. This fact, as true and as simple as it was, had not stopped my Aunt Rosie from pacing around the parlor all morning and pressing her face to the front window in search of thunderstorms. My mother had yelled at her for smearing rouge on the glass, and she, of course, had yelled right back. And soon, everybody was yelling. It was the day of my brother Eddie’s wedding, the day of the moon landing, and rain meant a lot of things. It meant a shower of good fortune, pouring out from G...

99 likes 84 comments 84

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“Petrified” by Eliza Entwistle

🏆 Winner of Contest #263

You would never have noticed it if you weren’t looking for it. That was precisely the point.The instructions given in my embroidery group had been clear enough: After nightfall, take a stroll on the second lane past the bakery, look for the unlit lamppost and turn down that dark alley, they said in hushed voices, as the pianist began playing in sudden loud fervor, by coincidence. Then you will see a mossy stone staircase, which you will descend, and at the end of it there is a dim hallway. She lives through the set of green doors on the left...

150 likes 104 comments 104

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“The Last Of The Bright Young Things” by Wendy M

🏆 Winner of Contest #212

Friday 7th October 1932 - Adelphi Hotel, LiverpoolDearest darling Herbert,What excitement we have had!  Mother and I boarded our train on Thursday. The conductor was a charming man. I swear he held my hand for just a moment too long. The weather was terrible, of course, but we were heading for the sun, and neither of us cared one jot. Then the thunderstorm started, which terrified Mother. She shrieked like she had seen a dozen mice with every rumble and flash. It was good fortune we shared our carriage solely with a group of nuns ...

126 likes 91 comments 91

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⭐️ Recommended stories

“Two Warriors” by Owen Duff

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #259

In the late hours of a hot summer day, two enemy warriors lay on a bloodied battlefield. Each has mortally wounded the other, and has lost their strength to land the fatal blow. Exhausted, sweating, and quickly losing blood, they sit up against opposite trees and face each other. One bears a red sigil across his chest and rests in the shade of his mighty oak. The other displays a blue crest across his shoulder and grows weak below the arms of a willow.The warrior wearing a red sigil slowly removes a pen and paper from his satchel, wipes...

16 likes 9 comments 9

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“Two Gentlemen of Verona” by Debra Tillar

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #257

Two Gentlemen of Veronaby Debra Tillar In fair Verona town one festive day As flags and cheers and trumpets rent the air, Party boats festooned the waterway And singing crowds adorned the central square. The regiment had rallied in the street, Called to arms and ordered to defend Their northern border cities and defeat The French aggressors to the bitter end. With hope and pride the town folk celebrated The soldiers as they mustered for the cause. With kisses, handshakes, hugs unmoderated, Roses, garlands, fanfare, songs, applause. On th...

17 likes 3 comments 3

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“Messy Missives” by Christopher Cayen-Cyr

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #254

Hermes's Messy MissiveVolume XII, Issue IIITrojans and Achaeans alike, rejoice!Your boy Hermes is back at it again with another edition of his weekly newsletter. I may be a messenger to the gods, but you know my heart has always been with the hot gossip of folks down below! I'm a messy messenger who lives for drama, after all.Ever since the Aphrodite-Ares-Hephaestus love triangle drama died down eons ago, the tea has been cold up on Mount Olympus. Thankfully, Goddess of Discord Eris has finally brought us the earth-shattering pettiness us go...

16 likes 4 comments 4

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✍️ All stories

“The Bermuda Triangle of California” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #276

The Grapevine is the Bermuda Triangle of California. My memory of that expanse of Highway 5 is desolation, dust and depression. Current crazy-ass boyfriend Simon and I were about to experience this marvel of soul-sucking spirits firsthand. We had been celebrating Simon’s 24th birthday in the coffee shop I worked at by day, Ground Zero. The café was closed, and the turnout was sad: just his sister and best friend, my best friend and her tweaky little brother. We drank chilled Stoli, fortified with cigarettes and methamphetamine. Best friend F...

1 like 0 comments 0

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“What If The State Is Disequilibrium? (Novel excerpt)” by Linda Frothinger

Submitted to Contest #276

“When an object sits at rest or moves along a straight line with no change in momentum, it will continue in this undisturbed state” (Isaac Newton)The road stretches ahead straight—its path outlining terrain against an arc of color along the northern sky—for logging trucks used to build the lodge. I guess, because why else does it etch a line from here to there except to accommodate. An arrow. The night shows only a blanket of cloudless light shielding a three-quarter moon. Ahead shadow marks shallow pockets left by spring rains. Their predic...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“Accused” by Sarah Spencer

Submitted to Contest #275

I stood transfixed at the window, captivated not for the first time by the quiet beauty that enveloped my cottage in the early hours before dawn. Being a spinster of 25 years and the daughter of an unconventional healer had secured my position on the fringe of society. My mother and I had always treasured the solitude that our wooded croft afforded. Her passing last winter did, perhaps, make this place feel a bit less like home. Still, I could bear a bit of loneliness if only I could have avoided what happened in town yesterday. Autumn had s...

7 likes 2 comments 2

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“Mountain Cat Meets the Ship Destiny's Dreams ” by Kristi Gott

Submitted to Contest #275

In the 1800s off the northwest coast of South America a dark, cat-like shadow padded up the steps from below deck on a sailing schooner.The head of the animal tilted and the eyes glowed in the dark. It watched a man on the wooden deck of the boat, who was looking upward at the star constellations. The animal peered at the two legged creature and sniffed the air. She was young, and she was new to experiencing the world on her own after living with her mother.Curiosity and intelligence showed in her expressions. She slinked along with eye...

42 likes 21 comments 21

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“Beldam Unfinished ” by Emily Marshall

Submitted to Contest #275

Out beneath my feet leaves lay scattered on the ground. Their crispy brown edges curling up like cold toes. A plump purple face steps into my line of sight. Even in my last moments they can’t allow me something nice. ‘The accused is allowed a final statement.’ The purple face speaks, spit flying.  The crowd stares at me, expectant. Oh gosh, what pressure. I’d never put much thought into what my last words would be. Why would I? I didn’t expect to ever be swinging from a giant tree. It should be punchy, meaningful. Something th...

2 likes 1 comment 1

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“The Weight Of Stones” by Richard Hall

Submitted to Contest #275

Mr. Johnson Cutter, his face covered in a black bag with holes cut into it, asked her awkwardly if she was comfortable with the ropes where they were.  “I suppose so,” she said flatly.  Little towns popped up regularly along the paths the great migration west took as America came to fruition. People’s manifest destinies stopped driving them on, or they had too many people die of the droop during travel, or they ran out of supplies and money and time and love for adventure, or maybe they just got plumb tired, so they decided to...

14 likes 3 comments 3

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“WITCH” by Jim Parker

Submitted to Contest #275

~Witch~My name is Wisteria Wanda Wix and I am a Witch. A powerful one at that. Call me Wisty. My mother was a Witch, her mother was a Witch. You get the idea. Let me dispel the biggest misconception about Witches right off the bat. We don’t worship Satan, or God, for that matter. Doesn’t mean that we don’t make use of them from time to time, if the need arises. No we worship nature. Mother Earth. That’s where our power lies. Are we clear on the whole Satan thing? Okay, let’s move on.I’m getting dressed for a funeral and trying to decide if I...

5 likes 0 comments 0

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“A Lifestyle to Die For” by Tony Thatcher

Submitted to Contest #275

It was unfortunate for Isobel Graves to have been born into sixteenth century Britain. It was, for most people, a harsh and cruel place. Lives, spent on long days of hard physical labour in all weather were often cut short by violence, ailment or fatal prejudice. Society, clustered in small towns and villages, was suspicious of strangers, especially those, like Isobel, who lived outside the conventions of family life or tribal hierarchy. She shared her simple woodland dwelling in Somerset with her black cat, Shadow, named for the way that he...

3 likes 1 comment 1

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“The Proposal” by KC Foster

Submitted to Contest #275

“Dear Agatha, I have finally finished thinking. I am sorry it took so long. Alfred.”The letter had arrived by the courier that afternoon. A small white envelope with a folded letter inside. Agatha brought it to her nose. The scent of fresh paper and cedar wood filled her nose. Along with the letter came tiny wood shavings from the carpenter shop where Alfred passed his time in retirement.They had once been engaged, but Alfred had been free-spirited and at times juvenile, even as a grown man. He had run off to war and chased many women. ...

8 likes 2 comments 2

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“Behind your back and beyond the fence” by Kerstin Jump

Submitted to Contest #275

The late afternoon sun was hot and lusty, and he sat and screamed and hollered from his chaise longue atop the curdling sky. His arms were spread and he let himself molest the golden tree tops and shimmering waters; his sweltering pulse beating in all he touched. The Wife sat resigned beside her old house, its white paint walls muted even in the rays of summer; yonder lay the vast fields, aching and simmering as eggs do in hot pans, their dirt and mud and muck rumbling and chafing. Pushing back a lock of hair behind her ear, she looked acros...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“A Night in the New Forest” by Madeleine Thomas

Submitted to Contest #275

I arrive at dusk with the essentials: a pop-up tent, a flask of hot coffee and my fantasma camera. It seems like a ridiculous idea, venturing into the New Forest alone on a chilly November evening, but the only way to do this is without the distraction of another mind, another opinion. Besides, there is no other way, really. I am determined to find this rare, royal phantom alone. The ground is hard. With each step, my boots crunch down onto a thin ice layer. The air is fresh; rich with the scent of pine and earth. The chill bites at my nose ...

9 likes 2 comments 2

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“Ludlow” by Rick MacKay

Submitted to Contest #275

LudlowApril 20, 1914 When I lived on the plains my feet were always cold and wet, ever since we moved down from Tabasco and into the Tent City. We headed down the canyon in September, I remember, it was cold and it rained all day. Our shoes were real heavy with mud. I was scared, but kept my mouth shut about it. I didn’t want to worry my little sisters. I was nine, after all, and just about grown up. It was time to set an example for the girls. Pa built a cart, put it together with some wheels he cobbled together from the junk pile, and we g...

6 likes 0 comments 0

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“Whispers of Ash” by W.G. Black

Submitted to Contest #275

In the distance I can hear the townspeople yelling to their God - begging His forgiveness for their perceived wrong-doings.  I can smell the wood fire, and I know that soon a sulfurous odor will begin to mix with it, followed by the addition of iron and then that sickly sweet musk as the cerebrospinal fluid boils out from beneath the skin..  The smell will linger in the air for days unless a strong wind carries it away. The last time it was so thick you could almost taste it. It settled on everything it touched - in the pine branch...

2 likes 0 comments 0

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“Him and Me” by Sally Gee

Submitted to Contest #275

HIM AND ME            John Dunn was in his own opinion, a good man.  He had worked his way through life and now oversaw the abundant production of iron in the mines flourishing in the Severn Valley.  He stood, tall, his elongated fingers placed on his hips surveying the landscape before him.  The great swirling stretch of river perambulating within its muddy banks, the cloying clay reaching up to the flora and fauna swaddling the river.  The light...

3 likes 0 comments 0

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“Sanctuary” by W. H. Goodwater

Submitted to Contest #275

Penelope Now surrounded by strangers and completely alone, she muttered to herself, "Once again, I find that the darkness clings to me. I spent so long reaching for the light, but now it's gone out. I feel a chill deep in my bones no fire could banish."  Penelope needed help. Xanthos, her eldest son, had gone to his new room to rest up for his next shift, a thought that made her shudder. Kicked out of the inn for giving birth too loudly, she was left wandering the streets. As she ambled, her mind became lost in questions. Will I have to...

21 likes 11 comments 11

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