Beasts and Super-Beasts by Saki Fiction Classic Literary Short Stories

<p><strong>My aunt will be down presently Mr. Nuttel said a very self-possessed young lady of fifteen; in the meantime you must try and put up with me.</strong></p><p>So begins The Open Window one of Saki's most famous stories. Saki born Hector Hugh Munroe wrote about characters with sometimes a sadistic cruel streak in them. It was his way of commenting on the people of Edwardian times. In doing so he has sometimes been considered more macabre than Kipling.</p><p>For instance in The Open Window Mr. Nuttel is sent to the country to recuperate from a nervous breakdown. When he meets the young lady of this tale she tells him a story about how her uncles died. When the uncles arrive at the house the delicate Mr. Nuttel runs away in horror. In The Schartz-Metterklume Method a woman believes that children should learn history by acting them out but the event she chooses is rather inappropriate for children. The Storyteller is about a young man so irritated by obnoxious children on train that he decides to keep them quiet by telling them a story. Unfortunately the story does not have a happy ending. . . .</p>