School vacation for a year. Eternal happiness. You could wish for anything-- but if it came at someone else's expense, would you still do it? When a mysterious millionaire sells thirteen-year-old Gabe a bottle containing a wish-granting imp, it comes with a warning: any time Gabe makes a wish, someone else, somewhere, is going to lose something. Maybe something big. That means each of Gabe's wishes should be a difficult ethical dilemma--but as he scores a Ferrari, a hot tub, and all the pizza and sub sandwiches a kid could want, he's certain a guilty conscience is worth it . . . isn't it? The Bottle Imp of Bright House is pithy, dark, and very, very funny, exploring the lengths people will go to for happiness-- and the surprising ways small choices can swiftly spiral out of control. Gris Grimly's bold and eerie artwork brings Gabe's misadventures to life. Inspired by a Robert Louis Stevenson novella, this clever story is full of references to his body of work-- and lots of laughs, too.

From the author of "The Cheese and the Worms" comes a quartet of luminous explorations into English literature, from Sir Thomas More to Robert Louis Stevenson. 14 illustrations.

Roslyn Jolly is Lecturer in English at the University of New South Wales, Australia. She is the author of Henry James: History, Narrative, Fiction (OUP, 1993).

At the end of XIX century, Keawe, a young sailor from Hawaii, visited the continent of America and the city of San Francisco city for the first. There, a mysterious old man sold him a bottle with a devil inside. The devil was then Keawe's to command and it would make his every wish come true. There were some rules to follow if he did not want to lose his soul to burn forever in hell. Mystery, adventure, a deeply romantic story and psychological terror from Stevenson's tale, 'The Bottle Imp.' Enjoy this great classical and dramatic story told with beautiful drawings.

A valiant mouse sets sail in her ship in a bottle to seek a better life in this gentle allegory about refugees and immigration. All Mouse wants to do is eat gingersnaps, lie in the sun, and enjoy her ship in a bottle. All Cat wants to do is eat Mouse. This is a problem. So one day, Mouse sets off in her ship in a bottle in search of a new home. But the great big world is a scary place for one small mouse. As she sails downriver, she faces grabby seagulls, selfish rabbits, and stormy waters before finally finding refuge in a park on the shores of an enormous city, where she is welcomed by friends of all shapes and sizes. Readers will cheer Mouse's quiet perseverance on her epic journey as she seeks a tiny spot to call her own.

In a small Scottish village the Reverends housekeeper is rumoured to be involved with witchcraft. As strange and terrifying events unfold, the villagers' darkest fears come to life. Stevenson's masterful use of the Scots dialect and atmospheric setting enhances the eerie and unsettling mood of this gothic narrative. »Thrawn Janet« is a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, originally published in 1881. ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON [1850–1894] was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. He is among the 30 most translated authors of all time and has been praised by Marcel Proust, Jorge Luis Borges, Vladimir Nabokov, Ernest Hemingway, and Bertolt Brecht. Treasure Island is his most famous work, along with the gothic sci-fi novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde.

Twenty-six fantasy tales from the 19th century, tracing the genre from its roots in German romanticism to the ghost stories of Henry James. The editor, who prefaces each story, analyzes the resurgence of the fantastic in our day.