In this story, which inspired King Kong and Jurassic Park, a team of brave explorers set out for a “lost world” in the middle of the Amazon rain forest.

O.Henry, America’s master of the short story, is famous for his ability to provide a surprise ending to his stories. The five great stories chosen for this book range from the comic to the poignant.

After a UFO sighting near Seattle, Washington, everyone is excited. But no one believes there could possibly be an alien in town, until Karen and her friends start noticing some strange things happening.

Peter O’NelI, Montego High School’s favorite teacher, goes missing in the Bermuda Triangle, and the Miami Police can’t seem to solve the case. After an unusual Halloween party, three of his teenage students decide to investigate the case with the help of O’Nell’s dog, Rover. A ghostly appearance and strange clues lead Bill, Michelle and Nick to the popular wax museum, to O’Nell’s old home and to a millionaire’s yacht.

Three best friends are traveling around Australia in search of adventure before they start university. After celebrating Christmas Day on Sydney’s Bondi Beach one of them goes missing. Lisa is just 18 years old, so why would anyone want to kidnap her? Amy and Claire are determined to find her and they desperately look for her throughout the city of Sydney...

“The Red-Headed League” and “The Speckled Band” are taken from Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In these two stories we join Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in Victorian London as they try to solve two of their most mysterious and terrifying cases. What is the secret behind the Red-Headed League? And why does a young shop assistant spend so much time in a dark cellar? How can a young woman be murdered inside her bedroom after she locked the door one night? And why were her last words “the speckled band”?.