Saki (H. H. Munro), 1914, read as an e-book from BlackMask.com

This collection of thirty-some short stories uses Beasts as the unifying theme. Whether it’s literal Beasts, as in the tale of upper class women stymied in their attempt to sneak into a exclusive party (to which they should have been invited) by a large boar, or figurative Beasts, as in the majority of the others, each story has a Beastly tie-in. We see a lot of Beastly behavior on the part of the Elite. Many of the stories feature twists; some of these twists can be seen approaching from a great distance. I don’t know if it’s because the stories have been widely imitated, or whether the plots were old even when published, but some of these stories felt like old chestnuts decorated up in a new retelling.