E.J. Hagadorn

Richard Adams' 1972 novel Watership Down follows the adventures of a band of intrepid rabbits after their warren is destroyed by human development. They journey across the English countryside, encountering dangers from enemies and rabbits alike as they search for a new home. With its elements of exodus, survival, warfare, folklore and spirituality, it is little wonder that this book has gained a large and devoted following.

The history of literature is full of many great collaborations. Lord Byron and Mary Shelley wrote ghost stories at Lake Geneva, Gertrude Stein mentored Ernest Hemingway in Paris, and J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis compared fantasy novels at The Eagle and Child.

By 1926, Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie had already made a name for herself as a mystery writer. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, had been the first of many to be published to widespread acclaim, alongside numerous short stories. She was married to WWI pilot Archie Christie, had her daughter Rosalind by him, and was looking forward to publishing The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. From every angle, it looked as if she had an ideal life that was only going to get better.

When people think of the works of H.P. Lovecraft, they often think of mind-bending imagery, and unearthly beasts with tentacles. When people think of anime, they often imagine the same thing.

Not every book is a simple progression from beginning to end. Not all words are what they seem at face value. Between the covers of a book (assuming the book even has covers) anything can happen, and even the most seasoned of readers can still be surprised.

It's remarkable that a few words on the printed page, no longer than your average term paper, can be the cornerstone of a blockbuster film. Sometimes we find the movie before the story, sometimes the story before the movie, and sometimes we don't even know about the story at all. Here are a few memorable films that started out as short stories. Some you may already know, but others may surprise you.