Short Stories began its existence as a literary periodical, carrying work by Rudyard Kipling, Émile Zola, Bret Harte, Ivan Turgenev and Anna Katharine Green.

The magazine was sold in 1904 and eventually purchased by Doubleday, Page and Company, which in 1910 transformed Short Stories into a "quality pulp".

[2] Short Stories was initially known for publishing crime fiction by authors including Max Pemberton, Thomas W. Hanshew and Hugh Pendexter.

The magazine's writers in the adventure genre included George Allan England, H. Bedford-Jones, Gordon MacCreagh, J. Allan Dunn, L. Patrick Greene (stories set in Africa), William Wirt (who chronicled the exploits of a mercenary, Jimmie Cordie) and George F. Worts (who wrote about South Sea adventures).

Newsom (with humorous stories about Legionnaires Mike Curialo and Albert Withers), Georges Surdez, Robert Carse and Bob Du Soe.

[8] In addition to fiction, Maule also created "The Story Teller's Circle", a forum for readers to write in and discuss issues (similar to "The Camp-Fire" department in Adventure magazine).

[4] Like other pulps, the advent of World War II, and the arrival of paperbacks and television had a negative effect on Short Stories; circulation figures plummeted and by the 1950s the magazine was dominated by reprints.