…”I’ve always thought,” said Rainsford, “that the Cape buffalo is the most dangerous of all big game.”

For a moment the general did not reply; he was smiling his curious red-lipped smile. Then he said slowly, “No. You are wrong, sir. The Cape buffalo is not the most dangerous big game.” He sipped his wine. “Here in my preserve on this island,” he said in the same slow tone, “I hunt more dangerous game.”

Rainsford expressed his surprise. “Is there big game on this island?”

The general nodded. “The biggest.”…


So it is, as the realities of his predicament begin slowly to occur to Sanger Rainsford, a big-game hunter who, after falling into the sea from his passing yacht has become stranded on the mysterious island of General Zaroff.

Written by American author and journalist Richard Connell in 1924. It is the authors best known work about a hunter who has become the prey. It is a short story and a relatively quick and easy read, often given as assigned reading in junior or high school to foster discussion of the role of antagonist and set & setting in literature.

The Most Dangerous Game - Richard Connell’s Original Masterpiece

The story has been adapted into movies several times as well as a radio version and the plot line been reused or referenced in many other works of fiction.

Richard Connell At Wikipedia
Read the public domain copy online at E-server