Collider has published a ranking of the ten best novellas of all time, aimed at readers who find full-length novels daunting but still want substantial, well-crafted fiction. The list highlights the novella as a distinct form, typically running between 15,000 and 40,000 words, sitting between the short story and the novel, and argues that shorter works can be just as powerful and easier to recommend to reluctant readers.

Entries discussed include John Steinbeck's *Of Mice and Men*, set during the Great Depression and considered a simpler companion piece to his later novel *The Grapes of Wrath*; Stephen King's *The Body*, part of the *Different Seasons* collection and the basis for the 1986 film *Stand by Me*; Joseph Conrad's *Heart of Darkness*, praised for its enduring psychological depth despite dated elements; and Robert Louis Stevenson's *Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde*, cited as one of the most influential horror novellas ever written.