If The Loaded Dog made you smile at how quickly a small mistake can turn into chaos, here are some other short works for you to explore.
Comic misadventure & escalating chaos
- That There Dog o’ Mine — Henry Lawson
Bush humor, animal-centered mishap, conversational timing. - Bill the Ventriloquial Rooster — Henry Lawson
Absurd premise played deadpan; classic Lawson escalation. - The Union Buries Its Dead — Henry Lawson
Dry, ironic comedy; anticlimax as punchline.
Practical jokes, weapons, and unintended consequences
- The Stolen Bacillus — H. G. Wells
A “dangerous object” joke driven by misunderstanding and farce. - The Man Who Could Work Miracles — H. G. Wells
Power in the wrong hands; comic disaster by increments.
Tall tales & frontier exaggeration
- The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County — Mark Twain
Oral storytelling, timing, and the triumph of setup. - How I Edited an Agricultural Paper — Mark Twain
Chaos through incompetence; straight-faced narration.
Deadpan cruelty & moral snap
- The Monkey’s Paw — W. W. Jacobs
Not comic, but structurally similar: one object, rising dread, fatal timing. - The Interlopers — Saki (H. H. Munro)
Irony-driven ending; fate as punchline.
Short, sharp comic constructions
- The Ransom of Red Chief — O. Henry
Escalation, reversal, and an ending that clicks shut. - A Retrieved Reformation — O. Henry
Mechanical plotting; precision payoff.
Animal-centered misrule
- To Build a Fire (dog subplot emphasis) — Jack London
Animal logic versus human error; bleak counterpoint that sharpens appreciation of Lawson’s comedy.