# Favorite Short Stories?



## Hunter56

There's always a few topics about favorite novels, I'd like to also know what everyone's favorite short stories are.

I haven't read a ton but you really can't go wrong with The Call of Cthulu.


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## Kyle R

_Hopscotch_, by Ray Bradbury_

Haunting Olivia_, by Karen Russell

_The Deep,_ by Anthony Doerr

_Cowboy Tango,_ by Maggie Shipstead

:encouragement:


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## The Tourist

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by Thurber.  If we'd admit it, we all have the same fantasies.


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## Hunter56

Soo... I guess no one else likes short stories? :-s


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## Gargh

Yes... I just finished a really good collection of surrealist stories from Tin House called _Fantastic Women.
_
Your thread may be suffering from 'replied-to-one-like-this-not-long-ago-itis' 

The last similar active one, I think, was this one started by lasm, which has several good recommendations in it.


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## Deleted member 49710

Maybe more a novella, but "The Roads Around Pisa" by Isak Dinesin has always been a favorite of mine. So quiet and strange and confusing. I would say it changed my general idea of reading and broadened my conception of how to engage with a reader.


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## Terry D

I can give you a few shorts that I remember, and that influenced me, but they are only a few of many 'favorites'.

The Pit and the Pendulum by Poe

The Veldt by Ray Bradbury

The Jar by Bradbury

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

It Happened on Maple Street by Rod Serling

Almost anything from Stephen King's Night Shift collection (I particularly like the title story)

The Masque of the Red Death by Poe


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## Pluralized

I like stories that stick around in my head for a long time, like:

 - The Coffin by Ray Bradbury

 - The Tomb by HP Lovecraft

 - Three-Ten to Yuma by Elmore Leonard

 - To Build a Fire - Jack London (I think)

 - North Country by Roxanne Gay

Hard to go wrong with anything Bradbury. 

Also, I liked The Monkey's Paw by WW Jacobs. I think I'm going to go check out Roads Around Pisa - thanks Lasm.


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## Kyle R

Pluralized said:


> - To Build a Fire - Jack London



Oh yeah! How could I forget Jack London? Another great writer.


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## Jon M

_The Things They Carried_, Tim O'Brien
_Kaleidoscope_, Ray Bradbury


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## ppsage

"The Last Feast of Harlequin," Thomas Ligotti. Classic understated horror, dedicated to Lovecraft, from whom I guess it gets that archetypal narrative POV. Didn’t know Ligotti, who is apparently a reclusive, literary cult-figure? (literary-cult figure?) Excellent piece, if a bit long (31 medium pages). Found the story in _American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the uncanny from the 1940s to now. _Peter Straub editor. (Now is 2009 publish. 2007, latest story.) Volume has a pack of stories and text notes and author notes and pub. data for the stories. Beautiful book in that smaller Everyman Library format, with the great paper (700 pgs in 3 cm!) and place-mark ribbon. There’s a volume for the earlier period as well, I hear.


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## ppsage

“Lo,” William Faulkner. Imaginative story about Indian sit-down strike at White House. President (Jackson?) sneaks out. From _The Wilderness _section of _Collected Stories, _so it’s early history in the Yoknapatawpha Saga. 26 medium pages. 42 stories in this authoritative collection, in six sections. Not all part of the saga. My copy is a browning, fat paperback that takes a bit of care to read; a version readily available in the states for around 4$US, shipping included.


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## J Anfinson

Stephen King's collections have always been awesome, but to give a better variety of answers I'll leave him out of it. With him out of the way, these are my favorite four.

_Twilight of the Dawn_ - Dean Koontz 
_Book of Blood_ - Clive Barker
_October in the Chair_ - Neil Gaiman
_Pop Art_ - Joe Hill


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## ppsage

“Goodbye and Good Luck,” Grace Paley. The voices of Paley are a constant delight and this story from her first collection is a favorite. _“And that’s how I got unemployed in novelty wear.” _Paley stories can be read over and over, for entertainment and profit. I have this in _The Collected Stories_, which is all her three collections in one volume, and one of the few books I’ve ever purchased new. Easily procured now, paper or hardback, on the cheap.


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## Blade

_The Metamorphosis _by Franz Kafka. 

It was the right piece at the right time foe and sent me off on a whole new world of reading.


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## Grizzly

Drill Hole in my Brain by Otaro Maijo. 
It raped my mind and is honestly one of my favorite written works ever.


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## Jon M

The Tourist said:


> "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by Thurber.  If we'd admit it, we all have the same fantasies.


Was discussing writing and short stories with a chaplain a week or two ago and this story came up. He asked if I'd read it; I hadn't. He later brought a copy for me to read. 

I think the story was originally written in 1939? Published in _The New Yorker? _Willing to give it a pass for all that, and because I'm so used to modern stuff, but ... have to say, it was pretty damn boring.


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## ppsage

Hunter56 said:


> There's always a few topics about favorite novels, I'd like to also know what everyone's favorite short stories are.
> 
> I haven't read a ton but you really can't go wrong with The Call of Cthulu.



Online at http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/thecallofcthulhu.htm


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## Grizzly

Woah. That site is awesome, thanks for sharing.


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## Jon M

Girl, Jamaica Kincaid.


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## ppsage

Jon M said:


> Girl, Jamaica Kincaid.


Definitely. Queen of flash!


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## Jon M

ppsage said:


> Definitely. Queen of flash!


I first learned of her through her non-fiction piece in this awesome collection everyone should buy. Called _A Small Place_. Was absolutely blown away by the voice, the vitriol in the last paragraphs. One of the few times I felt, like, physically hurt by what I read. 

Queen indeed.


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## Jon M

A Small Place, specifically, pgs. 3-19.


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## krishan

I don't know about my favourite, but "Guts" by Chuck Palahniuk is a short story that everyone should read at some point. It's fairly disgusting, but very well-written.

Palahniuk's short fiction in general is pretty good - slightly different from the voice that seems to dominate his novels.


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## spartan928

Harrison Bergeron

Kurt Vonnegut


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## ppsage

Hinterlands. William Gibson. My favorite alien contact story, wherein humans become a sort of cargo cult. It’s in his ss collection, _Burning Chrome_, which is generally pretty excellent. Gibson doesn’t publish too many short stories which is too bad because he’s good at them. Maybe he’ll go back, now he’s got his novel formula down.


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## Grizzly

So I was browsing /r/shortstoryaday and stumbled upon this. It's called "Schrodinger's Cat" by Ursula K. Le Guin. I love it a lot.

http://geowww.geo.tcu.edu/faculty/breyer/ScienceandSociety/Lectures/6RelativityQM&20th/LK3-UKLG.html


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## Rip Van Twinkle

Any story out of Stephen King's _Night Shift _and _Skeleton Crew _collections are winners for me.  Richard Matheson's _20 Thousand Feet _collection has great stories as well.  Also, Joe Hill's short story 'Pop Art' from _20th Century Ghosts_​.


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## JimJanuary

'My Life With the Wave' - Octavio Paz
'The Ceiling' - Kevin Brockmeier
'Hills Like White Elephants' - Ernest Hemingway (Great example of showing vs telling)


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## Bilston Blue

DFW's _The Depressed Person _
Hemingway's _The Snows of Kilimanjaro.


_Also, check out _Firs Sawing Against the Sky_ by longtime WF member Chris Miller. Available at Southern Pacific Review's website. A wonderful(ly), sad story.


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## Bard_Daniel

Hemingway is a master, as is Chekhov, Poe, and  Kafka. Stephen King and Faulkner also rate high up there.

Some specific stories, by authors I don't normally read.

The Fly (Katherine Mansfield)
The Lottery (Shirley Jackson)
The Yellow Wallpaper (Charlotte Gilbert Perkins)

YET... my favorite short story writer is Borges. So much talent.


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## Clove

Very much yes to Jorge Luis Borges. No question one of the best writers of the 20th century. Other short story writers I love: Alice Munro, Lydia Davies, Angela Carter, Raymond Carver and Lu Xun.


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## Jon M

Funny this thread should pop up today. I read Shirley Jackson's short story, _Afternoon in Linen_, this morning and generally enjoyed it. She is very good at telling a story, and, through careful word choice, imbuing the narrative with a sense that things are ... not quite right.


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## Riptide

Mine? Haha, just kidding, just kidding! Um... I liked this one in middle school we read. The title was Running Shoe or something, but it was about how this girl was super fast, but she wasn't limited by her life. SHe wasn't defined by her speed. She knew, if she practiced and tried, she could do anything. It was heartfelt, especially to sixth grade runner me.


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## J Anfinson

Enjoying Mort Castle's short story collection _Moon on the Water_ right now. Those who are into horror might like it.


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## Nicholas McConnaughay

Ever since I was a lot younger, one of my favorite short-stories was always _The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,_ I absolute love the story about a person lost in a life that he doesn't want, but still dreams. The moment that you have no ambition and no dreams, and reach acceptance, it's all over in my opinion. I also really enjoy some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short-stories about Sherlock Holmes.


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## Hunter56

Anyone here that has read it recommend The Suicide Club by Robert Louis Stevenson?


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## J Anfinson

Really liked this one. Robert McCammon's *Strange Candy*


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## Terry D

A few more that stand out for me:

_Repent Harlequin, said the Tic Tock Man_ by Harlan Ellison
_I have no Mouth and I Must Scream_ also by Ellison
_Inconsistent Moon_ by Larry Niven
_Flowers for Algernon_ by Daniel Keyes
_The Answer_ by Fredric Brown

Yes, I read a boat-load of SF as a kid. (SF--NOT sci-fi)


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## Gargh

Have I shared this one...? 

Foster

It just gave me that satisfied feeling, akin to having enjoyed a really well cooked steak. Also surprised me... I think I'm used to a very unforgiving lens in modern fiction and this was much kinder, choosing to highlight the positives.


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## Deleted member 56686

Just about anything from Edgar Allan Poe

Also a big fan of Kafka's Metamorphosis


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## Poet of Gore

read The Informers by brat easton ellis (short story collection)


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## escorial

I thought i liked Calvers short stories but on reflection i found them disjointed..maybe in a while i'll appreciate them but for now..Richard Yates Liars in Love and eleven types of loneliness were fantastic.


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## Wannabe

My favorite short story would probably be Guests of the Nation by Frank O'Connor. I also really like the short stories of Guy de Maupassant.


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## Morkonan

I've read and loved bunches of short-stories. Luckily, I was surrounded by books as a kid and, as a teen, I bought a lot of anthologies. I also loved English/Lit classes and read just about all the "classics" in a variety of genres.

There is, however, an unnamed short-story that had a particular impact on me, one which I never forgot. Though I forgot its name and the author, I never forgot what that short-story demonstrated for me.

It was a science-fiction story about a man who finds himself either marooned or lost on an alien world. However, it's lucky for him that he has a prototype weapon, something considered to be one of the most powerful personal firearms of its day - A powerful ray-gun that is totally silent.

He finds himself confronted by a pack of.. some alien beasties. But, he is confident that he can survive. After all, he has a powerful prototype in his hands that will blast them into oblivion! So, he begins firing away madly, killing alien beasties left and right. But, they still keep coming! He kills more of them. Why? Why do they still relentlessly charge him? He blasts away, furiously, slaying many of them in mid-stride. Why are they leaping upon him, even though he has killed many members of the pack? Why are they ripping him to pieces, don't they know now how dangerous he is?



It was an excellent example of the illustrative power of a short-story. It was focused, determined to frame one ironic idea. It's likely that my remembrance of it is kinder than, perhaps, it should be. Or, it might truly be a science-fiction classic - I just don't know. But, that story illustrated to me just how insightful and powerful a short-story format can be if it is used well.

(It could have also just been one scene in a larger story. But, I have chosen to file it away in my head under "short-story", all the same.)


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## TKent

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.  I love that kind of dark surprise ending.


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## ppsage

Everything I've read so far by Thomas Ligotti.
_Teatro Grottesco_ (2006, reprinted in 2008) I'm savoring this collection just now.


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## Deleted member 56686

TKent said:


> The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.  I love that kind of dark surprise ending.



I remember that one. We used to do a play based on it in high school.


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## Carlton

Anything by _Anton Chekhov_. If I had to pick just one short fiction/novella from his brilliant compilation, it would be *Ward 6*.
If you want to read Ward 6, click here. 




My love of the short story began with the classic, *The Lottery* by Shirley Jackson. Her works are fabulous!



_


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## Arthur G. Mustard

Oh, Whistle, and I`ll Come to You My Lad.  M.R. James


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## Deleted member 64995

Sentry - Frederic Brown 
Examination Day - Henry Slesar
The Midnight Meat Train - Clive Barker
Survivor Type ( Skeleton Crew Book) -Stephen King
 Answer, 1954. di Fredric Brown.


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## EternalGreen

"The Fall of the House of Usher" by Poe is probably my all-time favorite, not just because of its quality, but because of when I read it and how it impacted me.


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## JJ Dean

Borges is the best, so I second that. A few specifics for folks to try are The Garden of Forking Paths; Death and the Compass; Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote; and Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.


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## nighthighway

Mostly anything by Edgar Allan Poe.


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## BabesJJ

This is my first time posting here. I read this book called "The Girl in the Flammable Skirt". by Aimee Bender. I picked it up at a used book story and I loved the unusual stories. I think about the stories from time to time.


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## Foxee

The Most Dangerous Game - Richard Connell


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## druid12000

One of my favorites is _The Body Politic_ by Clive Barker. Awesomely creepy and hilarious :eagerness:


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## ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord

Ooh. A lot of Ray Bradbury: "The Fog Horn," "No Particular Night or Morning," "The Long Rain," "Here There Be Tygers," so many more... I also like "Dagon" by H. P. Lovecraft. And, I don't know if this counts, but fairy tales. Mostly Andersen's: "The Marsh King's Daughter," "The Old Street Lamp," "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," heh, I could list those forever.  But I feel like if I had to pick a favorite of all time, including fairy tales, I'd maybe say "The Snow Queen." It has everything: adventure, beauty, a terrifying villain, the confrontation of good and evil, transcendence.


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## Kensa

Short Stories by Saki (H. H. Munro), especially featuring Reginald.

_La Vénus d'Ille_ by Prosper Mérimée (Fantasy/Horror)


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## Matchu

I purchased an anthology of 'All the Short Stories You Will Ever Need.'  Interesting enough in a homework sort of a  fashion.  I don't know, my brain poorly wired in some respects.  Yesterday I read Tim Winton 'Boner's Moll.'  The story gives you an insight into Australian lit.  Very nice, worthy.  Another Australian one was about a dog with explosives in his mouth.  Lots of the Australian stories are set outdoors, always hot in open spaces.  I get a lot of nourishment reading a short story a day.  Earlier in the week I read a famous American one.  I researched around it afterward, from the Southern Gothic genre, so a new area of expertise, where the car rolls over, and the man who comes to help is their local escaped lunatic, and he kills all the occupants of the car with a gun.  That wasn't much of a twist.  Also James Joyce (short story yay!!) is inside there, and Shirley Jackson's wholesome lottery story.  My favourite I think is Elizabeth Taylor, she's so boring and English, my new hero.  A different Elizabeth Taylor.  These are all 20C.  

You read the on-line publication history...which is fun...a few quid for the writers, probably they don't have jobs, or teachers.  2005 anthology - 2007 anthology - 2009 Writerzone etc - 2014 re-print @ Splash Ink.  If I had the book on my lap I might give more examples.  I had to cover it after the cat chewed the cardboard.  I gave it a new title 'I Tickled Alone, One Million Copies Sold.'  I told the lady  'this is my book, lady.'  'Your book!' 'Yeah,' I said, but she got all funny about tickling alone.  'It doesn't mean anything!' I said.  She was not very bright.  Hopefully I will keep my job.


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## Tiamat

There's a short story in issue #169 of Clarkesworld called, "To Set at Twilight in a Land of Reeds" by Natalia Theodoridou. I've read it like four or five times since it came out a few months ago and I love it more every time.


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## NajaNoir

I really like I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, by Harlan Ellison, but Eyes of Dust is my favorite of his. Very sad, but good nonetheless.

The Strange Library by Murakami

The Hanging Stranger and Of Withered Apples by, Philip K Dick

Supertoys Last All Summer Long by, Brain Aldiss


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## Bloggsworth

The General Danced At Dawn by George McDonald Fraser.


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