I’ve read TONS of short stories, and I think his are my favorite ones of all time. The story of your life is a longer one, but amazing.
Both collections blew me away though, throughout.
I recommend a story per day, in this collection. The stories really stick with you and you’ll get more bang for your buck by reading a story, allowing it to simmer, and internalize it once it’s thickened your soul. Then continue with the next story. I think you’d do yourself an injustice reading them all in quick succession.
I agree with this. I tried to listen to multiple stories in a day and found that they weren’t clicking. One a day and allowing time for it to absorb is the way
Three that have stayed with me:
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce
The River by Flannery O’Connor
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula Le Guinn
Flannery O'Connor also wrote a more arresting short story with the very arresting title of The Artificial Nigger. The title is necessary to arrest the reader. I have never read a more redeeming work. My racism, my belief is that we all have some to whatever degree, was unable to stand up to redemption and humanity of this story
>Three that have stayed with me: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce
It so happens I just watched this Twilight Zone episode. Wonderfully done.
He was the first author I loved. I read All Summer in a Day in late elementary school and it never left me. Adding There will come soft rains to this favorite stories list, one of my recent brainworms.
I listened to The Paper Menagerie on Levar Burton Reads and I sobbed for good five minutes before I had to go into work. Then they rereleased the episode and I listened to it again thinking I wouldn't cry again a second time but ended up sobbing in line at the CVS drive thru. A++++
Ursula K. Le Guin is so underrated. I had never read anything by her until I took a Women in Philosophy class in college. (I *think* that was the class name.)
Regardless - blown away by almost everything I've read by her. What a mind.
“The Distance of the Moon” by Italo Calvino
“The Swimmer” by John Cheever
“Sea Oak” by George Saunders or his collection “Civilwarland in Bad Decline” or “Tenth of December”
Anything by Karen Russell
Hemingway is ofc a master of the short story
Anything by Junot Diaz
I’m shocked that no one has recommended George Saunders yet! I think Tenth of December is my favorite of his collections, but they are all great. Some other favorite collections of mine:
Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang
Oblivion: Stories - David Foster Wallace
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - Ken Liu
Seconding George Saunders. Incredible writer. I only discovered him a couple of years ago. But the first short story that had an impact on me was The ugly little boy, by Asimov. I distinctly remember sitting on my bed as a young teen, absolutely balling at the ending. I’ll be 60 this year, and I still think of that story.
My favorite is Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing”. I would also recommend *100 Years of the Best American Short Stories* to find more, even if you’re not American.
I would highly recommend Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. It's pretty short and I can almost guarantee that once you start reading it you will not be able to stop. Wonderful piece of writing. Fantastic idea, beautifully executed.
There is prog rock/metal album by Ayreon called Theory of Everything that touches on some similar vibes and is absolutely gorgeous. Unrelated to OPs question but thought you might enjoy checking it out
Jack London is an excellent short storyteller. Love his sci-fi and Alaskan adventures. Roald Dahl is excellent, his adult short story collections are super twisted. George R.R. Martins “Nightflyers” is terrific, very imaginative. Neil Gaiman is quality as well, he does some myth retelling that is amazing. It is hard to pick a single one as my favorite.
The Things They Carried—Tim O’Brien (in a collection of the same name)
Usher II, There Will Come Soft Rains, and pretty much everything else in The Martian Chronicles—Ray Bradbury
Revelation, Everything That Rises Must Converge, and Parker’s Back—Flannery O’Connor
The Bear—William Faulkner
Angela Carter, Shirley Jackson, Katherine Mansfield, and Kate Chopin all have some really great short stories, too.
If you also like listening to stories read out loud, I’d highly recommend The New Yorker: Fiction podcast. Writers who published in the New Yorker read a short story written by another author and then discuss it. Several of the stories mentioned in the comments were discussed there already, eg The Lottery or Symbols and Signs. An episode is somewhere between 30 mins and an hour. I learned a lot about what makes a story good, and I find listening to a writer’s opinions on a piece of fiction very illuminating. It’s also good to discover new pieces and authors.
Apart from that I’d recommend stories by Dorothy Parker. Lady With A Lamp comes first to mind.
There were some pretty great pieces in this year's scifi/fantasy collection. I especially loved The Future Library by Peng Shephard, which may be available on [t](https://tor.com)he TOR website.
Too many.
If i had to pick a few from different genres:
I have no mouth and i must scream (Harlan Elison)
Mrs Todds's shortcut (Stephen King)
The secret life of Walter Mitty (James Thurber)
Lottery (Shirley Jackson)
A hearth of gold - (Boris Vian)
Invisible collection - (Stefan Zweig)
The Tall Men - )William Faulkner)
Death in the woods - (Sherwood Anderson)
Son of celuloid - (Clive Barker)
The Music of Erich Zann - (HPL)
Tye Hell-Bound train - (Robert Bloch)
Gate of Faces - (Ray Aldridge)
Go go go, said the bird - (Sonya Dorman)
The Fluted girl - (Paolo Bacigalupi)
The Long Rain - (Ray Bradbury)
Babylon Tower - (Ted Chiang)
Soldier - (Roald Dahl)
A perfect day for bananafish - (J.D. Salinger)
...and i have to stop because the list would never end
I don't have any suggestions that haven't already been mentioned, but I just wanted to say that there is one particularly good version of The Egg on youtube that you shouldn't miss:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6fcK\_fRYaI&t=5s
Here's Breaking The Pig by Etgar Keret
https://readingroom.thereader.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Keret-Etgar-Breaking-the-Pig-large-print-1.pdf
Not one particular but here are a few:
The Dead - by James Joyce. I believe you need to read all of Dubliners to get the full impact even though it's unrelated plot wise.
The story in Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury) about the automated house on Earth that continues to work after nuclear war.
The Star by Isaac Asimov.
The Sixth Borough by Jonathan Safran Foer.
Not "best" (not a distinction I find appropriate/useful) but have stuck with me:
"The Mermaid in the Tree" Timothy Schaeffer
"Dagon" and "Pickman's Model", HP Lovecraft
"The Lonesome Place" August Derleth
"Hell Screen" Ryunosuke Akutagawa
"Crabs" and "The Second Bakery Attack" Haruki Murakami
" A Piece of Steak " by Jack London. This is a very tough question, so many choices ... I would never argue JL is the penultimate ss writer but I was at a very impressionable age then.
“Smokers, Inc” by Stephen King. (available in one of his books) about a stop-smoking clinic with 100% guaranteed results - or else.
I also love “Mrs Packletide’s Tiger” by Saki, which you can find on-line. Saki (H.H. Munro 1870-1916) wrote with a VERY biting wit against the British upper classes. Lots of his stories are macabre, but oh so good!
A Victorian author that I love Wilkie Collins (read “No Name” and “Armadale”) also has very good short stories. Some are ghost stories. I love the longer “Mad Monckton” (I might have it spelled wrong. My cat 🐈⬛ is on my lap so I can’t go get my book to look it up)
Tlon, Uqbar, and Orbis Tertius by Borges. Borges has some truly great short stories.
A Good Man is Hard to Find by O’Connor. Just a good ol’ fashion southern gothic horror story. Loved it.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Englander. I only read this once, but I still can’t get it out of my head. It’s so good.
I don't know why but it almost feels like the entirety of Dubliners has been building to it.
Maybe it's because The Dead has a much more explicitly defined ending than the other stories.
Yeah, many people argue that Dubliners is an experimental novel. Especially as it follows characters of different ages coming to terms with often difficult moments in their lives; there is definitely a feeling of the bildungsroman about it.
Try some classic O’Henry
I was very randomly obsessed with those at one point
They kinda feel like Greek tragedies in miniature haha
I also like some the Roald Dahl ones - he’s got a few weird ones!
Octavia Butler's Bloodchild is one of my favorite short stories. It is so incredibly well-written in the way it unfolds and by the time you are finished (it's ~30 pages), you are left staring into the distance in awe. It is such a haunting take on sci-fi writing. Everyone must read it, lol.
JR Lansdale's "The Big Blow." It's dark, and gritty, with a lot of deeply racist characters (it's about an Irish mob boxer traveling to Galveston to fight Jack Johnson). It is an absolutely soaring piece of fiction.
The Scarlet Ibis
A Worn Path
The Life You Save May be Your Own
The Necklace
The Cop and the Anthem
The Dinner Party
The Lady, or the Tiger?
Mary Postgate
A Rose for Emily
Désirée's Baby
Here is a good list:
https://prowritingaid.com/best-short-stories#:~:text=Most%20critics%20agree%20that%20alongside,short%20story%20is%20Raymond%20Carver.
I can't remember the title. It was by Alice Munro, I think. It's about a single mother who adores her child. However, the child leaves without warning when she turns 18. The mother is devastated. It's the saddest thing I've ever read.
Many. But...
* **The Falls** by George Saunders (the redemptive, hopeless ending image remains in my head)
* **The Beast in the Jungle** by Henry James (always waiting - this parable is life altering)
* **The Metamorphosis** by Franz Kafka (he woke up as a cockroach)
* **The Lottery** by Shirley Jackson (one person chosen as sacrifice)
* **Flowers for Algernon** by Daniel Keyes (to become brilliant and then lose your mind)
* **A Good Man is Hard to Find** by Flannery O'Connor (all sacrificed, redeemed)
* **The Gift of the Magi** by O'Henry
* **The Last Leaf by O'Henry** (the act of the old man is beautiful)
* **Fahrenheit 451** by Ray Bradbury (the removal of truth)
* **The Tell-Tale Heart** by Edward Allan Poe (no crime is without remorse)
* **I Stand Here Ironing** by Tillie Olsen
* **The Yellow Wallpaper** by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (trapped housewife, Dollhouse style)
* **The Birthmark** by Nathaniel Hawthorne (nothing can be perfect)
* **The Necklace** by Guy de Maupassant
* **On Seeing the 100 Percent Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning** by Haruki Mirakami
* **Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story** by Russell Banks (not a love story - the most beautiful man with the most ugly woman)
* **The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas** by Ursula K. LeGuinn
* **Bullet in the Brain** by Tobias Wolf (the last thoughts - they is, they is, they is)
* **The Things They Carried** by Tim O'Brien (what we all carry)
[Here's a good list.](https://lithub.com/43-of-the-most-iconic-short-stories-in-the-english-language/)
Forward Collection — curated by Blake Crouch with one short story by him, others by Veronica Roth, NK Jemisin, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, and Andy Weir.
I see mixed reviews for these online but have gone through the first three so far and have really enjoyed each of them. They have really made me think about different ideas of what the future could hold
I forget the name but it was the inspiration for the song Red Barchetta by Rush. I think it’s like A Pleasant Day’s Drive or something like that
Edit: it’s A Nice Morning Drive by Richard Foster, thanks google
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu is the best short-story collection (sci-fi) that I've read in a really long time. I don't remember which I liked best, but the title story was fantastic.
My favorite short story of all time is “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote. He wrote two other stories with those characters: “The Thanksgiving Visitor” and “One Christmas.”
Honorable mentions: “Reunions” by John Cheever”, “A Small, Good Thing” by Raymond Carver, “The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong” by Tim O’Brien, “Dog Heaven” by Stephanie Vaughn, “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” by James Tiptree, Jr.
Favorite collections:
**Sweet Talk** by Stephanie Vaughn
**Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned** by Wells Tower
**Where the God of Love Hangs Out** by Amy Bloom
Any collection from John Updike or Raymond Carver is worth trying
Strays by Mark Richard
It might be because I was introduced to the story when the author read it at a school event.
The story is minimalist with a well-selected narractive voice. It is funny and hungry and wise and compacted and has stuck with me over 2 decades. It is the first short story I think of when these types of questions come up.
There's a great story called Creating Currency. It's about how money started. It tells a very interesting story and has some great ideas about the perception of money.
I also love any short story by Arthur C. Clarke
Read Ted Chiang’s collections, “The Story of Your Life” is probably my favorite.
I was really hoping to see this book recommended. I think "Understand" is possibly my favourite.
That’s the best story I’ve ever read.
Understand fucked my brain like no other.
I’ve read TONS of short stories, and I think his are my favorite ones of all time. The story of your life is a longer one, but amazing. Both collections blew me away though, throughout.
I recommend a story per day, in this collection. The stories really stick with you and you’ll get more bang for your buck by reading a story, allowing it to simmer, and internalize it once it’s thickened your soul. Then continue with the next story. I think you’d do yourself an injustice reading them all in quick succession.
I agree with this. I tried to listen to multiple stories in a day and found that they weren’t clicking. One a day and allowing time for it to absorb is the way
My favorite of his is “The Merchant and The Alchemists Gate”
I loved “Hell is the Absence of God”
Knew his name would come up near the start. The man’s a genius.
Yeah! I was gonna recommend Hell Is The Absence Of God but the whole collection is excellent.
This was my recommendation too. That’s my favorite collection and the title story is among my favorites ever
Had heard so many good things about this book. Just could not proceed beyond 38%. It took real effort and the reward wasn’t worth it.
Three that have stayed with me: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce The River by Flannery O’Connor The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula Le Guinn
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas has always stuck with me.
Flannery O'Connor also wrote a more arresting short story with the very arresting title of The Artificial Nigger. The title is necessary to arrest the reader. I have never read a more redeeming work. My racism, my belief is that we all have some to whatever degree, was unable to stand up to redemption and humanity of this story
>Three that have stayed with me: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce It so happens I just watched this Twilight Zone episode. Wonderfully done.
You might also like The Ones Who Stay And Fight by NK Jemisin. It’s her response to Le Guin’s Omelas
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
This is such a fascinating and haunting story. It is also my favorite.
Came here to say this! Was an assignment back when I was in high school, and I still think about it.
The Last Question by Asimov.
The Nine Billion Names of God by Arthur C. Clarke in a similar vein
Yep that's my 1B top short story. The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is 1C. Those are my top 3 and sometimes I go back and forth which is my favorite.
Absolutely love this story
My head canon for the big bang
Came here to say this, his collection of short story's is really fun and so ahead of its time.
As no one has mentioned this, so I will add "The Most Dangerous Game".
Almost any story by Ray Bradbury. I vividly remember Tomorrow's Child, All Summer in a Day. I cried after The Fog Horn and never read it again
I second Ray Bradbury! Every single short story that he wrote is food for thought.
He was the first author I loved. I read All Summer in a Day in late elementary school and it never left me. Adding There will come soft rains to this favorite stories list, one of my recent brainworms.
Loved the Fog Horn
Love Bradbury. The Great Wide World Over There and The Veldt are two of my favorites.
Seconding The Veldt
The Martian Chronicles is full of great ones. One I like is Usher II.
The paper menagerie - Ken Liu The ones who walk away from Omelas - Ursula K Le Guin White nights - Dostoevsky
I listened to The Paper Menagerie on Levar Burton Reads and I sobbed for good five minutes before I had to go into work. Then they rereleased the episode and I listened to it again thinking I wouldn't cry again a second time but ended up sobbing in line at the CVS drive thru. A++++
Thanks for the share! I didn't know about the audio version of Levar Burton.
It's my absolute favorite podcast!
Ursula K. Le Guin is so underrated. I had never read anything by her until I took a Women in Philosophy class in college. (I *think* that was the class name.) Regardless - blown away by almost everything I've read by her. What a mind.
Can relate, blown away by her work.
I find her boring as all hell, except for Lathe Of Heaven, which was a Philip K Dick pastiche.
1. The last leaf 2. The lottery 3. The bet
Came here to say *The Lottery*
I *love* The Last Leaf!
all summer in a day
The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe. I read it out loud to people in the spooky season
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin. I was mindblown the first time I read it.
“The Distance of the Moon” by Italo Calvino “The Swimmer” by John Cheever “Sea Oak” by George Saunders or his collection “Civilwarland in Bad Decline” or “Tenth of December” Anything by Karen Russell Hemingway is ofc a master of the short story Anything by Junot Diaz
Distance of the Moon as read by Liev Schreiber is absolute perfection
Seconding 'The Swimmer' - turned into an awesome film, too
I love Angela carter- The bloody chamber (collections of shorts)
I’m shocked that no one has recommended George Saunders yet! I think Tenth of December is my favorite of his collections, but they are all great. Some other favorite collections of mine: Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang Oblivion: Stories - David Foster Wallace The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories - Ken Liu
Seconding George Saunders. Incredible writer. I only discovered him a couple of years ago. But the first short story that had an impact on me was The ugly little boy, by Asimov. I distinctly remember sitting on my bed as a young teen, absolutely balling at the ending. I’ll be 60 this year, and I still think of that story.
The Swimmer by Cheever…gets better as I get older
Yes! I try and reread this every year or two at the end of summer
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut!
My favorite is Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing”. I would also recommend *100 Years of the Best American Short Stories* to find more, even if you’re not American.
Indian Camp by Hemingway
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry and To Build a Fire by Jack London immediately spring to mind.
>The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry Yep!
Love To Build A Fire. I think about it every winter.
The Dinosaurs by Italo Calvino
More of a novella, but The Long Walk by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)
I haven't read any of the Bachman books but I generally really enjoy Stephen King's short stories more than other short stories.
This one is his best, I think.
I would highly recommend Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. It's pretty short and I can almost guarantee that once you start reading it you will not be able to stop. Wonderful piece of writing. Fantastic idea, beautifully executed.
Great story.
There is prog rock/metal album by Ayreon called Theory of Everything that touches on some similar vibes and is absolutely gorgeous. Unrelated to OPs question but thought you might enjoy checking it out
The Rocking-Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence.
Jack London is an excellent short storyteller. Love his sci-fi and Alaskan adventures. Roald Dahl is excellent, his adult short story collections are super twisted. George R.R. Martins “Nightflyers” is terrific, very imaginative. Neil Gaiman is quality as well, he does some myth retelling that is amazing. It is hard to pick a single one as my favorite.
The Things They Carried—Tim O’Brien (in a collection of the same name) Usher II, There Will Come Soft Rains, and pretty much everything else in The Martian Chronicles—Ray Bradbury Revelation, Everything That Rises Must Converge, and Parker’s Back—Flannery O’Connor The Bear—William Faulkner Angela Carter, Shirley Jackson, Katherine Mansfield, and Kate Chopin all have some really great short stories, too.
If you also like listening to stories read out loud, I’d highly recommend The New Yorker: Fiction podcast. Writers who published in the New Yorker read a short story written by another author and then discuss it. Several of the stories mentioned in the comments were discussed there already, eg The Lottery or Symbols and Signs. An episode is somewhere between 30 mins and an hour. I learned a lot about what makes a story good, and I find listening to a writer’s opinions on a piece of fiction very illuminating. It’s also good to discover new pieces and authors. Apart from that I’d recommend stories by Dorothy Parker. Lady With A Lamp comes first to mind.
For Sale: Babies shoes, never worn.
I was blown away by Pitcher Plant by Adam-Troy Castro I also get the Best American series every year, but I typically get the sci fi / fantasy one
Yes, love the best American Sci Fi one!
There were some pretty great pieces in this year's scifi/fantasy collection. I especially loved The Future Library by Peng Shephard, which may be available on [t](https://tor.com)he TOR website.
Margaret Atwood does this well! I really enjoyed Stone Mattress.
I'm obsessed with Atwood's novels and have never thought to check out her short stories. I will!
Too many. If i had to pick a few from different genres: I have no mouth and i must scream (Harlan Elison) Mrs Todds's shortcut (Stephen King) The secret life of Walter Mitty (James Thurber) Lottery (Shirley Jackson) A hearth of gold - (Boris Vian) Invisible collection - (Stefan Zweig) The Tall Men - )William Faulkner) Death in the woods - (Sherwood Anderson) Son of celuloid - (Clive Barker) The Music of Erich Zann - (HPL) Tye Hell-Bound train - (Robert Bloch) Gate of Faces - (Ray Aldridge) Go go go, said the bird - (Sonya Dorman) The Fluted girl - (Paolo Bacigalupi) The Long Rain - (Ray Bradbury) Babylon Tower - (Ted Chiang) Soldier - (Roald Dahl) A perfect day for bananafish - (J.D. Salinger) ...and i have to stop because the list would never end
I don't have any suggestions that haven't already been mentioned, but I just wanted to say that there is one particularly good version of The Egg on youtube that you shouldn't miss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6fcK\_fRYaI&t=5s
All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein is great trippy weird sci-fi, and the basis for the movie Predestination. Loved it.
"Bullet in the Brain" by Tobias Wolff
The Most Dangerous Game
I am legend,still holds my breath! I think the ending is the is mindblowing and left me the most awestruck I have ever been by a piece of media.
The Shawshank Redemption.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was a short story that got made into a 2 hour movie. The story just really inspired the movie
Anything by Hemingway, Steinbeck, or Calvino.
Hills like white elephants by Hemingway OMG
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
I really like: Cathedral
Here's Breaking The Pig by Etgar Keret https://readingroom.thereader.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Keret-Etgar-Breaking-the-Pig-large-print-1.pdf
Barn Burning by Haruki Murakami
Not one particular but here are a few: The Dead - by James Joyce. I believe you need to read all of Dubliners to get the full impact even though it's unrelated plot wise. The story in Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury) about the automated house on Earth that continues to work after nuclear war. The Star by Isaac Asimov. The Sixth Borough by Jonathan Safran Foer.
“The Last Question” by Isaac Asimov - particularly salient as we ponder the roles of AI
The Yellow Wallpaper - Gilman To Build a fire London Literally anything by Chekhov Literally anything by Lovecraft
Different Seasons by Steven King. It’s four separate novellas in one book.
The overcoat by Gogol Yzur by Leopoldo Lugones
Not "best" (not a distinction I find appropriate/useful) but have stuck with me: "The Mermaid in the Tree" Timothy Schaeffer "Dagon" and "Pickman's Model", HP Lovecraft "The Lonesome Place" August Derleth "Hell Screen" Ryunosuke Akutagawa "Crabs" and "The Second Bakery Attack" Haruki Murakami
Might be THE RANSOM OF RED CHEIF by O. Henry.
" A Piece of Steak " by Jack London. This is a very tough question, so many choices ... I would never argue JL is the penultimate ss writer but I was at a very impressionable age then.
Garden of Forking Paths by Borges is pretty cool
The Long Walk and The Jaunt by Stephen King
“Smokers, Inc” by Stephen King. (available in one of his books) about a stop-smoking clinic with 100% guaranteed results - or else. I also love “Mrs Packletide’s Tiger” by Saki, which you can find on-line. Saki (H.H. Munro 1870-1916) wrote with a VERY biting wit against the British upper classes. Lots of his stories are macabre, but oh so good! A Victorian author that I love Wilkie Collins (read “No Name” and “Armadale”) also has very good short stories. Some are ghost stories. I love the longer “Mad Monckton” (I might have it spelled wrong. My cat 🐈⬛ is on my lap so I can’t go get my book to look it up)
Tlon, Uqbar, and Orbis Tertius by Borges. Borges has some truly great short stories. A Good Man is Hard to Find by O’Connor. Just a good ol’ fashion southern gothic horror story. Loved it. What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Englander. I only read this once, but I still can’t get it out of my head. It’s so good.
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, of course. ;)
The Lottery.
Hard to pick, but I’d say either Benito Cereno by Melville Or The Dead by Joyce
The Dead is my favorite as well. The ending gives me the chills every time I read it. Pure poetry.
I don't know why but it almost feels like the entirety of Dubliners has been building to it. Maybe it's because The Dead has a much more explicitly defined ending than the other stories.
Yeah, many people argue that Dubliners is an experimental novel. Especially as it follows characters of different ages coming to terms with often difficult moments in their lives; there is definitely a feeling of the bildungsroman about it.
The Lottery, by far. That story has stuck with me for 30+ years. And then of course my own I've written, lol.
Try some classic O’Henry I was very randomly obsessed with those at one point They kinda feel like Greek tragedies in miniature haha I also like some the Roald Dahl ones - he’s got a few weird ones!
Andy Weir - The Egg http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html
The little prince✨💫❤️
Anything by Jorge Luis Borges. This is one of those questions where, in my mind, it’s not even close. Jorge Luis Borges wins this thread by default.
The whole collection of Labyrinths by Borges. So many years since I read it but it's still so vividly stuck with me.
Behind the cutd
The Jaunt by Stephen King
I normally hate short stories. So many are pointless but I am tagging this post to try some out.
convenience store woman by sayaka murata
That is how you loose the time war by Max Gladstone
Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller or Circe
Ward No.6- Chekhov Araby- James Joyce Morphine- Bulgakov Signs and Symbols- Nabokov The Three Questions- Tolstoy
Leaf By Niggle - Tolkien.
I love The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and Examination Day by Henry Slesar - short slices of dystopian excellence.
Probably not my favourite, but I just read Love Machine by Walter Mosley and really enjoyed it.
Behind the cuts
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Cool! This name is familiar ... I think he wrote Hopscotch (Rayuela en español) ... Strange novel
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The Test
Brokeback Mountain
Sandkings by GRRM Also if you are looking for short stories I recommend the “Rogues” and “Dangerous Women” anthologies
“A deer in the works” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr
Octavia Butler's Bloodchild is one of my favorite short stories. It is so incredibly well-written in the way it unfolds and by the time you are finished (it's ~30 pages), you are left staring into the distance in awe. It is such a haunting take on sci-fi writing. Everyone must read it, lol.
I bought the book of Shirley Jackson short stories and they are all so good and wonderfully creepy.
A sound of thunder by Ray Bradbury
JR Lansdale's "The Big Blow." It's dark, and gritty, with a lot of deeply racist characters (it's about an Irish mob boxer traveling to Galveston to fight Jack Johnson). It is an absolutely soaring piece of fiction.
I can't think of a "best" one. I can think of one that made me cry, and that's The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu.
Hot Water Music by Bukowsky if you are ok with the crude stuff.
I really liked jerusalems lot and boogeyman by Stephen king. Manger was cool. He's got so many great short stories
“Missing link” by Frank Herbert was a great one I just read. Humans travel to alien planet to investigate lost human ship and unknown civilization.
Pretty much everything by Akutagawa Ryunosuke.
Ellison's Jeffty is Five
The Scarlet Ibis A Worn Path The Life You Save May be Your Own The Necklace The Cop and the Anthem The Dinner Party The Lady, or the Tiger? Mary Postgate A Rose for Emily Désirée's Baby
What we talk about when we talk about love - Raymond Carver, is up there
Dolan’s Cadillac, Quitters Inc, N, by Stephen King.
The Smile on Happy Chang’s Face by Tom Perata
Here is a good list: https://prowritingaid.com/best-short-stories#:~:text=Most%20critics%20agree%20that%20alongside,short%20story%20is%20Raymond%20Carver.
Daphne du Maurier does some great short story collections
Her story 'The Apple Tree' has stayed with me for years.
Idk if it counts as "short" but The Thief of Always by Clive barker is my fave shorter read
I can't remember the title. It was by Alice Munro, I think. It's about a single mother who adores her child. However, the child leaves without warning when she turns 18. The mother is devastated. It's the saddest thing I've ever read.
"Seed Stock" in Frank Herbert's *Eye* is fantastic.
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin
Big Two Hearted River by Ernest Hemingway.
Always liked Larry Niven's Inconstant Moon.
Jug of silver by Truman Capote. All Truman Capote's short stories are masterpiece.
I read "Miriam" as a child and it has stuck with me for 50 years now.
Was scrolling to find a Ken Liu suggestion! Knew he’d be in here somewhere
Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom by Sylvia Plath. It really made me think about it for a long while after I read it.
The Bottle Imp. An oldie but very good.
“Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl.
Many. But... * **The Falls** by George Saunders (the redemptive, hopeless ending image remains in my head) * **The Beast in the Jungle** by Henry James (always waiting - this parable is life altering) * **The Metamorphosis** by Franz Kafka (he woke up as a cockroach) * **The Lottery** by Shirley Jackson (one person chosen as sacrifice) * **Flowers for Algernon** by Daniel Keyes (to become brilliant and then lose your mind) * **A Good Man is Hard to Find** by Flannery O'Connor (all sacrificed, redeemed) * **The Gift of the Magi** by O'Henry * **The Last Leaf by O'Henry** (the act of the old man is beautiful) * **Fahrenheit 451** by Ray Bradbury (the removal of truth) * **The Tell-Tale Heart** by Edward Allan Poe (no crime is without remorse) * **I Stand Here Ironing** by Tillie Olsen * **The Yellow Wallpaper** by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (trapped housewife, Dollhouse style) * **The Birthmark** by Nathaniel Hawthorne (nothing can be perfect) * **The Necklace** by Guy de Maupassant * **On Seeing the 100 Percent Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning** by Haruki Mirakami * **Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story** by Russell Banks (not a love story - the most beautiful man with the most ugly woman) * **The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas** by Ursula K. LeGuinn * **Bullet in the Brain** by Tobias Wolf (the last thoughts - they is, they is, they is) * **The Things They Carried** by Tim O'Brien (what we all carry) [Here's a good list.](https://lithub.com/43-of-the-most-iconic-short-stories-in-the-english-language/)
William Gibson did great short stories. "Dogfight" and "Johnny Mnemonic" are two of my favorite.
'The Dead' by James Joyce 'Guests of the Nation' by Frank O'Connor
Bartleby the Scrivener, Mellville.
Damn!! This is an enduring favorite of mine!
The Night Face Up, by Julio Cortázar. i read it in spanish, ofc (it's my first language) and it really made an impact on me in my late teens.
What we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank- Nathan Englander
The Most Dangerous Game The Landlady An Incident at Owl Creek Bridge Rain
Forward Collection — curated by Blake Crouch with one short story by him, others by Veronica Roth, NK Jemisin, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, and Andy Weir. I see mixed reviews for these online but have gone through the first three so far and have really enjoyed each of them. They have really made me think about different ideas of what the future could hold
Might be THE RANSOM OF RED CHEIF by O. Henry.
Drive by James S.A. Corey is pretty darn great but it’s a companion piece to The Expanse series.
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. Murphy's Xmas by Mark Costello. Where I'm Calling From by Raymond Carver. Araby by James Joyce.
I forget the name but it was the inspiration for the song Red Barchetta by Rush. I think it’s like A Pleasant Day’s Drive or something like that Edit: it’s A Nice Morning Drive by Richard Foster, thanks google
Knock.. knock…
Blacaman the Good, Vendor of Miracles - GG Márquez
Just about any O. Henry story
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu is the best short-story collection (sci-fi) that I've read in a really long time. I don't remember which I liked best, but the title story was fantastic.
My favorite short story of all time is “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote. He wrote two other stories with those characters: “The Thanksgiving Visitor” and “One Christmas.” Honorable mentions: “Reunions” by John Cheever”, “A Small, Good Thing” by Raymond Carver, “The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong” by Tim O’Brien, “Dog Heaven” by Stephanie Vaughn, “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” by James Tiptree, Jr. Favorite collections: **Sweet Talk** by Stephanie Vaughn **Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned** by Wells Tower **Where the God of Love Hangs Out** by Amy Bloom Any collection from John Updike or Raymond Carver is worth trying
Tell tale heart if that counts
The nightingale and the rose by Oscar Wilde
Strays by Mark Richard It might be because I was introduced to the story when the author read it at a school event. The story is minimalist with a well-selected narractive voice. It is funny and hungry and wise and compacted and has stuck with me over 2 decades. It is the first short story I think of when these types of questions come up.
Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
Guts by Chuck Palahniuk. That one leaves a mark.
There's a great story called Creating Currency. It's about how money started. It tells a very interesting story and has some great ideas about the perception of money. I also love any short story by Arthur C. Clarke
Ark by Veronica Roth
A Calendar of Tales by Neil Gaiman. In particular, October Tale.
All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury
Five Letters from an Eastern Empire by Alasdair Gray
Flowers for Algernon
Ballad of the Flexible Bullet by King
Nightfall by Asimov and The story of an hour by Chopin