# Your 5 favorite short stories **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401 "2008-06-27T04:47:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/21 "2008-06-27T17:32:28Z")
All by Stephen King, in my opinion the master: The Long Walk (Bachman, a novella) The Mangler Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut The Mist The Lawnmower Man The Langoliers Rage (Bachman, a novella) Quitter’s Inc. OK, that’s more than 5 and Rage and The Long Walk were actually novels but they were short ones. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/22 "2008-06-27T17:45:48Z")
I’ll go with your listing and add Apt Pupil ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/23 "2008-06-27T17:49:08Z")
A couple of my favorites have already been named. I’ll go with: **Sredni Vashtar** by Saki **Thrawn Janet** by Robert Louis Stevenson **There Will Come Soft Rains** by Ray Bradbury **The Rocking Horse Winner** by D. H. Lawrence **The Necklace** by Guy de Maupassant ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/24 "2008-06-27T17:54:58Z")
**The Little Movement** , by Philip K. Dick **Goldfish Bowl** , by Robert Heinlein **Ginny Sweethips’ Flying Circus** , by Neal Barrett, Jr. **The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse** , by G. K. Chesterton [The Awful Reason of the Vicar’s Visit](http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Gilbert_K_Chesterton/The_Club_of_Queer_Trades/The_Awful_Reason_of_the_Vicars_Visit_p1.html), by G. K. Chesterton, which also boasts the best title ever. Here’s a sample from the last one. > [@](#): > > The revolt of Matter against Man (which I believe to exist) has now been reduced to a singular condition. It is the small things rather than the large things which make war against us and, I may add, beat us. The bones of the last mammoth have long ago decayed, a mighty wreck; the tempests no longer devour our navies, nor the mountains with hearts of fire heap hell over our cities. But we are engaged in a bitter and eternal war with small things; chiefly with microbes and with collar studs. The stud with which I was engaged (on fierce and equal terms) as I made the above reflections, was one which I was trying to introduce into my shirt collar when a loud knock came at the door. Now go read the rest. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/25 "2008-06-27T17:56:02Z")
The Mangler: Stephen King Quitters, Inc: Stephen King Saki: Can’t remember the title, but the last line is Wolves! The Most Dangerous Game: Richard Connell Appointment in Samarra: Somerset Maugham version, if that counts ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/26 "2008-06-27T18:00:12Z")
I don’t read much short fiction these days, but over the years my favorites have been: Sherwood Anderson, “[Sophistication](http://www.amlit.com/Winesburg/chap25.html)” John Barth, “Lost in the Funhouse” Jorge Luis Borges, “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” James Joyce, “The Dead” John Updike, “Pigeon Feathers” ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/27 "2008-06-27T18:49:08Z")
[QUOTE=5 time champ] Saki: Can’t remember the title, but the last line is Wolves! [/QUOTE] The Interlopers ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/28 "2008-06-27T18:53:09Z")
[QUOTE=5 time champ] Appointment in Samarra: Somerset Maugham version, if that counts [/QUOTE] What does this mean? AIS is a novel by John O’Hara–the title is taken from a line of one of Maugham’s plays, “Sheppey.” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/29 "2008-06-27T19:22:30Z")
“I Have no Mouth and I must Scream” – Harlan Ellison “A Good Man is Hard to Find” – Flannery O’Connor “Lost in the Funhouse” – John Barth “Mother Hitton’s Littul Kittons” – Cordwainer Smith “And I Awake to Find Me Here on the Cold Hill Side” – James Tiptree, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/30 "2008-06-27T19:25:28Z")
No particular order and not checking to see how (I’m sure) common they are in responses: -Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (Ambrose Bierce) -The Life You Save May Be Your Own (Flannery O’Connor) -A Christmas Memory (Truman Capote) -The Library at Babel (Jorges Luis Borges) -Shingles for the Lord (William Faulkner) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/31 "2008-06-27T20:03:52Z")
[QUOTE=E. Thorp] \ Sherwood Anderson, “[Sophistication](http://www.amlit.com/Winesburg/chap25.html)” [/QUOTE] I love “Sophistication,” but I do not see how it can be called a short story. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/32 "2008-06-27T20:14:45Z")
[QUOTE=pseudotriton ruber ruber] What does this mean? AIS is a novel by John O’Hara–the title is taken from a line of one of Maugham’s plays, “Sheppey.” [/QUOTE] [http://www.k-state.edu/english/baker/english320/Maugham-AS.htm](http://www.k-state.edu/english/baker/english320/Maugham-AS.htm) It isn’t even a short story- more like a long paragraph. I have never read the O’Hara novel. Ah yes, so it is _The Interlopers_, thanks, **Le Ministre**. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/33 "2008-06-27T20:59:58Z")
I love these kinds of threads. They make me think and they make me look through my books. Can I list six? Several have already been named: _ **A Christmas Memory** _ by Truman Capote (from, among other collections, [The Complete Stories of Truman Capote](http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Stories-Truman-Capote/dp/140009691X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214600146&sr=1-2)) _ **Brokeback Mountain** _ by Annie Proulx (from the collection [Close Range: Wyoming Stories](http://www.amazon.com/Close-Range-Wyoming-Annie-Proulx/dp/B000R4FWEI/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214599883&sr=1-1)) _ **The Third and Final Continent** _ by Jhumpa Lahiri (from the collection [Interpreter of Maladies](http://www.amazon.com/Interpreter-Maladies-Jhumpa-Lahiri/dp/0618101365/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214599936&sr=1-1)) _ **A Vermont Tale** _ by Mark Helprin (from the collection [Ellis Island and Other Stories](http://www.amazon.com/Ellis-Island-Other-Stories-Helprin/dp/0156283158)) _ **The Things They Carried** _ by Tim O’Brien (from the [collection](http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Carried-Tim-OBrien/dp/0767902890/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214600010&sr=1-2) of the same name) _ **The Witness For The Prosecution** _ by Agatha Christie (from the [collection](http://www.amazon.com/Witness-Prosecution-Martins-Minotaur-Mysteries/dp/0312979738/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214600056&sr=1-1) of the same name) ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/34 "2008-06-27T23:40:16Z")
Several ones that I might have said have already been listed, so here’s my five that haven’t been mentioned (since my Top Stories List is much longer than five): What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Raymond Carver The Demoness, Tanith Lee Deathbird Story/Ahbhu, Harlan Ellison (cannot read it without crying) Rape Fantasies, Margaret Atwood and all-time my favorite, The Horse Dealer’s Daughter, D.H. Lawrence I’m also heartened to find several of the stories I teach to my middle school students have already made people’s lists. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/35 "2008-06-28T00:54:35Z")
“The Scarlatti Tilt” by Richard Brautigan “The Shadow of the Vulture” by Robert E. Howard (I’m a lowbrow, I know) “Kneel Down and Lick My Feet,” Amy Yamada “The Whore of Mensa,” Woody Allen “Gianni,” Robert Silverberg ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/36 "2008-06-28T02:52:57Z")
Wickedness (the blizzard story) from _Nebraska_ by Ron Hansen The Paperhanger by William Gay My Dead Dog Bobby by Joe Lansdale The Crowd by Ray Bradbury Stick Woman by Edward Lee The Reach by Stephen King ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/37 "2008-06-28T16:35:33Z")
“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury “The Fall of the House of Usher”, “The Tell-tale Heart” and “The Cask of Amontillado” by E.A. Poe Just about every Conan-based story by Robert E. Howard, especially Red Nails and The Thing in the Crypt. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/38 "2008-06-28T23:36:10Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Pangloss] 5) “Mr. Know-All” by W. Somerset Maugham 4) “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Stephen Vincent Benet [/QUOTE] Both immediately came to my mind when I saw the thread title. The Benet was good, but the Maughm was fantastic. May I add: **Shakespeare’s Planet** by Ray Bradbury (I’m pretty sure it was Bradbury) \*\*The Cisco Kid \*\*by O’Henry (nothing like the kinder/gentler Cisco Kid that Hollywood gave us) \*\*The Man Who Corrupted HadleyBurg \*\*by Mark Twain (Jeez, Twain understands [understood] humanity) **Alibi Ike** by Ring Lardner (many have forgotten just how great Lardner was with a short story) **Rain** by the aforementioned Maughm (possibly not as touching as “Mr. Know-All” but very powerful) ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/39 "2008-06-29T00:38:00Z")
Richard Matheson, “Dress of White Silk” Brian Aldiss, “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery” E.A. Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart” William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” Old classics, some new. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AuntPam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@AuntPam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntPam)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401/40 "2008-06-29T01:01:50Z")
“Time Considered As A Helix of Semi-Precious Stones” --Samuel R. Delaney “The Man Who Travelled in Elephants” --Robert Heinlein “The Short Happy Life of Frances Macomber” -Ernest Hemingway “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”–James Thurber “The Green Hills of Earth”–Robert Heinlein. Still makes me cry. Every time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-5-favorite-short-stories/454401.md?page=3)