HP Lovecraft’s Shadow out of Time
A lot of Lovecraft’s stories could be included here, but for some reason, the one that I’ve read repeatedly the most is this one.
“That Only a Mother” by Judith Merril
“Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
“A Story Which Will Never be Finished” by Leonid N. Andreyev
“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant
I don’t think this would be my definitive list but here’s five stories I really enjoy:
“The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Stephen Vincent Benet
“The Man Who Loved the Vampire Lady” by Brian M. Stableford
“The Moon Moth” by Jack Vance
“Nightwings” by Robert Silverberg
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber
The Short, Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Hemingway
For Esme, With Love And Squalor, by Salinger
Silent Snow, Secret Snow by Conrad Aiken
The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson
Blessed, by Donald Ray Pollock
" De Daumier-Smith’s Blue Period " by Salinger
“The Tell Tale Heart” by Poe
“Danny, Champion of the World” by Roald Dahl
“The Fall of Edward Barnard” by Somerset Maugham
Aauggh! I’ve been racking my brain to come up with the perfect list for some time now, in the process discovering that my library card is blocked for overdues and also that a favorite author died… I’ve decided to give this up for the moment and just post my first thoughts, saving my last slot for three days from now when I figure it out. So, then:
Fondly Fahrenheit, by Alfred Bester
Born of Man and Woman, by Richard Matheson
The Fog Horn, by Richard Bradbury
The Jaunt, by Stephen King
I could have chosen several more by Bradbury and King, but I’d rather spread the love around to different authors.
Yessssss! See post 16.
The Man Who Traveled In Elephants - Robert A. Heinlein
The Man With the Copper Fingers - Dorothy L. Sayers
“Pickman’s Model” - H. P. Lovecraft
“Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut” - Stephen King
“The Nine Billion Names Of God” - Arthur C. Clarke
Cool and discreet, baby.
In no particular order:
Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
The Library at Babel by Jorges Luis Borges
I am going to respond without reading the rest of the thread, and name the stories that first come to mind.
- “The Grammarian’s Five Daughters,” by Elanor Arnason
- “And He Built a Crooked House,” by Heinlein
- “The Timing of Sin,” by Andrew Dubus
- “The Freeze” by Valerie Martin
- “Dancing After Hours,” by Dubus again
Some of these may be longer than typical short stories, oh well…
All the King’s Horses—Kurt Vonnegut
A Colder War—Charlie Stross
Inconstant Moon—Larry Niven
A Study In Emerald—Neil Gaiman (.Pdf warning)
The Star—Arthur C. Clarke.
Other interesting ones include pretty much everything in Welcome to the Monkey House, by Vonnegut and Galactic North, by Alastair Reynolds. Charlie Stross’s Laundry stories are often found as short stories/novellas, like The Concrete Jungle, Overtime, Pimpf, and Down on the Farm. I’m also fond of Larry Niven’s short stories and novellas from Known Space, the Draco Tavern and The Magic Goes Away series.
I also considered The Last Castle but I think The Moon Moth works better as a story. The Last Castle just sort of faded away while The Moon Moth went somewhere.
I don’t think these have been mentioned before, they’re in a special category, short stories that were so successful that they were made into novels.
Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes
Nightfall, Isaac Asimov
A Canticle for Liebowitz, Walter Miller
Lost Boys, Orson Scott Card
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
The Stand, Stephen King (OK, maybe not)
I’ve always said that the short story is where science fiction really shines. I’ve never said it to anyone, but I’ve always said it. Anyway, these are the ones that spring to mind, in no particular order.
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“The Barbie Murders” - John Varley.
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“Ser Visal’s Tale” - Stephen R. Donaldson.
3)“We See Things Differently” - Bruce Sterling.
4)“The Days of Solomon Gursky” - Ian McDonald.
5)“The Author of the Acacia Seeds” - Ursula K. LeGuin.
If I’d posted yesterday my list would be different. It would include “Burning Chrome” and “Radiant Doors”, a story I hate because it disturbed me so much, which would make it a favourite of a sort, I guess. Kinda.
I loved this story, although it was so sad. The following link is to a picture of a cake I made, for an “edible book” contest that referenced this story.
Okay, I’ve got one more: Night They Missed the Horror Show, by Joe R. Lansdale.
- 1408 by Stephen King.
- The Red Room by H.G. Wells.
- Sherlock Holmes and The Five Orange Pips by Arthur Conan Doyle.
- The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
- The Night Wire by H.F. Arnold.
Why yes, I do like horror. Why do you ask?
Cute.
I’m surprised I can say so after that story traumatized me for LIFE. (Great story, but ouch.)
More:
“A Martian Odyssey” – Stanley G. Weinbaum
“The Cold Equations” – Tom Godwin
“Kindly Dig Your Grave” – Stanley Ellin
“The Problem of Cell 13” – Jacques Futrelle
“It” – Theodore Sturgeon
“Nightmare in Yellow” – Fredric Brpwm
" . . . And It Comes Out Here" – Lester Del Rey
“They’re Made Out of Meat” – Terry Bisson
“Passengers” – Robert Silverberg