Short Story Corner

Good morning, friends

The short story format allows for maximum pathos in a minimal space. When done right, they are always thought provoking and evocative. I thought we could compile a thread of ATS short story favorites.
The following selection has some of the best tales of the horrific, the ordinary, and the sublime. Please feel free to discuss/comment on any of the linked stories. Are there any you would like to add to the Short Story Corner?

Anton Chekhov
“The Bet”

It was a dark autumn night. The old banker was walking up and down his study and remembering how, fifteen years before, he had given a party one autumn evening. There had been many clever men there, and there had been interesting conversations. Among other things they had talked of capital punishment. The majority of the guests, among whom were many journalists and intellectual men, disapproved of the death penalty

www.eastoftheweb.com...

H.P. Lovecraft
"The Rats in the Walls"

On July 16, 1923, I moved into Exham Priory after the last workman had finished his labours. The restoration had been a stupendous task, for little had remained of the deserted pile but a shell-like ruin; yet because it had been the seat of my ancestors I let no expense deter me. The place had not been inhabited since the reign of James the First, when a tragedy of intensely hideous, though largely unexplained, nature had struck down the master, five of his children, and several servants; and driven forth under a cloud of suspicion and terror the third son, my lineal progenitor and the only survivor of the abhorred line.

www.hplovecraft.com...

Kurt Vonnegut
"Harrison Bergeron"
What is equal?

THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal.

www.tnellen.com...

"2BR02B"
Very interesting look at a world without illness.
publicliterature.org...

Fyodor Dostoevsky
"The Dream of a Ridiculous Man"

I am a ridiculous person. Now they call me a madman. That would be a promotion if it were not that I remain as ridiculous in their eyes as before. But now I do not resent it, they are all dear to me now, even when they laugh at me - and, indeed, it is just then that they are particularly dear to me. I could join in their laughter--not exactly at myself, but through affection for them, if I did not feel so sad as I look at them.

www.online-literature.com...

Edgar Allan Poe
"Ligeia"
A masterpiece of a ghost story. Look for the poem "The Conquerer Worm."
ebooks.adelaide.edu.au...

Raymond Carver
"Cathedral"
www.giuliotortello.it...

Jack London
"To Build a Fire"
americanenglish.state.gov...

Thomas Mann
"Death in Venice"
Not a light read
www.24grammata.com...

Ambrose Bierce
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"
The ending will stick with you.
compositionawebb.pbworks.com...

H.G. Wells
"The Magic Shop"
Father and son happen into a magic shop one afternoon-- how can two people experience the same place so differently?
www.online-literature.com...

O. Henry
"The Gift of the Magi"
A story about love, poverty, and the spirit of giving.
americanenglish.state.gov...

Flannery O' Connor
"Everything That Rises Must Converge"
thomasaquinas.edu...

Jorge Luis Borges
"The Lottery in Babylon"

Like all men in Babylon, I have been proconsul; like all, a slave.

web.itu.edu.tr...

Franz Kafka
"A Hunger Artist"
www.kafka-online.info...

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings"
How would we receive an angel?
www.ndsu.edu...

a reply to: zosimov


I'll see your H.P. story and raise you with The Call of Cthulhu.

Along with Jerusalem's Lot and The Jaunt by Stephen King.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

AHH too funny, I was just thinking about "The Jaunt" the other day (although I couldn't remember its name).

Awesome story additions, thank you.

a reply to: zosimov


That story bugged me the hell out when I read it as a kid. I still think it would make a good television short.

a reply to: zosimov

Fyodor Dostoevsky
"The Dream of a Ridiculous Man"

I am a ridiculous person. Now they call me a madman. That would be a promotion if it were not that I remain as ridiculous in their eyes as before. But now I do not resent it, they are all dear to me now, even when they laugh at me - and, indeed, it is just then that they are particularly dear to me. I could join in their laughter--not exactly at myself, but through affection for them, if I did not feel so sad as I look at them.

that is awesome, lol.. fits me to a tittle.

a reply to: SummerRain

Haha, but you look so dignified in your avatar!

originally posted by: zosimov
a reply to: SummerRain

Haha, but you look so dignified in your avatar!

lol, naw I am bewildered, confused as to where the funny smell is eminating from, and why it follows me everywhere.. O.o

a reply to: zosimov

Ray Bradbury also had a wicked imagination.

"The Veldt"
repositorio.ufsc.br...

"The Next in Line"
(For those who like real-life horror)
raybradbury.ru...

a reply to: zosimov

One of the shortest and more impactful stories I've read:

Alice Walker

"Flowers"

theliterarylink.com...

a reply to: zosimov


You know what, add anything by Richard Matheson.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Awesome.
talesofmytery.blogspot.com...

Damn you are dropping some serious gold in this thread. Stories I haven't thought of for years.

Bukowski really did it for me at a certain stage of my life.

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses

Oh my God, Bukowski gutted me (but in a good way )

I really liked this one, "A Dollar and Twenty Cents"

www.mitcharf.com...

a reply to: zosimov

That's a cool one! Never read it before and I've read lots of Bukowski. That story reminded me of why I was drawn to his stories. They are informal and rambling but there's so much real misery jumping off the page at you, and it made me feel like I could take my miseries and somehow make something out of it.

I am sending you a u2u.

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses

I sent one back

Have you read any Graham Greene? I found him kind of later on in my reading life... he's good, real good.

"The Destructors"
100mudcats.files.wordpress.com...

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses

Found this one by David Barthelme and thought you might want to check it out.

Most of the short stories which really impacted me/that I can remember are fairly dark, this one no exception.

www.npr.org...

a reply to: zosimov

Sorry it took me so long to reply. I had a crazy weekend.

Thanks for the link to the story. It reads almost like a personal essay. Liked it.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Augustus,
Have you read any Laird Barron? I'd never heard of him before randomly picking this volume up at the library the other day. I'm sure this guy would be right up your alley.

www.goodreads.com...

Have a great day, friend!

a reply to: zosimov


Need to check that out.

This Robert Penn Warren story blew me away.

I read about it on a Wiki page about author and teacher John Gardner:

Gardner inspired and, according to Raymond Carver, sometimes intimidated his students. At Chico State College (where he taught from 1959 to 1962), when Carver mentioned to Gardner that he had not liked the assigned short story, Robert Penn Warren's "Blackberry Winter," Gardner said, "You'd better read it again." "And he wasn't joking", said Carver, who related this anecdote in his foreword to Gardner's book On Becoming a Novelist. In that foreword, he makes it clear how much he respected Gardner and also relates his kindness as a writing mentor.

Blackberry Winter
babel.hathitrust.org...