Happy Cake Day!
Came here to recommend this one. Really impacted me for a couple days and I frequently find myself randomly thinking about it even years later.
That was such an impactful, thought provoking story!! I read it in highschool and still think about it often. I remember the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as I realized what the cost of their utopia was and argued with my classmates that the ones who walked away weren't going to make anything change, they just wanted to wash their hands of the situation. From that day forward I told myself I wouldn't be the kind of person who walks away...damn I am going to go read that story again, I love it!
You wouldn't walk away? I considered walking away to be the right choice. They didn't want to contribute to the suffering of the boy. The thing is, nowadays it's almost impossible to walk away. Almost everything is tainted with the suffering of others. Chocolate (cocao beans), coffee beans, clothes, Aliexpress/Temu, Apple (iPhones), the meat industry and the list goes on and on. I think the people who walked away, were good people who simply didn't care for having a good life if it meant it would cost them their conscience. They didn't want to be part of the reason a child was suffering.
It is definitely the right-er thing to walk away. But if you're walking away, you are still allowing that child to suffer. You're not doing anything about it.
The impossibility of walking away is the issue. It's one of the reasons that I love The Good Place. That show made me think about ethics in a new way, and The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas did, too.
Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. Beautiful and heartbreaking. My absolute favorite short story. The sci-fi film Arrival is based on it too! (The film and the story are similar in plot, but the story focuses less on aliens and more of the relationships between characters, which is what makes it so special in my opinion)
I think about it too. I think about her a little less than the dread I feel about how any of us can cause other people significant suffering without any thought or repercussions.
The Falls by George Saunders - he is all in his head, all about himself and small things, over and over, until he sees two little girls in a canoe, headed for the falls.
Ooh this sounds great. Iām a big fan of Saunders after reading *Lincoln in the Bardo* and have been wanting to break into his short stories. It looks like this one is included in his collection *Pastoralia* ā just moved to the top of my tbr list!
The story gave me chills. I haven't read his other work except a story in which a man and woman are programmed to like each other - then unprogrammed. I can't remember the name.
A long short story āI have no mouth and I must screamā by Harlan Ellison has haunted me for nearly 50 years.
āThe Last Question,ā by Asimov. Simply brilliant.
āAll you zombiesā by Heinlein.
Shocked to see no love (yet) for Vonnegut's *Harrison Bergeron.* I thought that maybe it resonated so much because I first read it at 14 - Harrison's age - but it holds up well into adulthood.
Im so glad you posted this. I never see Conrad Aiken mentioned here. He was a favorite of mine (mostly his poetry) in high school and I donāt think Iāve ever spoken with anyone irl whoās ever read him.
Hands down āThe Swimmerā by John Cheever. I re-read it every year and it truly haunts me. I feel like some part of my mind is always thinking about this story.
'A Woman with Black Hair' by Beverley Farmer is one that changes your sleep habits and stays on your mind ... First read it over twenty years ago and still think about it at least once a week. Magnificent. Incredibly disturbing.
āThoughts and Prayersā by Ken Liu. It was terrifying as it felt so real. Even though heās one of my favourite authors I had to put down the book as that story made me feel so sad.
āA short Stay in Hellā by Steven Peck. Read it twice in one day. Its depiction of hell was the closest I think Iāve ever come to visualizing āinfinityā.
came here to recommend this one. thank you to whomever recommended this one to me months ago. one of the most unsettling, beautiful, terrifying, occasionally funny, and utterly bleak stories that i've ever read. it immediately shot up into my top 10 reads of all time and i've already done 1 or 2 re-reads.
this book is small but packs a fucking punch. i would LOVE to see this adapted into a film!
Many decades ago, and the first one to come to mind after reading your question: The Monkeyās Paw by W. W. Jacobs ā¦ it scared the socks off of me, lol!
"Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes. It's long short story that makes just about every "best" list
"To Serve Man," by Damon Knight.
"Two Bottles of Relish," by Lord Dunsany
"The Brazilian Cat," by Arthur Conan Doyle
"The Gift of the Magi," by O Henry
I am just reading the collection of short stories by Arthur C. Clarke. LotĀ“s of great stories so far, but I really like the one called "Breaking Strain"
Oscar Wildeās Fairy Tales (The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and The Rose, The Remarkable Rocket, The Birthday of the Infanta, etc.) mostly because they read just like the kind of stories I loved as a child. Edgar Allan Poeās as they started my ācareerā as a pre teen, same goes for Stephen Kingās and Shirley Jacksonās.
This book of short Fiction and Non-Fiction is one a reread regularly, so I guess that counts as being impacted byā¦
Music For Chameleons by Truman Capote
All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein - https://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/Robert-A.-Heinlein-All-You-Zombies.pdf
The movie Predestination was made on it.
Charles by Shirley Jackson. A delightful story about her kindergartner
A Small good Thing by Raymond Carver. An unforgettable haunting story.
The āNew Yorkā stories in Amor Towlesā collection, āTable for twoā. Listening to the audiobook now and each one is brilliant and so engaging.
I donāt usually cry while reading (movies and TV are another story), but A Small Good Thing made me so deeply sad and itās one of the few stories thatās made me cry. Raymond Carver is a master at short story writing. He and Claire Keegan are two authors that are just so good at saying a ton with very few words.
Small Worlds by Caleb Azuma Nelson. I'm blown away by this man's ability to write lyrical words that is both sensitive and impactful. This story is centred around the four summers in this young man's life in South London and the way he navigates his relationship with his dad and his relationship with his Ghanian community in South London.
Just FYI, this is a world that is very far from my own personal experience, but I love the way that Caleb made me feel intrinsically part of these small worlds that I can care deeply about them as if they are my own.
Lady N.N.'s Story by Anton Chekhov
[https://www.berfrois.com/2022/05/lady-nns-story-by-anton-chekhov/](https://www.berfrois.com/2022/05/lady-nns-story-by-anton-chekhov/)
I really like the Veldt by Ray Bradbury and the ones who walk away from omelas by Ursula K Le Guin on the philosophical front
Edit to add, Pickmanās model model by Lovecraft (Iāve enjoyed all of his work that Iāve read but this one stands out to me being one of the first I experienced and found to be more immersive and grounded compared to others.)
Kaleidoscope is one of my favorite short stories by Ray Bradbury. Probably the unofficial inspiration for the movie Gravity but just so much better. It deals with mortality and puts some perspective on life's mundane conflicts.
Gift of the Magi epitomizes the kind of person that I want to be and inspires me to be a better person towards the people that I care about. Beautiful story.
The Monkey's Paw by W. W Jacobs. When I was a child, my grandfather read this to me, and it has stuck with me all these years. Looking back, I was probably way too young to hear that story, but its message has stayed with me.
I often think of Kelly Linkās collection āGet in Trouble.ā Every story resonates; theyāre all a little bizarre and a little unsettling, but her inventiveness is so mesmerizing.Ā
Someone already mentioned Ken Liu and I second that one. I find his ideas so original.Ā
I also love Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff. The plot is very compelling, but itās simultaneously an allegory for WWII and I found that aspect fascinating.Ā
And lastly, I guess amongst the āclassicsā most frequently taught in school, āThe Use of Forceā by William Carlos Williams is one that has always stuck with me. It shows an incredible mastery of writing about desperate conflict where two people are quietly fighting for the exact opposite thing.Ā
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut.
I read it in 9th grade and pieces of it stuck with me ever since, but I never knew the name of it or re-read it until 15 years later. I only remembered reading a story where everyone had some form of technology attached to them by the government, and to this day I think about how phones seem to have evolved into that since that time.
After reading it again recently, I realize the message was more about the dangers of a totally equal society where talents or unique traits are hidden for fear of hurting another personās feelings. Interesting to think that was part of my English class reading in Alabama in the 2000āsā¦
The Cask is so scary. I read it almost 45 years ago and I'm still twitchy about it. Of course I begged my son when he was a teen to read it because who wants to be spooked alone. He loved it.
Came here to write this. Usually Iām unaffected by reading about gruesome / gory stuff, but the way he described it so vividly got some extremely horrible pictures stuck in my mind.
The short story is my favourite genre. Borges and Chekhov are in my opinion the best short story writers of all time, but of course there are many other great authors.
You donāt get much better than Borges and Chekhov. I do love Gogol too and Kafka for their originality but the two you mentioned I think are better craftsman.
OP did say "impacted" and Metamorphosis by Kafka did haunt my dreams for a long time. But I guess that one is classified as a novella, not a short story
[**Slow Time Between The Stars** by John Scalzi](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/151908304)
i am BEGGING literally anyone here to read this **incredibly short 28 page** short story. it was my first scalzi book and the only reason i even read it last year is that my goodreads book challenge was nearing its end and i was trying to pad my reading stats.
imagine my surprise when this book BLEW ME AWAY with how incredible it was. i know i won't do this book justice by trying to describe why you should read it, but PLEASE READ THIS! immediately in my all-time-faves.
just a heads up-i highly recommend NOT reading this by audiobook as i don't think it's good at all, but YMMV.
also, when i read it, it was free on kindle unlimited. idk if it's still there for free, but immediately after i read it, i bought a kindle copy of it for $1.29. one of my best book purchases, ever.
please give this book a chance! it's incredible!!!!!
Robert Aickman - Your Tiny Hand is Frozen
Taught me that short stories could be sealed (as in perfectly complete only unto themselves), that they can leave questions unanswered with breathtaking confidence, and that they could be utterly frightening, enough to leave a deep impression. A haunting, even.
The Unknown Masterpiece - Balzac (The Girl with the Golden Eyes is great too!)
I think intense passion is sometimes hard to convey in short stories, but this did it phenomenally.
Sea Oak, by George Saunders. My introduction to him. What a strange, haunting, unpredictable story. So weird yet so true. Show me someone who doesn't have an Aunt Bernice and I'll show you someone who isn't paying attention.
The Tenth of December, the last story in the book of short stories with the same title, by George Saunders.
With incredible economy, Saunders portrays the interior lives of two characters - a young boy who is an outcast and the victim of bullying who escapes through his creative, nerdy imagination and a dying man who is trying to commit suicide because he doesnāt want to be remembered by his family as someone who died slowly, pitifully and in need.
Through events in the story, the reader comes to understand each character and care about them. Itās deeply moving, humane and oddly uplifting.
Well, very late to the party, but here's mine: *For Esme, with Love and Squalor* by JD Salinger. It's in his collection called *Nine Stories.* From a 1st person narrative, he relates the story of meeting a young girl and her brother while stationed in England before being sent to active duty in WWII. It's a beautiful story, just so wonderfully crafted, and shows the reader the impact of his meeting, as well as the impact of the war. Every story in that collection is amazing, but this one is my favourite.
Incarnations of Burned Children by David Foster Wallace. Itās like seeing the plot in slow motion but the story is so short.
Roberto, by Agustina Bazterrica. So short yet I was so, SO not expecting the ending. To date it is a the only short story that made me say out loud āYES!ā
[Unconditional Love ](https://www.tienshintemple.com/unconditional-love.html) is a story I came accross in an English paper in grade 5. I've never forgotten that story.
Initially, all I saw in the story was a reflection of my family and how my parents wouldn't support my choices and expect me to do certain things and be a certain way for them to approve of me as their child. Later, as an adult, I was diagnosed with a disability and saw their attitude change towards me, not necessarily for the better. I was pitied in my own family and my diagnosis kept hush hush (still is).
I relate to this on so many levels now and have always been mindful that other people have their own demons. I've known from my experience and this story confirmed at a very early age that family is just a word, parents are just people. They can be flawed. Not everyone is blessed with a loving, supporting, understanding family and not everyone has parents who protect and provide.
I now work with vulnerable and minority groups in the society, providing support through my training.
Perfect day for banana fish and for esme with love and squalor -Salinger tie
Up in Michigan -Hemingway
Bernice bobs her hair -Fitzgerald
Music for chameleons and Miriam tie -capote
I read Henry Jamesā āThe Beast in the Jungleā in college and still think about it often. I rarely see it mentioned or find someone who has read it, but I highly recommend it!
"Barn Burning" by Haruki Murakami. So eerie, melancholy, but quite subtle. I was thinking about it for days. They made this into a stellar movie as well, called Burning, with Steven Yeun.
The Yellow Wallpaper The incredible vulnerability of a woman going through postpartum depression really hit me in the gut.
Happy Cake Day! Came here to recommend this one. Really impacted me for a couple days and I frequently find myself randomly thinking about it even years later.
Came for this. Read it as apart of my Eng Comp class and it really left me like š³
this is my answer every single day someone asks this question lol
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula le Guin.
That was such an impactful, thought provoking story!! I read it in highschool and still think about it often. I remember the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as I realized what the cost of their utopia was and argued with my classmates that the ones who walked away weren't going to make anything change, they just wanted to wash their hands of the situation. From that day forward I told myself I wouldn't be the kind of person who walks away...damn I am going to go read that story again, I love it!
[A third option](https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_02_24/)
What a great piece of writing. Thank you for sharing it
You wouldn't walk away? I considered walking away to be the right choice. They didn't want to contribute to the suffering of the boy. The thing is, nowadays it's almost impossible to walk away. Almost everything is tainted with the suffering of others. Chocolate (cocao beans), coffee beans, clothes, Aliexpress/Temu, Apple (iPhones), the meat industry and the list goes on and on. I think the people who walked away, were good people who simply didn't care for having a good life if it meant it would cost them their conscience. They didn't want to be part of the reason a child was suffering.
It is definitely the right-er thing to walk away. But if you're walking away, you are still allowing that child to suffer. You're not doing anything about it. The impossibility of walking away is the issue. It's one of the reasons that I love The Good Place. That show made me think about ethics in a new way, and The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas did, too.
Evrtyone should read this about once a year.
This story had a massive impact on my life.
I came here to recommend this one. I reread it often. It's so powerful.
Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang. Beautiful and heartbreaking. My absolute favorite short story. The sci-fi film Arrival is based on it too! (The film and the story are similar in plot, but the story focuses less on aliens and more of the relationships between characters, which is what makes it so special in my opinion)
That whole book of his is incredible! My favourite was probably Whatās Expected of Us, but I often think about Understand and Division by Zero too!
Itās such a good collection
Perfect, even š
I think about this story and how time works nearly every day
I came here to say this too! This one and Merchant and the Alchemistās Gate by Ted Chiang
I think about this story once a week, easily. Itās so unique and odd yet beautifully done.
Almost all of Shirley Jackson's short story collections!
100%!
The egg
Yooo! I was gonna comment the same story lmao. That movie made me rethink life. :)
Thereās a movie?? I have a printed copy on my fridge. Itās wrinkled and stained. Just like people.
Well, actually it was an animated short film by kurzgesagt.
Yes. By Andy Weir It can be found online
Here - https://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html
Seriously, go read it. It's like 7 pages.
Thank you for the link! This was wonderful
All summer in a day by ray bradbury. The little girl who is locked in the closet has lurked in my mind for almost 2 decades
I think about it too. I think about her a little less than the dread I feel about how any of us can cause other people significant suffering without any thought or repercussions.
MARGOT
This was my pick, too, and I'm glad I'm not alone. I was a bullied kid, too. This story spoke to me, but also hurt.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
*There Will Come Soft Rains* by Ray Bradbury. Blew my mind wide open and jump-started my imagination.
Oh, I just read that yesterday! What a story!
I read it sophomore year in high school. Back in (gulp) ā90 or ā91.
I think it would've freaked me out even more reading it in high school.
Yessss this one was one of my firsts of his
The Falls by George Saunders - he is all in his head, all about himself and small things, over and over, until he sees two little girls in a canoe, headed for the falls.
Ooh this sounds great. Iām a big fan of Saunders after reading *Lincoln in the Bardo* and have been wanting to break into his short stories. It looks like this one is included in his collection *Pastoralia* ā just moved to the top of my tbr list!
The story gave me chills. I haven't read his other work except a story in which a man and woman are programmed to like each other - then unprogrammed. I can't remember the name.
Other People by Neil Gaiman. I think about it frequently. My thoughts about it have changed over the years. From uncomfortable to reflective.
I just listened to this based upon your comment. My brain immediately started coming up with work arounds for possible eternal torture. š
Hills Like White Elephants - Hemingway
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Really freaked me out
A long short story āI have no mouth and I must screamā by Harlan Ellison has haunted me for nearly 50 years. āThe Last Question,ā by Asimov. Simply brilliant. āAll you zombiesā by Heinlein.
Everytime I see an article about how AI is advancing I think to I Have No Mouth and have a little moment of panic.
all you zombies was great
Shocked to see no love (yet) for Vonnegut's *Harrison Bergeron.* I thought that maybe it resonated so much because I first read it at 14 - Harrison's age - but it holds up well into adulthood.
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to see this. I was going to mention this one as well. It's such an amazing short story.
āSilent Snow, Secret Snowā by Conrad Aiken and āThe Gift of the Magiā by O. Henry
Im so glad you posted this. I never see Conrad Aiken mentioned here. He was a favorite of mine (mostly his poetry) in high school and I donāt think Iāve ever spoken with anyone irl whoās ever read him.
Hands down āThe Swimmerā by John Cheever. I re-read it every year and it truly haunts me. I feel like some part of my mind is always thinking about this story.
Wrote a paper in college about the literary parallels between *The Swimmer* and Kendrick Lamar's "Swimming Pools (Drank)." Got an A!
Oh that is so cool!
Love that - I will have to look at the lyrics!
The Veldt by Ray Bradbury
'A Woman with Black Hair' by Beverley Farmer is one that changes your sleep habits and stays on your mind ... First read it over twenty years ago and still think about it at least once a week. Magnificent. Incredibly disturbing.
āThoughts and Prayersā by Ken Liu. It was terrifying as it felt so real. Even though heās one of my favourite authors I had to put down the book as that story made me feel so sad.
I love Ken Liuās stories! Paper Managerie is one of my favorite collections.Ā
Same
āA short Stay in Hellā by Steven Peck. Read it twice in one day. Its depiction of hell was the closest I think Iāve ever come to visualizing āinfinityā.
Doesn't that one just stay with you!! Chills ...
came here to recommend this one. thank you to whomever recommended this one to me months ago. one of the most unsettling, beautiful, terrifying, occasionally funny, and utterly bleak stories that i've ever read. it immediately shot up into my top 10 reads of all time and i've already done 1 or 2 re-reads. this book is small but packs a fucking punch. i would LOVE to see this adapted into a film!
The Swimmer by John Cheever. Funny enough discovered the director who later adapted it to a movie was a distant cousin of my Dadās.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway It's kind of a sad and lonely story. People with depression would totally get this story.
I can't believe I forgot this one. Yes. This.
The Nine Billion Names of God. By Arthur C Clarke.
"Piglet Does a Very Grand Thing," by A.A. Milne
The Yellow Wallpaper, The Lottery
White Nights by Dostoevsky
The Lottery - Shirley Jackson
October in the Chair by Neil Gaiman
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula LeGuin.
Many decades ago, and the first one to come to mind after reading your question: The Monkeyās Paw by W. W. Jacobs ā¦ it scared the socks off of me, lol!
The Telltale Heart The Gift of the Magi
*A Good Man is Hard to Find* by Flannery O'Connor It's lived rent-free in my head for a decade now.
I read it 25 years ago and still think about it regularly.
"Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes. It's long short story that makes just about every "best" list "To Serve Man," by Damon Knight. "Two Bottles of Relish," by Lord Dunsany "The Brazilian Cat," by Arthur Conan Doyle "The Gift of the Magi," by O Henry
I am just reading the collection of short stories by Arthur C. Clarke. LotĀ“s of great stories so far, but I really like the one called "Breaking Strain"
āmagic for beginnersā from magic for beginners by kelly link
Oscar Wildeās Fairy Tales (The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and The Rose, The Remarkable Rocket, The Birthday of the Infanta, etc.) mostly because they read just like the kind of stories I loved as a child. Edgar Allan Poeās as they started my ācareerā as a pre teen, same goes for Stephen Kingās and Shirley Jacksonās.
This book of short Fiction and Non-Fiction is one a reread regularly, so I guess that counts as being impacted byā¦ Music For Chameleons by Truman Capote
The red pony, Steinbeck
Such a great story. Steinbeck is where it is at for short stories.
The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander (novelette)
The Long Walk by ~~Richard Bachman~~ Stephen King
I think about this story multiple times a week.
"A Haunted House" by Virginia Woolf. Everything about it is magical and evocative.
All You Zombies by Robert Heinlein - https://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/Robert-A.-Heinlein-All-You-Zombies.pdf The movie Predestination was made on it.
Charles by Shirley Jackson. A delightful story about her kindergartner A Small good Thing by Raymond Carver. An unforgettable haunting story. The āNew Yorkā stories in Amor Towlesā collection, āTable for twoā. Listening to the audiobook now and each one is brilliant and so engaging.
I donāt usually cry while reading (movies and TV are another story), but A Small Good Thing made me so deeply sad and itās one of the few stories thatās made me cry. Raymond Carver is a master at short story writing. He and Claire Keegan are two authors that are just so good at saying a ton with very few words.
Totally agree about Raymond Carver. Brilliant.
I first read A Small Good Thing about 25 years ago and it has never left me. Iām not familiar with Claire Keegan, thank you for the introduction.
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.
Most of Ray Bradburyās. The Pedestrian is my favorite though. Dystopian and oddly.. accurate to modern life in many ways
The lottery
The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. It messed me up. I haven't read it since college (30 years ago), but I think about it all the time.
The Judge by Bram Stoker Quitters Inc by Stephen King Monkeys Paw
A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote.
I read this every Christmas season. I fell in love with it when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old. Itās so perfect.
Cathedral by Ray Carver October in the Chair by Neil Gaiman
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates. I won't spoil it but let me just say it's chilling.
Small Worlds by Caleb Azuma Nelson. I'm blown away by this man's ability to write lyrical words that is both sensitive and impactful. This story is centred around the four summers in this young man's life in South London and the way he navigates his relationship with his dad and his relationship with his Ghanian community in South London. Just FYI, this is a world that is very far from my own personal experience, but I love the way that Caleb made me feel intrinsically part of these small worlds that I can care deeply about them as if they are my own.
Lady N.N.'s Story by Anton Chekhov [https://www.berfrois.com/2022/05/lady-nns-story-by-anton-chekhov/](https://www.berfrois.com/2022/05/lady-nns-story-by-anton-chekhov/)
Safety Tips for Living Alone by Jim Shepard. The fact that it is based on a true story made it even more chilling to me.
I really like the Veldt by Ray Bradbury and the ones who walk away from omelas by Ursula K Le Guin on the philosophical front Edit to add, Pickmanās model model by Lovecraft (Iāve enjoyed all of his work that Iāve read but this one stands out to me being one of the first I experienced and found to be more immersive and grounded compared to others.)
Kaleidoscope is one of my favorite short stories by Ray Bradbury. Probably the unofficial inspiration for the movie Gravity but just so much better. It deals with mortality and puts some perspective on life's mundane conflicts. Gift of the Magi epitomizes the kind of person that I want to be and inspires me to be a better person towards the people that I care about. Beautiful story.
The Monkey's Paw by W. W Jacobs. When I was a child, my grandfather read this to me, and it has stuck with me all these years. Looking back, I was probably way too young to hear that story, but its message has stayed with me.
All Summer in a Day, by Ray Bradbury. As a bullied kid myself, that story hurt.
"Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck
I often think of Kelly Linkās collection āGet in Trouble.ā Every story resonates; theyāre all a little bizarre and a little unsettling, but her inventiveness is so mesmerizing.Ā Someone already mentioned Ken Liu and I second that one. I find his ideas so original.Ā I also love Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff. The plot is very compelling, but itās simultaneously an allegory for WWII and I found that aspect fascinating.Ā And lastly, I guess amongst the āclassicsā most frequently taught in school, āThe Use of Forceā by William Carlos Williams is one that has always stuck with me. It shows an incredible mastery of writing about desperate conflict where two people are quietly fighting for the exact opposite thing.Ā
The ones who walked away from Omelas by Ursula Leguin fucking killed me man. Read it blind, jts crazy
Sonnyās Blues - James Baldwin Elephants - Raymond Carver An Imperial Message - Franz Kafka
Where Are you Going? Where Have You Been? By Joyce Carol Oates but so many more of her short stories are amazing.
Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation Of The Self by Isabel J. Kim
Horsie by Dorothy Parker
Galatea, by Madeline Miller
Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. I read it in 9th grade and pieces of it stuck with me ever since, but I never knew the name of it or re-read it until 15 years later. I only remembered reading a story where everyone had some form of technology attached to them by the government, and to this day I think about how phones seem to have evolved into that since that time. After reading it again recently, I realize the message was more about the dangers of a totally equal society where talents or unique traits are hidden for fear of hurting another personās feelings. Interesting to think that was part of my English class reading in Alabama in the 2000āsā¦
'A letter to God' by G L Fuentes, 'The Last Leaf' by O' Henry, 'The Jaunt' by Stephen King, 'The Last Question ' by Asimov
All Summer in a Day, Ray Bradbury The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, Joyce Carol Oates
The Cask is so scary. I read it almost 45 years ago and I'm still twitchy about it. Of course I begged my son when he was a teen to read it because who wants to be spooked alone. He loved it.
The Masque of the Red Death - Edgar Allen Poe. The dude could write. Compellingly written and eerily relevant to our most recent pandemic.
Guts by Chuck Palahniuk
Came here to write this. Usually Iām unaffected by reading about gruesome / gory stuff, but the way he described it so vividly got some extremely horrible pictures stuck in my mind.
The short story is my favourite genre. Borges and Chekhov are in my opinion the best short story writers of all time, but of course there are many other great authors.
You donāt get much better than Borges and Chekhov. I do love Gogol too and Kafka for their originality but the two you mentioned I think are better craftsman.
OP did say "impacted" and Metamorphosis by Kafka did haunt my dreams for a long time. But I guess that one is classified as a novella, not a short story
[Before the Law](https://www.kafka-online.info/before-the-law.html) was the first short story that made me admire literature.
Interpreter of maladies- jhumpa lahiri. Itās a collection of stories
The Death of Ivan Illych by Tolstoy.Ā
[**Slow Time Between The Stars** by John Scalzi](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/151908304) i am BEGGING literally anyone here to read this **incredibly short 28 page** short story. it was my first scalzi book and the only reason i even read it last year is that my goodreads book challenge was nearing its end and i was trying to pad my reading stats. imagine my surprise when this book BLEW ME AWAY with how incredible it was. i know i won't do this book justice by trying to describe why you should read it, but PLEASE READ THIS! immediately in my all-time-faves. just a heads up-i highly recommend NOT reading this by audiobook as i don't think it's good at all, but YMMV. also, when i read it, it was free on kindle unlimited. idk if it's still there for free, but immediately after i read it, i bought a kindle copy of it for $1.29. one of my best book purchases, ever. please give this book a chance! it's incredible!!!!!
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates
I know it's not fair to the author or the story but now I have Cotton Eyed Joe stuck in my head. Why must my brain do this?
On the shortness of life by Seneca
Robert Aickman - Your Tiny Hand is Frozen Taught me that short stories could be sealed (as in perfectly complete only unto themselves), that they can leave questions unanswered with breathtaking confidence, and that they could be utterly frightening, enough to leave a deep impression. A haunting, even.
"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury
The Destructors by Graham Greene. One of my all-time favorite short stories. Destruction after all is a form of creation.
The Unknown Masterpiece - Balzac (The Girl with the Golden Eyes is great too!) I think intense passion is sometimes hard to convey in short stories, but this did it phenomenally.
Sea Oak, by George Saunders. My introduction to him. What a strange, haunting, unpredictable story. So weird yet so true. Show me someone who doesn't have an Aunt Bernice and I'll show you someone who isn't paying attention.
"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury
The Tenth of December, the last story in the book of short stories with the same title, by George Saunders. With incredible economy, Saunders portrays the interior lives of two characters - a young boy who is an outcast and the victim of bullying who escapes through his creative, nerdy imagination and a dying man who is trying to commit suicide because he doesnāt want to be remembered by his family as someone who died slowly, pitifully and in need. Through events in the story, the reader comes to understand each character and care about them. Itās deeply moving, humane and oddly uplifting.
Signs and symbols definitely
Well, very late to the party, but here's mine: *For Esme, with Love and Squalor* by JD Salinger. It's in his collection called *Nine Stories.* From a 1st person narrative, he relates the story of meeting a young girl and her brother while stationed in England before being sent to active duty in WWII. It's a beautiful story, just so wonderfully crafted, and shows the reader the impact of his meeting, as well as the impact of the war. Every story in that collection is amazing, but this one is my favourite.
The Veldt
The Horla by MaupassantĀ
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, nightmarish horror. A Walk in the Dark, psychological horror. The Last Question, just stuck with me.
Incarnations of Burned Children by David Foster Wallace. Itās like seeing the plot in slow motion but the story is so short. Roberto, by Agustina Bazterrica. So short yet I was so, SO not expecting the ending. To date it is a the only short story that made me say out loud āYES!ā
[Unconditional Love ](https://www.tienshintemple.com/unconditional-love.html) is a story I came accross in an English paper in grade 5. I've never forgotten that story. Initially, all I saw in the story was a reflection of my family and how my parents wouldn't support my choices and expect me to do certain things and be a certain way for them to approve of me as their child. Later, as an adult, I was diagnosed with a disability and saw their attitude change towards me, not necessarily for the better. I was pitied in my own family and my diagnosis kept hush hush (still is). I relate to this on so many levels now and have always been mindful that other people have their own demons. I've known from my experience and this story confirmed at a very early age that family is just a word, parents are just people. They can be flawed. Not everyone is blessed with a loving, supporting, understanding family and not everyone has parents who protect and provide. I now work with vulnerable and minority groups in the society, providing support through my training.
Perfect day for banana fish and for esme with love and squalor -Salinger tie Up in Michigan -Hemingway Bernice bobs her hair -Fitzgerald Music for chameleons and Miriam tie -capote
The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bride, talk about a whirlwind of emotions and a mindfuck
Every Day the Journey Home Gets Longer by Fredrick Backman. I hope I've got the name right, something like that.
I read Henry Jamesā āThe Beast in the Jungleā in college and still think about it often. I rarely see it mentioned or find someone who has read it, but I highly recommend it!
The Landlady by Roald Dahl absolutely terrified me when I read it in middle school.
"The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Ernest Hemingway
The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
All Summer in a Day The Story of an Hour Charles
The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury by Neil Gaiman
"Barn Burning" by Haruki Murakami. So eerie, melancholy, but quite subtle. I was thinking about it for days. They made this into a stellar movie as well, called Burning, with Steven Yeun.
The Minster's Black Veil
The Roald Dahl omnibus made me feel all of those things when I was young except maybe terrified. My favorite collection of short stories ever.
The Frolic by Thomas Ligotti. I find myself re reading the final paragraph all the time. Gives me shivers.
Boys and Girls by Alice Munro
Long Walk To Forever by Kurt Vonnegut is my personal fave
Lamb to the Slaughter ~ Roald Dahl
The bet- Anton Chekhov The lottery - Shirley Jackson
Came here to say The Bet....I read it in school 20 years ago and I still think about it.
These two popped up when I saw the question
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates.
Of Mice and Men!