The Lottery by Shirley Jackson was the one that did it for me.
Oh man, let’s talk about short stories that defined my taste in literature!
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To Build A Fire: definitely built a fascination in me of the morbid and got me way more into survivalism than quick sand ever did. I live in a cold place too and that put it well into perspective how dangerous that can be.
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The Sniper: This was my start into war literature, and what a good start. I keep coming back to this one when I hear people talk about a civil war in the US. It’s more unsettling now than ever before.
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The Lottery. How couldn’t that be on the list?
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Cask of Amontillado: big vibes. Poe made me goth-brained no doubt.
Our school also had us read Robert Frost. Really great way to introduce kids to the idea that ‘some folks just kinda wanna die all the time’. That and why child labor laws are good and important.
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Guts by chuck palahniuk.
Hardfought, by Greg Bear. Sci-fi set in the far future, spoken with a military patois that is difficult to understand but is meant to highlight the alienness of the forever war that the story takes place in. Themes upon themes fifteen-plus layers deep, even though this is only a novella.
I have something north of 3,000 volumes in my library, and if I was to pick the most influential fiction story of my life, this would be it. I had difficulty reading it as a teenager who was typically reading at a university level while in high school, so it’s going to take serious effort by most to truly benefit from it. But when you finally understand those themes… holy shit.
Of mice and men
Does that count as a short story?
Definitely bleak though.
I think it’s normally considered a novella. But it might be able to squeak by to qualify for the question. 🤷
It’s not a very long book
I’m just wondering what the definition of a short story is. It’s definitely short by book standards though.
The cold equations
I remember having read this one as a child in elementary school. Had to keep the anthology book it was in checked out for several months, as I kept re-reading it trying to grapple with the ethics of the story. It was brutal for a 10yo.
I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream. If comics count, The Enigma of Amigara Fault.
The Dweller in the Gulf by Clark Ashton Smith.
“Nachts schlafen die Ratten doch” still haunts me…
Short stories:
- Flowers for Algernon
- I have no mouth and I must scream
Short-ish:
- Of mice and men
- Brave new world
Except I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, my highschool definitely made us read those.
Random shitposts on the internet have wiped away all the trauma I got from anything I read in school.
Maybe not disturbing enough, but the short story that really stuck with me was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_to_the_Slaughter
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
We actually had to read that for our English course. What still haunts me is how weird random German words look in an English book. Like they’re not supposed to be there
I don’t know about scary, but I would assign Teddy by J. D. Salinger.
Also, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce.
Another one I really like that I feel like nobody else has ever read is: After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned by Dave Eggars (it’s written from a dog’s POV)
I guess this is more “short stories that I like” lol
After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned by Dave Eggars (it’s written from a dog’s POV)
Man, the title and brief synopsis has been enough to fuck up my day, thanks.
It’s actually more fun than you’d expect lol
