Okay, we've got similar threads going on right now, but this one is limited to favorite short stories of all time. Here are some of mine (not exhaustive by any means, nor in any particular order):
Morning Child: Gardner Dozois
The Ugly Chickens: Howard Waldrop
The Ones Who walk away from Omelas: Ursula K. Leguin
Hills Like White Elephants: Earnest Hemingway
Day Million: Frederik Pohl
Middle Woman: OSC
The Lottery: Shirley Jackson
Rage: Stephen King
Repent Harelequin, said the Ticktock Man: Harlan Ellison
Posted by AC (Member # 7909) on :
"Burning Chrome": William Gibson
I don't really want to say that is my single favorite, but that's always the one that first comes to mind.
Posted by Avadaru (Member # 3026) on :
The Most Dangerous Game: Richard Connell
Posted by Parsimony (Member # 8140) on :
Lottery: Shirley Jackson
Unaccompanied Sonata: OSC
The Short, Happy life of Francis Macomber: Hemingway
Changes: Neil Gaiman
--ApostleRadio
Posted by Jim-Me (Member # 6426) on :
Second for Unaccompanied Sonata.
Sound of Thunder, Ray Bradbury
Home is the Hangman, Roger Zelazny
Posted by Sopwith (Member # 4640) on :
"The Ransom of Red Chief" by another of Greensboro's great writers, O. Henry.
"The Picture in the House" by H.P. Lovecraft
And just about any short story by Louis L'Amour, especially the non-Westerns.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
William Sanders' "The Undiscovered".
George R. R. Martin's "A Song for Lya"
Ursula K Leguin's "Mazes"
Maureen McHugh's "The Lincoln Train"
Howard Waldrop and Leigh Kennedy's "One Horse Town"
Nancy Kress's "Out of All Them Bright Stars"
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
"Feed the Baby of Love" by OSC "Inconstant Moon" by Niven "Blood Music" bo Bear "Cookie Monsters" by I don't recall who.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Howard Waldrop's "Night of the Cooters", and his collaboration with Steve Utley, "Custer's Last Jump" are fantastic as well.
Posted by Ben (Member # 6117) on :
i second "Hills Like White Elephants"
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Anybody remember a short story that featured a small alien that was obsessed with going to swap meets and flea markets? He was very into western stuff, and wore a child's cowboy costume that he'd picked up. I remember virtually nothing else about the story, unfortunately. It *sounds* like something Waldrop might write, but I'm not sure that he did.
Does this ring any bells for anyone?
Posted by Sweet William (Member # 5212) on :
Dutchman's Flat
Louis Lamour
Posted by scottneb (Member # 676) on :
While your at it, does anyone remember a story of a guy being chased by a slow but persistent robot-sphere?
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
For A Breath I Tarry by Roger Zelazny The Six Fingers of Time by R.A. Lafferty Hawksbill Station by Robert Silverberg
I'm sure there are lots more. That's all I remember right now. Not so coincidentally, I read all of these as a teenager.
But I've reread all three at least once in the past five years and know they still entertain me.
Posted by Jim-Me (Member # 6426) on :
quote:Originally posted by sndrake: For A Breath I Tarry by Roger Zelazny
There's a lot of good Roger Z. This one is really nice...
Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :
I love The Most Dangerous Game
Aside from some of OSC's best (which are a given here), I love The Great Conflagration of the Place by Ray Bradbury. My friend read it to me out loud the first time I read it and she did all the Irish accents. It was great. Posted by MattB (Member # 1116) on :
quote:While your at it, does anyone remember a story of a guy being chased by a slow but persistent robot-sphere?
Yes. I read this in eighth grade. I remember one illustration distinctly. In other words, I'm no help at all.
While I'm here, I guess -
"The Last Rung on the Ladder," by Stephen King. I once edited this a little bit for time, and gave it to my sister to read over the podium at church. She avoided mentioning the author. People cried.
"A Good Man is Hard to Find," by Flannery O'Connor.
"Carcinoma Angels," by Norman Spinrad.
"Good for Nothing," by Italo Calvino.
"Benediction," by Neal Chandler.
Of OSC, "The Porcelain Salamander." Easily.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
"The Long Walk" Steven King
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
"The Landlady," by Roald Dahl "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson "All Summer in a Day," by Ray Bradbury "Rappaccini's Daughter," by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Oh, wait!!!! Favorite of all:
"Putting the Devil Back in Hell," by Boccaccio.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
"Feed The Baby Of Love," and "The Porcelain Salamander," by Orson Scott Card "Different Kinds of Darkness" by David Langford "Just Another Perfect Day," by John Varley "Wapshot's Demon," by Frederick Pohl "Blood Music," by Greg Bear "The Man," by Ray Bradbury "Mom and Dad at the Home Front," Sherwood Smith "Beauty in the Night" by Robert Silverberg And another vote for "The Cookie Monster" by Vernor Vinge. That and DKoD deserved the awards they got.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
Oh, and there's this one that the title was just a bunch of overstruck letters that F Paul Wilson did for one of the David Copperfield anthologies that was terrific, along the lines of Wapshot's Demon.
Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :
"The Most Dangerous Game," by Richard Connell "--And the Moon be Still as Bright," Ray Bradbury
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
Edit (For Link):
"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
Ooh, ooh, and there was this really clever story by Timothy Zahn in Analog about a Secret Serviceman trying to save the President from Voodoo that's always stuck with me. That was a fun one, and is the book that persuaded me to try his Star Wars books (Although I don't think I ever finished the second one . . .)
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
There's a short story by Ray Bradbury about a man who always wanted to go to space but he couldn't afford it. So he built his own "rocket ship". If anybody knows what I'm talking about and knows the title, I would greatly appreciate it. I spent an hour looking for the title the other day, but Bradbury has quite a few stories with rocket as a keyword and I couldn't find it... Anyway, that's definately one of my favorites.
Also, George R.R. Martin's "Portraits of His Children"
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
quote:Originally posted by Amanecer:
Also, George R.R. Martin's "Portraits of His Children"
"Portraits of His Children" is one of the most painful stories I've ever read. I also remember every bit of it perfectly even though I read it at least 3 years ago. And I reread all of my favorite books every year simply because I don't remember things for longer than that.
My Favorites:
"Homeless in Hell", "Kingsmeat", and "West" by OSC
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
"The Ones Who walk away from Omelas" by Ursula Le Guin
"TuneSmith" by Lloyd Biggle Jr.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
"Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett
(strider introduced me to this one, you can read it online -- just Google the title)
"The Changed Man and the King of Words" by OSC
(i can't really put my finger on it, but this was the one OSC short story that i just burst into tears while i was reading. i'm not sure why, i can read it now without getting upset, but the first time i read it...)
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
quote: "Portraits of His Children" is one of the most painful stories I've ever read.
I found it painfully beautiful. Posted by Sharaith (Member # 8385) on :
Beggars in Spain, by Nancy Kress
Loki 7281, by Roger Zelazny
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
quote:Originally posted by Leonide: "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett
That story ended up being the inspiration for a novel I'm writing right now - 2/3 of the way through the first draft.
The Aleph and The Zahir by Jorge Luis Borges.
Posted by Liz B (Member # 8238) on :
Some of these have already been mentioned, but they still deserve additional votes:
"The Lottery" -- Jackson "All Summer in a Day" -- Bradbury "Harrison Bergeron" -- Vonnegut "The Monkey's Paw" -- (can't remember) "The Cask of Amontillado" (Poe) "Two Kinds" and "Rules of the Game" (Tan) -- these two were later made part of The Joy Luck Club, but were originally published as short stories and can still be read as such, so I'm including them.
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
A lot of repeats, in no particular order:
"The Lottery" -- Shirley Jackson "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" (and many others) -- Ursula LeGuin "Sandkings" -- George R. R. Martin** "All Summer in a Day" -- Ray Bradbury "Harrison Bergeron" -- Kurt Vonnegut "Feed the Baby of Love" and "Homeless in Hell" -- Orson Scott Card "Home is the Hangman" -- Roger Zelazny "Repent Harelequin, said the Ticktock Man" -- Harlan Ellison "Out of All Them Bright Stars" -- Nancy Kress
** I think this is my only original contribution
Posted by Exploding Monkey (Member # 7612) on :
The Mist - The Langolears - Grey Matter
All pointless fun, all by Stephen King.
I also really liked Card's Fat Farm, but I'm not even half way through Maps in a Mirror yet (trying to expose myself to other authors right now).
Posted by Exploding Monkey (Member # 7612) on :
quote:Originally posted by docmagik: "Blood Music," by Greg Bear
Good one, I agree.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I came *this* close to listing "Sandkings", CT, but ended up going with "A Song for Lya" instead. It was close though.
"Blood Music" was great also, although I thought it was a novella rather than a short story. It's been a long time, though, so I'm probably wrong about that.
Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
Haven't read ASFL, but now I will. Thanks.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
Unaccompanied SOnata and Kingsmeat, by OSC The Colour Out of Space, by HP Lovecraft
-Bok
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
Other "Harrison Bergeron" fans, ya! We must unite!
Posted by Rico (Member # 7533) on :
quote:Originally posted by Amanecer: There's a short story by Ray Bradbury about a man who always wanted to go to space but he couldn't afford it. So he built his own "rocket ship". If anybody knows what I'm talking about and knows the title, I would greatly appreciate it. I spent an hour looking for the title the other day, but Bradbury has quite a few stories with rocket as a keyword and I couldn't find it... Anyway, that's definately one of my favorites.
I'm looking for my book but I know which story you're talking about and I agree, it's a beautiful story and I'd say it's among one of my favorites. I can't find the book right now but I'm fairly sure the story is titled "The Rocket" and it's about a man who wants to go into space but can't afford to take his whole family so instead he builds his own "rocket ship" out of scraps from the junkyard he owns.
Edit: Yeah I was right that's the name of the story.
[ July 20, 2005, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: Rico ]
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
Thanks Rico! I really appreciate it!
[ July 20, 2005, 05:19 PM: Message edited by: Amanecer ]
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
That sounds like a good story.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
I prefer "Deer in the Works" to "Harrison Bergeron" by Vonnegut. I think the latter is a classic case of the author writing himself into a corner.
-Bok
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
First Meetings (x4); Asimov's one about that ultimate computer wanting to die (Multivak or something similar, a long time since I read it.
Posted by digging_holes (Member # 6237) on :
Unaccompanied Sonata, by OSC The Tell-Tale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe The Chaser, by John Collier
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Add another vote for me for OSC's "Unaccompanied Sonata."
Posted by aragorn64 (Member # 4204) on :
quote: "The Changed Man and the King of Words" by OSC
Yeah, I loved that story as well.
Posted by MoonRabbit (Member # 3652) on :
Gonna roll the bones by Fritz Leiber. Best short story ever. I can't stand anything else he wrote, but that story is amazing.
Pruzy's Pot by Theodore Sturgeon. Good luck finding it, but you will be richly rewarded if you do.(heh, heh)
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by Exploding Monkey:
quote:Originally posted by docmagik: "Blood Music," by Greg Bear
Good one, I agree.
Ahem. docmagic wasn't the first one to list this one. :pirate:
Posted by Troubadour (Member # 83) on :
There was a short story I read many many many years ago that has always stuck in my head. In fact, I may have even asked about it here a few years ago...
It involves a strange child with incredible powers. An entire town has been 'removed' from the rest of the world by the child and every person in the town, including its family controls their thoughts and actions rigourously as the slightest tantrum or upset from this child could cause them to be destroyed horribly. Or worse - altered....
I have no idea what the name of the story is or who wrote it - but since it's stuck with me so powerfully for so many years, I guess it deserves a mention. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, I'd love to know the name.
Posted by Exploding Monkey (Member # 7612) on :
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