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13 of My Favorite Short Stories… Evah!


As a kid, I loved reading sci-fi and horror short stories. I had a very short attention span and couldn’t sit still long enough to finish a full-length book (I know, right?), but loved to read. It was my need for immediate gratification that turned me onto short stories. In 20-some odd years, I’ve read thousands of them, but these are the ones that really, really stuck with me, because 1) they’re fucked up 2) they have a “lesson” 3) every geek loves them (and I’m nothing if not a geek). Here they are:

1. Bloodchild by Octavia Butler - In this twisted little tale, human refugees living on a strange planet prostitute themselves to alien beings called the T’lic and develop symbiotic relationships with them. The T’lic install the humans in a reserve where they cannot be hunted down by hostiles and in return, the humans allow them to use their bodies… and not in a sexy way, either. The author Butler (RIP) had repeatedly said it’s not about slavery, but the lengths a human would go through to survive.

2. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson - This is not a “happy” lottery. If you get picked, you don’t get to jump around and yell “woo-hoo”. In fact, you have maybe a second to run and even then, it’s too late. It does a great job of showing how humans have a tendency to stick to traditions no matter how stupid and archaic they are.

3. The Man in the Black Suit by Stephen King - A little boy named Gary lives with his family in a small farm, grieving the recent lost of his brother. His mother is not the same woman as before and his father is now very withdrawn. Gary, feeling neglected, goes off to the creek to go fishing and encounters a man in a black three-piece suit who smells like burnt matches and has orange eyes. King is the master at portraying a seemingly idyllic day turn into a frickin’ nightmare. Good stuff.

4. The Screwfly Solution by Raccoona Sheldon (pen name for Alice Sheldon, aka James Tiptree Jr) - Alan is a scientist working in Colombia, investigating the screwfly, while his wife Anne stays with their teenage daughter in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The two of them communicate via letters and through these letters, we see a story developing: men are systematically killing women and though scientists think it’s a disease that’s infecting their brains, the infected men believe it is God’s way of showing them how to live a peaceful life without women (the cause of all trouble) and call themselves “The Sons of Adam”. In the end, Anne finds out the real cause of this plague, but by then, it’s too late… for all the women in the world!

5. Maneki Neko by Bruce Sterling - You give a little love and it all comes back to you… Developed in Tokyo, there is a network all over the world of people giving to others and receiving whatever it is they ask for in return. You give stuff, you get stuff. You fuck with the network, the network fucks with you. Why do people gotta ruin it for everybody else?

6. Patriotism by Yukio Mishima - Written by a man known as a radical nationalist who publicly committed seppuku in protest of the westernization of Japan, this short story is about a disgraced soldier and his beautiful wife. The young man has lost his faith in the Japanese government and no longer wants to live. His wife, ever obliging and bound by honor, must follow after him. What follows is the preparation for a ritual seppuku that is erotic, terrifyingly beautiful, and fucked-up… but in a really deliciously hot way. Yes, yes, I have problems.

7. Speech Sounds by Octavia Butler - A worldwide epidemic robs humanity of their ability to communicate, but it affects them all in different ways. Some people can no longer write or recognize the written word, some have lost their ability to speak, while some can no longer understand spoken language. The folks unaffected by this hide and pretend to be as messed up as everyone else for fear that it will bring down the wrath of others on their heads. Remove the ability to understand others and the whole world is plunged into chaos. Sexy.

8. I Sing the Body Electric! by Ray Bradbury - An extremely busy scientist with young children who have recently lost their mother buys them a robot grandmother who will watch over them and read bedtime stories to them. Ah, robots that will take care of you, love you, and never leave you. That’s so sweet.

9. Houston, Houston, Do You Read? by James Tiptree Jr. - A bunch of space cowboys, real Alpha male types, get lost in space and can’t seem to contact Houston to help them find their way back. A spaceship finally picks them up for rescue… and they’re all broads. THEY ARE ALL BROADS! And everyone knows what broads are good for… Oh, lovely misogyny. You’re a veritable well of story ideas.

10. Contagion by Katherine MacLean - A group of space explorers crash-land on a planet far, far away called Minos. They are surprised to find that it is already populated by humans who speak English, one in particular is a physically perfect specimen called Patrick Mead. He’s brawny, intelligent, charming, good-looking… ah, the ladies luuuurve Patrick. Oh, and Patrick has a sister: Patricia. She’s perfect in every way too. They all are. But why are the male explorers getting sicker and sicker the longer they stay on the planet? What the hell is this contagion not recognized by the ship’s computers? Why is June’s lover starting to look alarmingly like Patrick Mead?

11. No Woman Born by CL Moore - The world’s most beautiful, most charming, most talented woman gets into a tragic accident— no longer beautiful, utterly useless in Hollywood… until a scientist plucks out her brain and sticks it into a robot. Suddenly, she can dance and sing as beautifully as before, is more charming than ever, and is determined to show the world that she’s still got it… only she looks like a robot. In some ways, she’s even better than a human. But what is she, really?

12. The Mist by Stephen King - After a particularly horrific storm, David and his son, Billy go to the grocery store —leaving his wife at home— to buy some milk, bread, and other necessities. After paying for their purchases, David and Billy make their way to the front of the store and notice that very, very thick mist has covered everything and they can’t see anything through it. Oh yeah, and there are prehistoric monsters inside the damn thing. Stick a bunch of panicking, scared people in a grocery store and trap them there. See what happens. Good stuff.

13. There Lies the Wub by Phillip K. Dick - If a cow can talk and make rational arguments, would you still eat it? In this story, we are introduced to an astronaut named Peterson who brings back a wub —a razor-back piggy thing— to the ship for consumption. The crew hasn’t eaten anything good in a while and this wub is looking mighty tasty… until it starts talking. And making very eloquent, erudite arguments as to why it shouldn’t be eaten. The crew still wants to eat it, but Peterson… well, he doesn’t. The Captain, tired and hungry, points a gun at the wub and the wub says, “Can you look me in the eye and do it?” This thing made me a vegetarian for a month… didn’t take, though.

I’ve attached a video (after the jump) that never fails to make me smile. Check it out.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Just Dionne!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

28 Responses to “13 of My Favorite Short Stories… Evah!”

  1. Ann(ie)
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 9:18 am
    1

    I love that commercial!! They show it in movie theatres here.

    Oh, and I’ve actually read some of those stories too. Cool!

  2. Red Garnier
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 9:48 am
    2

    Wow this is really interesting. Number two caught me for a reason I just want to read that NOOOOOW! =) Will check all of these out!
    Red

  3. Tilly Greene
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 9:49 am
    3

    I seem to have missed out on all of these - dang, how is that possible!?! Fabulous commercial…like the Happy Cows ads, those make me laugh as well.

  4. FerfeLaBat
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 10:20 am
    4

    You should read the poem (I sing the Body Electric) if you haven’t already.

    http://www.bartleby.com/142/19.html

    The short story that has stuck with me the longest is William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” though The Lottery by Shirley Jackson is far more relevent in Blog-land.

  5. SweetNSourGirl
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 10:36 am
    5

    Have you seen the Twilight Zone episode of “I Sing the Body Electric”? It’s one of the better ones that was based off a short story. Haven’t read a lot of Bradbury, but I freakin’ love “Fahrenheit 451.”

  6. Christine d'Abo
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 10:51 am
    6

    I loved the Lottery. It was the best thing to teach when I taught Jr. High School. And I think Stephen King is one of the best short story writers ever! I love his novels, but when he writes something short it’s really snappy.

  7. Jackie
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 10:59 am
    7

    One of the short stories that I absolutely loved was by Kurt Vonnegut — it was in the Welcome to the Monkeyhouse collection, and it was about how everyone had to be normal — meaning that the more talented people had to have their talents quashed. A huge celebration of mediocrity. And I’m blanking on the title! Help me out, someone!

    Totally agree about “The Lottery.”

    Haven’t read most of the others on your list, but I’m going to have to check them out.

  8. Meredith
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:07 am
    8

    Considering the absolute screw-up that Mishima’s public seppuku was, that makes his story even more interesting. (If I remember grad school correctly, his lover freaked out at the last minute and didn’t follow through on his promise to behead Mishima, so the poor man died a much more painful death than would normally happen in Japanese ritual suicide.)

    He’s a wonderful author, though–shame not all his stuff has been translated into English.

  9. bam
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:09 am
    9

    his lover freaked out at the last minute and didn’t follow through on his promise to behead Mishima, so the poor man died a much more painful death than would normally happen in Japanese ritual suicide.

    Well, let’s just say the lover kept hacking and hacking at Mishima with a sword and he was so nervous that he kept messing it up, so one of Mishima’s other minions had to come and chop his head off. :)

    What a wonderful story.

  10. Samantha Lucas
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:15 am
    10

    Oh I love that video. I just love it when they pay it at the movies. :)

    Great TT and I appreciated that you didn’t just list the books but told us why. Thanks. :)

  11. FerfeLaBat
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:17 am
    11

    Jackie

    Harrison Bergeron

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron

  12. Ann(ie)
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:27 am
    12

    Faulkner wrote wordy, bloated prose that garnered him an overinflated reputation. The Sound and the Fury is a mess. Then again, I think James Joyce wrote with pure pretension as well. It’s called ‘trying too hard.’

    Hemingway wrote beautifully, spare and evocative. Nobody has ever written about Paris in the 1920s as he did. The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, Death in the Afternoon, Winner Take Nothing, A Moveable Feast… give me Hemingway anyday.

    From A Farewell to Arms:

    If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.

    Makes me weak with envy.

  13. Jackie
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:41 am
    13

    Thank you, FerfeLaBat!

  14. FerfeLaBat
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:45 am
    14

    My pleasure.

    I thought Gallapagos was Vonneguts best novel.

  15. Wylie
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:47 am
    15

    #’s 2 & 3 are amongst my faves. And I’d have to add The Monkey’s Paw by O’Henry.

  16. FerfeLaBat
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:50 am
    16

    Double Posting but Ayn Rands’ Anthem - basically a full body slam against the (then) trend of collectivism and how reducing mankind to its’ lowest common denominator in the pursuit of the socialist ideal of equality came before that short story I think - Jackie. If you enjoy that kind of Sci Fi you would definitely appreciate Anthem.

  17. FerfeLaBat
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:57 am
    17

    Your comment is awaiting moderation.
    ???

    ::Droop::

    Sigh.

    I’m mostly harmless. Mostly.

  18. April
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:58 am
    18

    One of my profs had Octavia Butler scheduled to come to the class once. Man, were we bummed out when she changed her mind at the last minute.

    Phillip K. Dick is a staple in the movie industry — so many of his short stories have been made into movies now.

    Most of my favorite short stories are by lesser known writers, stories like:
    “Invisible Man” by Larry Ferrill
    “A Little of What You Fancy” by Mary Catherine McDaniel
    “Division by Zero” by Ted Chiang
    or “Desert Rain” by Mark L. Van Name and Pat Murphy

    I’d name more, but while the stories tend to stay with me, the titles and author names don’t. :-\ Many of them were pubbed in Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine, though.

    Great list of stories! I’ll have to look up some of them.

  19. CoraZane
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
    19

    I’m going to have to look up Octavia Butler and Katherine MacLean. I *heart* the really screwed up shortie short fics. My favorite short story, I can’t recall the title or the anthology it came from (1993ish when I read it), but that doesn’t stop me from trying to find the story again. In it, a married woman touring the Amazon has an affair with this local man who tells her about the animals coming out of the woods to mate with humans. When she arrives home from her tour, she gets this small swelling on the side of her neck, like a boil. She goes to the dr. about it, but he tells her it’s just a cyst - nothing to worry about. However, it continues to swell, and one evening as she is playing pitch with her kids and husband in the yard, she gets hit in the neck with the ball… and all these hundreds of baby spiders come pouring out. *enter oogly boogly music here* Ah, gotta love it. Horror stories with a moral message. ^_^

  20. bam
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
    20
    Author Comment

    “Division by Zero” by Ted Chiang

    Dude, I forgot to add Hell is the absence of God, April. Fucking brilliant.

  21. Ann(ie)
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
    21

    Haven’t read Rand’s short stories, but I read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Once I got past the heavy troweling of politics and agenda, I actually found her to be quite an engaging writer. It’s a thick layer, though.

  22. FerfeLaBat
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
    22

    She wrote Anthem at the same time she wrote The Fountainhead. While I really enjoyed the romance in both The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, it was the — in this day and age would you call it politics? She was more intensely anti religion than hyper political. But her social and philosophical underpinnings made the stories more than just enjoyable fiction. I re-read them about every three years along with Gone With The Wind and a few other favorites.

  23. Darla
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
    23

    I hardly ever read short stories, so it surprises me that I’ve read several of these. And Anthem. Ditto what FerfeLaBat said ^.

  24. Erica R
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
    24

    I read a few of those… and will have to check out the rest!

  25. Sherrie
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
    25

    I read The Mist when I was in grade 8 and I just remember it burning a hole in my brain! :) Awesome list, I am going to try to dig up 2, 6 and 13.

  26. Ann(ie)
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
    26

    Next week, I think I’ll do “13 Books I love that you’ve probably never heard of.” Dig into my obscure reading past.

  27. raine
    Posted: May 24th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
    27

    The Lottery, The Lottery…YESSS!!
    One of my favorite stories EVER, brought to you by the woman who also wrote The Haunting of Hill House!
    I LOVED that story.

  28. Dawn
    Posted: Jun 2nd, 2007 at 5:39 pm
    28

    Hi all!

    I am so grateful that you listed Patriotism by Yukio Mishima.

    I vividly remember the story (how could you not?) but couldn’t remember who wrote it. But I remember thinking how incredibly beautiful and sick it was.

    I have read accounts of his suicide and and that he wrote but completely missed the connection. I am so happy now.

    Put me down in the major problems category too.

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