Short, exciting stories? -

[biledriver]

I just read "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" (Joyce Carol Oates). I'm familiar with this author but, as with this particular story, I am unsure how I feel about her works. They all leave me feeling like I just can't make up my mind about her style. However, I do really like how engaging her writing is. Whether I like the stories or not, they all seem to draw you in well. Has anyone here read that? I've heard it's often used in high school and even college classes. What did you think of it?

What are some good short stories? Or even novellas? Authors?

Something that has a bite to it. You know, the kind of story where you get to the end and are surprised the words are over already, there was so much in there.

 

[unsure on how to proceed]

Months ago I read a story that was written by a deceased Japanese rock(?) artist, hide (with a lowercase h). The story's gotten few fan translations, and I don't know how reliable they are, but the ending still left an impact on me back when I read it. To my knowledge he wasn't a writer, just a musician/lyricist.

He also made a song under the same name

Honey Blade (text)
Honey Blade (song)

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I'm a 40k fan and I can recommend the first Hammer and Bolter for having some great short stories (though mostly mediocre ones).

 

[AmpleApricots]

BLIT - still think about that one now and then as a thought experiment if such a thing would exist.

 

[Observotron]

A personal favorite and inspiration to my own work - "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream". (This is an audiobook read by, I believe, the author himself.)

It paints one of the bleakest images of the future that I have ever seen and I really enjoy Ellison's style of writing.

There's a cult classic video game as well if you're interested.

 

[The Empirical Bogey]

One of Steven King's first short stories - Rage - published under the name Richard Bachman. The black comedy is fantastic and the suspense is awesome. It may be a little hard to find tho

 

[BrunoMattei]

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Super easy to find now that Harlan's dead and not firing DMCA notices at anyone for uploading a 50 year old short story.

 

[Observotron]

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Super easy to find now that Harlan's dead and not firing DMCA notices at anyone for uploading a 50 year old short story.

Already posted it my dude Even the audio book by, presumably, Ellison himself.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce.

 

[Clown College]

Not the biggest Orson Scott Card fan but this story "Salvage" is pretty good.

Salvage (short story) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Pale Empress]

I can't stand his novels or really anything else he does, but Joe Hill (progeny of legendary mediocre hack Stephen King) has a collection of short stories called "20th Century Ghosts" that's actually really stupendous. Most of it's horror, but not all of it. It's actually pretty poignant and it held my attention for the entire anthology.