Ye Olde Staging Point

Almost since I first learned to read, short stories have held a special place in my heart. Like anyone else, I've always loved a good novel, and there's no experience quite so sublime as allowing oneself to slip entirely out of mundane reality and into the imaginary vistas crafted by a skilled writer. Nevertheless, a good short story stands in my mind as a piece of art quite separate than, and in some ways superior to, a good novel.

Short stories seem to impose much harsher restrictions on their writers than do longer-length works; a good short story must evoke an emotional or intellectual response from the reader but must do it with far fewer words than a novel. As anyone who has ever tried their hand at short-story writing will attest, it is often much more difficult to be succinct than it is to be verbose. Knowing how difficult it can be to pack a truly emotional punch into the length limitations of a short story, I've always been particularly impressed when I've come across short stories that manage to do so; some of my favorite short stories are the ones that have crept up on me, catching me unawares with an unforseen ending, a shocking twist, an amusing insight, or a beautiful description.

Short stories also have the advantage of being an art form that anyone can at least attempt; they don't require the sheer time commitment of a longer work of literature, and it's not too difficult to put something onto paper in story form. The trick, of course, is to craft a story that jumps out of the pages and leaves a permanent impression on the reader's mind. I've read many such stories over the years, as you no doubt have done; here are a few of the stories that impacted me so profoundly that even now, years after I've read them, I can vividly recall words, passages, and characters that left my mind stunned or in awe.

In no particular order, then, here is a meager sampling of my favorite short stories--the ones I still lovingly turn to many years after I first read them. I'd love to hear about your favorites.

• "The Library of Babel" by Jorge Luis Borges
  A truly mind-boggling story and one of my all-time favorites. A fanciful look at the universe through the metaphor of a great library, its influence on The Name of the Rose is obvious. While this story has little in the way of traditional plot, being more of a descriptive essay, it nevertheless caught my imagination and hasn't yet let go. One of the most intriguing stories I've ever read; if you can track this one down (it can probably be found in an anthology of Borges fiction), I can't recommend it highly enough.
• "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  You probably read this one in high school English class. I don't remember too many of my classmates being particularly struck by it, but I couldn't get this one out of my mind. The nightmare that the title character must live with--the fear that maybe he doesn't know who his loved ones and friends really are--filled even my tender young mind with a sort of thrilling horror. Hawthorne wrote a lot of wonderful stuff, but this story has always seemed to trumpet his message most effectively.
• "Death Ship" by Richard Matheson
  A Twilight Zone-ish science fiction short story written by one of the early masters of the genre (the story was actually converted into an episode of The Twilight Zone, although it was mangled beyond recognition in the transition from short story to film), this one still gives me the chills just thinking about it. It hits the reader with a surprise ending that caught me, at least, completely off-guard; in fact, the significance of the main characters' fate didn't really sink in until a second reading. A great twisted-ending tale, the sort you really ought to read on a cold winter night, bundled up in blankets near a fireplace with a nice mug of hot chocolate nearby.
• "The Cask of Amontillado" by E.A. Poe
  Another one of those stories you probably read in junior high or high school literature, but nevertheless another one of my favorites. It's short and sweet: every sentence, every word seems to have been lovingly crafted by Poe for maximum effect; there's not a single syllable that doesn't work. In just a handful of pages, Poe takes you along with the protagonist on an emotional journey from righteous anger to cold-blooded vengeance to horrified realization (well, the protagonist never really reaches that final stage, but the reader sure does). You know a story has real power when its finale remains chillingly creepy despite having become something of a cliché over the years.
• "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H.P. Lovecraft
  This isn't Lovecraft's most famous story--in fact it is fairly long, probably somewhere between "short story" and "novella"--but it was one of my first exposures to his bizarre imagination, and I absolutely loved it. A great investigative story from start to finish, complete with horrifying secrets, hideous creatures from Beyond, and the creepy and satisfying sort of ending one comes to expect from Lovecraft stories. Many people recommend "The Call of Cthulhu" as the quintessential Lovecraft story, but I personally think this one is better.
  
• "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" by Stephen King
  Probably not the story most Stephen King fans would recommend as the one to start out with, but I've always liked this one. It manages to condense almost every Stephen King-ism there is into one entertaining story--you've got your classic rock-n-roll and pop culture references, your lost tourists in the middle of nowhere, and your hellish damnation visited upon the unwary. What's not to like? There are actually quite a few King stories I might put on this list; others might be the liked-by-only-me-as-far-as-I-can-tell "Night Shift," the Lovecraftian "Jerusalem's Lot," "The Long Walk," and "The Langoliers" (OK, so those last two are technically novellas).
• "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs
  Don't tell me this wasn't in your high school literature book! The ultimate be-careful-what-you-wish for story; it gives me the willies just thinking about it. I pretty much laid awake nights wondering fearfully what would they have seen if they had opened the door?

So many stories, so little time! These are just a faint sampling of the short stories I've read and loved over the years. If you haven't read any of these, I highly recommend tracking them down at the library (or asking me for a copy to borrow). Happy reading!