Here are some famous short stories from a few major categories to get you started.
Modern Short Stories
- “The Third and Final Continent” by Jhumpa Lahiri: An arranged marriage and a new life in America.
- “The Semplica-Girl Diaries” by George Saunders: (New Yorker) A family that lives beyond their means prepares for a birthday party which will include a showy and unusual gift.
- “Friend of My Youth” by Alice Munro: (Read in preview) Flora Grieves responds to the changes in her life with an astonishing adaptability.
- “Premium Harmony” by Stephen King: A dysfunctional marriage takes a turn during an errand.
- “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates: A fifteen-year-old girl encounters a man in a parking lot and it doesn’t end there.
- “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” by Nathan Englander: (New Yorker) Orthodox and secular Jews, alcohol and pot, and an old game.
- “Janus” by Ann Beattie: A real estate agent with a special bowl.
- “Time and Again” by Breece D’ J Pancake: A snowplow operator, hogs, and a hitchhiker.
Classic Short Stories
- “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe: A rare vintage of wine serves as the lure for revenge over “a thousand injuries” and an insult.
- “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin: A woman experiences a gamut of emotions at the news of her husband’s death.
- “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe: Various mental issues, an entombment, and a decaying mansion.
- “The Doll’s House” by Katherine Mansfield: A beautiful doll house highlights the social distinctions in a small town.
- “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov: Capital punishment or life in prison? Two men make a high-stakes wager.
- “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving: (Read in preview) A good night’s sleep leaves Rip confused.
- “The Queen of Spades” by Alexander Pushkin: (Read in preview) An old countess, a three card secret and some unexplained occurrences.
Often Anthologized Stories
- “To Build a Fire” by Jack London: A perilous frozen journey tests a traveler’s survival skills.
- “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor: The Misfit is loose, but what are the chances this extended family will run into him?
- “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver: A blind man is coming to visit a woman, and her husband isn’t looking forward to it.
- “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: (Read in preview) A woman suffering from “nervous depression” and a “hysterical tendency” takes an interest in the wallpaper.
- “Araby” by James Joyce: An infatuated boy learns a lesson.
- “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway: A conversation that isn’t about hills or elephants of any color.
- “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield: A regular Sunday walk is ruined.
- “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty: (The Atlantic) Phoenix Jackson has a long walk ahead of her.
- “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner: (18% into preview) After Miss Grierson dies her secret is revealed.
- “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker: A visit home sparks an identity clash in the Deep South.
- “A&P” by John Updike: Three girls wearing bathing suits walk into a grocery store.
- “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather: Paul rebels against his normal life—he wants glamour and money.
- “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne: (Read in preview) Goodman Brown takes an eerie night-time journey.
- “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabríel Garcia Márquez: (Read in preview) A mysterious old man washes up on shore.
- “I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen: A mother thinks about how she raised her daughter with the options she had.
- “The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence: (First story in preview) A spendthrift mother and a lucky little boy.
- “The Use of Force” by William Carlos Williams: A doctor and a sick little girl do battle.
- “In the Penal Colony” by Franz Kafka: An officer proudly explains the workings of a torture/justice machine.
- “The Secret Sharer” by Joseph Conrad: A guest with a secret and a captain with a decision to make.
- “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by Leo Tolstoy: Ivan’s life and death. (novella)
Stories with Twist Endings
- “The Reticence of Lady Anne” by Saki: A wife giving the silent treatment and a husband trying his best to break through.
- “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry: (Read in preview) A woman in a sickbed loses her will to live as she focuses on a vine nearing dormancy.
- “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl: A frozen leg of lamb is put to a use that even the meat industry wouldn’t sanction.
- “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant: A borrowed necklace has lasting effects.
- “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson: (10% into preview) The locals are excited and anxious as their annual tradition nears.
- “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry: (Read in preview) A poor husband and wife want to get each other a nice Christmas present. Possibly the most famous short story ending ever.
- “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl: A rookie salesman finds a perfect bed and breakfast.
- “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty: A sniper is spotted and comes under fire.
- “To Serve Man” by Damon Knight: (35% into preview) A generous alien race comes bearing gifts.
- “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce: A Confederate sympathizer is sentenced to hang.
- “The Interlopers” by Saki: Feuding patriarchs get a chance to make amends.
- “Witness for the Prosecution” by Agatha Christie: The case against a murder suspect is even worse than he thought.
Popular Short Stories
- “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe: The prince hosts a party while a plague ravages the population.
- “Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor: A Bible salesman stays with the Hopewell’s for a while.
- “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” by Mark Twain: (Read in preview) A tall tale about an inveterate gambler and an exceptional frog.
- “Barbara of the House of Grebe” by Thomas Hardy: An elopement, an accident, and an important statue.
- “The Overcoat” by Nikolai Gogol: An overcoat that’s well past its prime makes life difficult for Akaky.
- “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe: (Read in preview) Obsession, murder and an “Evil Eye”, but don’t think that makes him crazy.
- “Sredni Vashtar” by Saki: A beleaguered boy and a unique religion with a ferret-god.
- “The Terrible Old Man” by H. P. Lovecraft: (Preview: select in table of contents) A feeble old man, or are the rumors true?
- “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula Le Guin: A place where people can live in happiness—if they can accept just one thing.
- “Vanka” by Anton Chekhov: (Read in preview) A young boy with a bad life desperately wants to live with his grandfather.
- “My Kinsman, Major Molineux” by Nathaniel Hawthorne: A young man goes looking for his esteemed kinsman but finds the townspeople unhelpful.
- “A Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka: The life of a professional faster isn’t an easy one.
- “The Lady with the Dog” by Anton Chekhov: (Read in Amazon preview) An affair with complications in one of Chekhov’s most-loved stories.
- “Roman Fever” by Edith Wharton: A Roman vacation, two rivals, and an old deception.
- “The Dead” by James Joyce: An annual dinner leads to a profound realization.
- “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway: An old man is in despair even though he has money.
- “Bartleby, the Scrivener” by Herman Melville: (Sixth story in preview) Bartleby works as a law-copyist. I could tell you more but “I would prefer not to.”
- “Kew Gardens” by Virginia Woolf: Four groups of people walk through a garden—also a snail.
- “Boule de Suif” by Guy de Maupassant: (second story in preview) A delayed group of stagecoach passengers are free to continue on one condition.
- “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane: Four men try to stay alive in a small boat.
- “Odour of Chrysanthemums” by D. H. Lawrence: When Walter is late again his wife assumes he went to the pub after work.
- “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell: (Read in preview) When a farmer is found dead his wife is the main suspect.
- “Symbols and Signs” by Vladimir Nabokov: (Read in preview) Aging parents prepare to visit their son in a mental institution.
- “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut: Harrison is exceptional which would usually be good news, but there’s a law against that.
- “The Lady, or the Tiger” by Frank Stockton: (Select Paperback preview first, then Kindle preview) A barbaric king has a special way of dealing with criminals.
- “A Telephone Call” by Dorothy Parker: Anticipation over a phone call dominates a woman’s thoughts.
- “Babylon Revisited” by F. Scott Fitzgerald: A formerly irresponsible man tries to get his daughter back.
- “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell: An island where a Russian aristocrat carries out a special kind of hunt.
- “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury: A futuristic nursery, concerned parents, and children who don’t want anything to change.
- “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing: A rite of passage at the beach for a young outsider.
- “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter: A deathbed reminiscence of a sixty-year-old loss.
- “Dry September” by William Faulkner: A lynch mob forms against a local black man.
- “I’m a Fool” by Sherwood Anderson: A horse groomer passes himself off as wellborn to a young lady.
- “Luck” by Mark Twain: A military hero blunders his way to success.
- “Raymond’s Run” by Toni Cade Bambara: The fastest runner in the neighborhood faces a new challenger.
- “The Garden of Forking Paths” by Jorge Luis Borges: A spy has been compromised.
- “Haircut” by Ring Lardner: (Read in preview) The history of a recently deceased practical joker.
- “The School” by Donald Barthelme: Students learn about the life cycle—over and over again. (41% into preview)
- “The Enormous Radio” by John Cheever: A radio that picks up very local frequencies. (Third story in Amazon preview)
- “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J. D. Salinger: (Read in preview) A veteran’s family is concerned about his behavior.
- “The Country of the Blind” by H. G. Wells: An adventurer discovers an unusual village.
- “The Red-Headed League” by Arthur Conan Doyle: Holmes looks into the disappearance of a choosy employer.
- “Billennium” by J. G. Ballard: Overpopulation, a government mandate on living space, and a life-changing discovery.
- “Happy Endings” by Margaret Atwood: The story of John and Mary told six ways.
- “Rain, Rain, Go Away” by Isaac Asimov: A family who loves the sun but avoids the rain.
- “Wasps’ Nest” by Agatha Christie: Poirot is investigating a murder before it happens.
- “Second Variety” by Philip K. Dick: (Read in preview) A nuclear war, robotic assistance, and a new threat. (novelette)
- “Jeeves Takes Charge” by P. G. Wodehouse: (Read in preview) A scandal threatens and Jeeves lends his services.
- “And of Clay Are We Created” by Isabel Allende: A mudslide, a buried young girl, and a reporter.
