So, a couple of weeks back, the inestimable Margi Curtis tagged me in the seven books – seven days meme. I had already completed that meme quite recently, but it got me thinking about alternatives. So, here is a list of ten of my favourite short stories, in no particular order. I have tried to give accurate information on first publication, relying heavily on the Internet Speculative Fiction database. http://www.isfdb.org. Subsequent collections are of necessity restricted to those I am familiar with.
What attracts me to a short story? What makes me go back and reread it over and over again, even at the expense of the authors other work? Prose style is important, along with focus and the ingenuity of the central idea. But all I can really say is that each of these tales encapsulates an atmosphere I find unforgettable. I recommend them all without hesitation.
“Hellsgarde”, C. L. Moore in Weird Tales, April 1939.
Collected in Jirel of Joiry, Ace Books 1982 and Black Gods and Scarlet Dreams, Fantasy Masterworks #31, Gollancz 2002.
“The Howling Tower”, Fritz Lieber in Unknown Fantasy Fiction, June 1941.
Collected in Swords Against Death, Grafton Books 1986 (1979) among others.
“The Tenderness of Jackals”, Amanda Downum in Lovecraft Unbound, ed. Ellen Datlow, Dark Horse Books, 2009.
Collected in Still So Strange, ChiZine Publications, 2018.
“The Masque of the Red Death”, E. A. Poe in Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine, May 1842.
You have it somewhere.
“The Banquet of the Lords of Night”, Liz Williams in Asimov’s, June 2002.
Collected in The Mammoth Book of Extreme Fantasy, ed. Mike Ashley, Running Press, 2008. Reprinted in Clarkesworld #80, May 2013.
“The Festival”, H. P. Lovecraft in Weird Tales, January 1925.
I have it in The Tomb and Other Tales, Del Ray 1989 (1975).
“Red As Blood”, Tanith Lee in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 1979.
AND
“When The Clock Strikes”, Tanith Lee in Weird Tales #1, 1980.
I find it impossible to chose between these two, collected in Red As Blood or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer, DAW Books, 1983.
“The Return of the Sorcerer”, Clark Aston Smith in Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror, September 1931.
Collected in Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, ed. August Derleth, Grafton Books, 1988 (1975) among many, many others.
“The Memorial Page”, K. J. Bishop in Fables and Reflections #2, April 2002.
Collected in That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote, self published 2012.
“The Street of the Four Winds”, R. W. Chambers in The King in Yellow, Neely's Prismatic Library, 1895.
Subsequent editions are literally the stuff of legend.