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Treat your mind: The 11 best short stories ever written

The Tell-Tale Heart & Other Tales
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
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The Lottery and Other Stories (FSG Classics)
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
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The Yellow Wallpaper
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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Giovanni's Room
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
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The Dead: Short Story
The Dead by James Joyce
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The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
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The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition
Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
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Cathedral
Cathedral by Raymond Carver
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Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang
Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang
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When I Was Mortal
On the Honeymoon by Javier Marias
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A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor
A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
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Everyone knows the pleasures of settling in with a good book , but most often when people think of reading they think about chunky novels which might take weeks or even months to work through. And while there's certainly something to be said for sinking into the world of a novel and taking the time to really explore, sometimes you're in the mood for something on the short and punchy side of the spectrum. Then it's time to look for a great short story. It takes a whole lot of skill to pack characters, world building, themes, motivations, and an intriguing plot into just a few pages, but there are a few outstanding authors who have mastered the art.

To that end, there are a smattering of short stories that stand out from the crowd. Admittedly, it is difficult to call them the best short stories because quality is subjective. But rest assured that those you’ll find recommended here are almost universally considered some of the most important little works of literature ever thanks to some combination of their revolutionary style, timeless storytelling, or influence on nearly all writers to follow. Some of these are classic tales that have been beloved for decades while others are from current authors who are still breaking literary ground today, but they are truly great short stories one and all.

Tell tale heart.
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The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

Few genres have made as much use of the short story format as horror, and it’s difficult to say that any such writer stands above Poe. Known for penning many gothic masterpieces, The Tell-Tale Heart is Poe's most renowned short story. Narrated by a murderer whose sanity gradually slips as he meditates on his crime and is haunted by the beating heart of his victim, this story helped to set the standard for early gothic romanticism.

The Tell-Tale Heart & Other Tales
The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
The Lottery.
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The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

First released in The New Yorker in 1948, The Lottery is a masterwork of grim atmosphere and troubling themes. The story of a small village lottery — the winner of which will be stoned to death — it almost singlehandedly created the modern concept of gothic horror thanks to its gloomy atmosphere and use of thought-provoking, disturbing irony.

The Lottery and Other Stories (FSG Classics)
The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
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The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Published in 1892, The Yellow Wallpaper is another classic of early-modern gothic horror, though it emphasizes psychological distress over some of the more fantastic elements embraced by Gilman’s peers. The tale of a woman who is confined to her bedroom as part of a rest cure for her so-called hysteria, as the narrator slips into madness she becomes increasingly enamored by the yellow color of her room. Considered a cornerstone of early American feminist writing, its commentary on the oppressive impact of patriarchy remains relevant to this day.

The Yellow Wallpaper
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin.
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Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

Toeing the line between short story and novella, this semi-autobiographical narrative centers around a young American living in Paris whose affections are torn between his girlfriend and an Italian bartender named Giovanni. Not only is this a wonderfully written work by one of the 20th century’s greatest Black thinkers, writers, and activists, but it is held in high regard for its open and complex portrayal of bisexuality and same-sex relationships.

Giovanni's Room
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
The Dead by James Joyce.
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The Dead by James Joyce

The most renowned installment in Joyce’s Dubliners, The Dead is about a young Irishman whose family holds him in the highest regard thanks to his practicality and level-headedness. When he attends a party, however, his principles are challenged as he is pushed to confront his own mortality. Arguably the famed writer’s most accessible work, it nonetheless shows his ability to bury deep themes in seemingly straightforward stories.

The Dead: Short Story
The Dead by James Joyce
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.
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The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Not only is The Metamorphosis one of the greatest short stories ever written, but it was an important forebearer of the Surrealist movement that would emerge shortly after its publication in 1915. The story of a salesman who wakes up one morning to find, much to his alarm, that he has turned into a beetle, there has been much debate over its meaning, but all agree that it is a masterful look at alienation in the modern age.

The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway.
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Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway

Papa Hemingway wrote several short stories that could be ranked among the best of all time, but Hills Like White Elephants is perhaps his most brilliant effort thanks to how he talks directly about a subject without ever bringing it up at all. The story of a young couple waiting for a train as they discuss some never-clarified operation, it is nevertheless obvious that the man is attempting to pressure the woman into having an abortion. It is a masterpiece of subtlety and simplicity from a writer who is perhaps the greatest at packing an abundance of meaning into a minimal word count.

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition
Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
Cathedral by Raymond Carver.
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Cathedral by Raymond Carver

By the late 1970s, short stories were waning in their public appeal. Then Raymond Carver rose to prominence and wrote some life back into the format with his unrivaled application of minimalism. The most renowned example of this was Cathedral, which is about a man’s jealousy toward his wife’s blind friend. By the time the two men bond over the image of a cathedral — which only one of them can actually see — the reader is left floored by the elegant simplicity of the story’s deceptively powerful ending.

Cathedral
Cathedral by Raymond Carver
Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang.
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Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang

When a fleet of spaceships arrives on Earth, a team of scientists is tasked with figuring out how to communicate with the extraterrestrial pilots. As linguist Louise Banks learns more and more about the alien language, she discovers that the solution to mounting problems seemingly brought with the visitors involves her own personal relationship to time. A pint-sized masterpiece by one of the greatest living science fiction writers, Chiang’s elegant yet complex story was made into an acclaimed feature film, Arrival.

Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang
Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang
When I was Mortal book.
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On the Honeymoon by Javier Marias

One of the greatest writers of the past several decades, Javier Marias’ name is essentially on every shortlist for the Nobel Prize in literature. While novels account for the vast majority of his work, he did release a collection of short fiction called When I Was Mortal. Perhaps the best story in the book is On the Honeymoon, which tells the story of a newly married man who watches the street outside a hotel window as his wife is sick in bed. Drama ensues when he catches the eye of a distraught looking woman. Within 20 pages, Marias uses all the literary tools that he is known for wielding in books 20 times longer.

When I Was Mortal
On the Honeymoon by Javier Marias
A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor.
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A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor

If Hemingway and Carver make up two points of the Holy Trinity of great American short story writing, Flannery O’Connor is the third. She’s also wildly regarded as the greatest of Southern Gothic writers. Without a doubt her most famous work is A Good Man Is Hard to Find, which tells the story of an arguing family that ends up stranded after a car crash, with horrible consequences.

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor
A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor

Frequently Asked Questions

What is considered the best short story ever written?

There's no consensus, and what matters most is the short story you gravitate toward. There certainly are some widely known ones. Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart, for example, is legendary. The Metamorphosis, first published in 1915, is another. Even religious texts like the Bible and Qur'an contain short stories full of lessons and symbolism.

If you're new to short stories, consider trying out different genres and time periods to see which you lose yourself in the most. You may find your tastes change over time or based on your mood. There are also many published collections of short stories around different themes or topics, which can be a great way to read a variety of new and familiar writers who you might not be exposed to otherwise. Some genres, like sci-fi, have a long tradition of anthology short story publications so you can look out for short story offerings from publishers like Tor to see how much interest can be packed into a few short pages of story.

Either way, taking time to read can be a way to engage your mind and relax without screens (unless you're using a tablet, in which case consider turning notifications off to "unplug.")

Editors' Recommendations

Nick Hilden
Former Digital Trends Contributor

Nick Hilden is a lifestyle and culture writer whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Afar, the Daily Beast, Popular Science, Men's Health, Thrillist, Scientific American, Salon, Fodor's, Vice, Popular Mechanics, Runner's World, and more. He's usually on some random adventure in some random corner of the world.

Send all editorial inquiries HERE.

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