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243 thoughts on “Comments”

  1. MB

    Hi. Wanted to get in touch with you regarding an international collection of short stories, dealing with positivity. Can we please connect? Thanks.

    Reply
  2. Andy Linley

    Love the site. I am looking for a story I read on your website a few years ago. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the author and title. And it would be great for school! The story, I recall, is very short. It may be 750 words maximum. It is about an immigrant boy who dies, and he is not ‘officially’ remembered because he has no real status – he may be living illegally in the States. I believe his girlfriend or friend is thinking about him and his absence… She may recall a picture or a jacket (or something…) Thank you.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Andy,
      Unfortunately, I can’t place the story you’re looking for. The only one that comes to mind (“My Dead Brother Comes to America” by Godin) doesn’t fit your description very well. If you can think of any other details, let me know and I’ll check again.

      Reply
  3. Hat Wever

    Amazing site! Hopefully I can find a story remembered from a high school anthology. A woman is apparently waiting for a train (bus?) But it becomes clear as the story unfolds that she actually sleeps at the station and is either abandoned or homeless. There were think & reflect questions in the anthology prompting readers to consider her true circumstances. The story must have been published before 1985 and has a late 50s or early 60s feel to it, but I could misremember.

    Reply
  4. Carlos A Altgelt

    I’d very much like to know if anyone ever read a bery short story, allegedly by Damon Knight published in the mid-50s, that talks about Andy, an android that wanbts to be buried like a human being. He wasn’t and the story ends with the head of the lab talking about his next poroject: to create a REAL human being.

    Reply
  5. Nancy Cochran

    I am trying to remember a short story I read in the 60’s, about a group of people who created a time machine. Each time they used it they changed history, and by the end of the story, they were primitives sitting around a fire rubbing sticks together.
    Any ideas?
    Thanks,
    Nancy C.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Sorry, Nancy. I don’t know this one. If you can think of any more details that might help, please let us know.

      Reply
      1. Nancy Cochran

        They called something like “the kitsk-kitsk machine”, and it was by one of the classic sci fi authors who wrote somewhat tongue-in-cheek, like Lafferty or Silverberg. But I’ve checked their lists of works, and can’t find it. 🙁

        Reply
      2. Nancy Cochran

        Found it! “Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne”, by R.A. Lafferty. One of the character’s names is Epiktistes, which is why I remembered something like “kitsk-kitsk”. Not bad for having read it over 50 years ago!

        Reply
  6. kim powers

    I am looking for stories that have dual narration or an unreliable narrator that are modern ; do you have any suggestions?

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Kim,
      I can’t think of anything modern with an unreliable narrator. “Suzy and Leah” by Jane Yolen has two narrators, but I’m not sure if that’s modern enough.

      Reply
  7. Liz Roth

    Please ignore my previous comment. The link I sent is not for the short story by Ralph Reppert listed in your Drugs and Alcohol category.

    Reply
  10. Kolby Granville

    Can you include the “After Dinner Conversation” series as part of your list of short “Short Stories About Morality & Ethics?” It’s all we do! We have three anthologies of short stories focused just on this idea as well as a monthly magazine! We would be honored to be included in your list!

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      I checked all the links to “The Story of an Hour” and they were working. Maybe there was a temporary problem.

      Reply
      1. Howard Allen

        You were right, Liz. I just found the problem. The page was showing for me but not for others. It should work now.
        Thanks for telling me.

        Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Liz,
      I have “Transformations” as part of the “Change” category. I just used your link, though. It’s a nice one.

      Reply
  16. Liz Roth

    A suggestion for a category: Gender Roles

    Some nominations:

    “Revenge” by Ellen Gilchrist
    https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40630715.pdf

    “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro
    http://www.giuliotortello.it/shortstories/boys_and_girls.pdf

    “The Grave” by Katherine Anne Porter
    https://www.vqronline.org/fiction/grave

    “The Day Everything Changed” by Anne Hart
    http://moodyap.pbworks.com/f/everythingchanged.pdf

    “The Revolt of Mother” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
    https://americanliterature.com/author/mary-e-wilkins-freeman/short-story/the-revolt-of-mother

    Reply
  17. Katherine West

    This is an incredible resource! I am a reading specialist, and I’ve shared your site with many teachers. Thank you!
    I also have a favor – I remember reading a short story in middle school (30+ years ago) set during the Great Depression. A very poor girl is invited to a wealthy classmate’s birthday party. Her family feels honored she was invited, and they collaborate to create what they think is a lovely hat for her to wear. When she arrives at the party, it turns out it was a costume party and she wins the prize for the funniest hat. She throws the prize away before she returns home, because she knows it would crush her family.
    I’ve tried searching for this story but can’t find it anywhere – any ideas? I think I read it in a textbook as a student.
    Thank you –

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Thanks for visiting, Katherine. Sorry, I don’t know that story. I’ll keep looking until I run out of ideas. It sounds like a story that would have been anthologized many times.

      Reply
  19. LG

    This is my favorite site for short stories! It has been a huge help for my ELA classes.

    I am working on a vampire short story unit and am looking for short stories about sociopathic / narcissistic abuse and sociopathic / narcissistic personality profiles including gas lighting. I found some of the Shirley Jackson stories (The Possibility of Evil) are a good example and the “stories” and character profiles presented in Martha Stout, PhD The Sociopath Next Door are also some good ones, and possibly Saki’s the Open Window, but was wondering if you knew of any other stories about everyday real life “vampires” illustrating sociopathic personality types……

    I look forward to your reply
    Sincerely

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Sorry for the delay, LG. The site put your comment in my spam folder so I didn’t see it.
      Glad you’re finding the site useful. I can’t think of any stories right now. I’ll reply again if anything comes to mind.

      Reply
      1. Howard Allen

        This is a hard category, LG. I’m not confident but you could check out “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston and “The Way Up To Heaven” by Roald Dahl.

        Reply
  20. Melissa H

    I am a teacher and would like to post links to short stories from this site. Are there any copyright restrictions?

    Reply
  21. Gary Wyss

    I’m a high school teacher and found this site extremely helpful for planning out thematic units.

    I’d like to find a similar site that arranges poetry thematically. Any recommendation?

    Reply
    2. Liz Roth

      Hi Gary,
      Would you be interested in creating such a site?
      If so, I’ve collected lists of thematically connected poems that I would be glad to share with you .
      Best.
      Liz

      Reply
  22. Liz Roth

    A nomination for the “Hope” category:

    “Marriage Is a Private Affair” by Chinua Achebe

    And nominations for the category of “Death and Dying”:

    “The Moon on the Water” by Yasunari Kawabata

    “The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor” by Sherman Alexie

    Also a request for help with locating a story:
    The plot as I recall it:
    A long married wife often catches her husband furtively studying a photograph of a young woman. She becomes intensely jealous and obsessed with curiosity about the identity of this woman until she finally learns that the photograph is a picture of herself in her youth.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Liz,
      I’ve added the Achebe story. I’ll have to check out the other two.
      I don’t recognize the story you’re looking for. Thanks for the suggestions.

      Reply
  23. Liz Roth

    I’m looking for a short story I found in an anthology (perhaps a high school textbook?) years ago. Basic plot: A grandfather teaches his grandson Morse code using flag signals. At the end of the story, the grandfather is hospitalized and the grandson tries to communicate his love for him via Morse code flag signals, hoping his grandfather can see them from his distant hospital room window.
    I would greatly appreciate any help with tracking down this story.

    Reply
  24. Dawn Linsey

    I’m just wondering how I would get permission to use any of these stories in my class. My admin. insists that we get permissions and/or check for copyright.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Dawn,
      I’m not sure what you’d have to do. I think you’d have to contact the author or publisher. If it’s in the Public Domain, no permission would be needed.

      Reply
  26. BRIAN LEUNG

    I appreciate all the work this must take. I use with my students often. Might you add a section called “Sexuality?” I get so many requests from my LGBTQ students for short fiction suggestions, but I’m guessing this would be useful to all.

    Reply
  27. High School SPED ELA

    I LOVE this site! What a treasure! I am a 1st year ELA / SPED High School teacher – my students don’t really like to read, so high quality short stories are perfect. I will return to this site often!

    BTW: Would you know the name / author of a short story about a werewolf family where the dad wolf changes into a human (it is like a reverse werewolf story)? It does not come out and say this, there is a lot of inference, so it takes a while for the reader to realize this.

    Also, another I can’t remember the name / author is about a girl and her mom who live in woods and they are not allowed to go to the other side of the woods, but the mom gets sick so the girl goes to the other side of the woods to fetch the doctor in the village, but turns into a deer (and gets shot). This story also has a lot of inference and does not come out and say she turned into a deer – it take a while for the reader to realize what happened….Would you know the name / author of this story too?

    Reply
  28. Grea

    Hi Howard. Re: Aussie short stories: Maybe a story by my late mother, Thelma Forshaw? Her stories have appeared in quite a few anthologies.

    Some of the stories, such as The Mateship Syndrome and the Widow-Maker, are quite dark, but there are also funny tales like Underdogging, The Wowser and Better Than Australia, No?

    Ref: https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A6473

    Thank you for promoting an underestimated art form, perhaps one that will come into its own again.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Grea,
      Thanks for this suggestion. I’m going to look into her stories. If you’re aware of links to any of them please let me know.

      Reply
    2. Howard Allen

      Grea,
      I just read “The Mateship Syndrome”. It was excellent. I look forward to reading more Thelma Forshaw stories. It took a while for me to get to it, but I’m glad you let me know.

      Reply
  30. Anthony

    I love this site!
    I have been looking for something like this forever. I cannot believe I’ve never found it before. I love short stories and am always searching Google for specific type stories.
    This place has become my favorite site overnight.
    Thank you for doing this!

    Reply
  31. Chris Oldknow

    Thank you for providing a really fantastic resource for teachers (and lovers of the short story form). Your selection’s great, and I’ve made units of work around your category titles.

    My senior students have also enjoyed using short stories and flash fiction from the Diogenes Blog which other teachers might like. ( I don’t know who the writer really is; he’s just called Mycroft), especially these ones:

    https://thediogenesblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/30/bread/
    https://thediogenesblog.wordpress.com/2018/05/15/nativity/
    https://thediogenesblog.wordpress.com/2019/03/19/1982/

    Please keep up the awesome work!

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Chris,
      Thanks for the compliment. Glad you like it here. I don’t think I’ve seen the Diogenes Blog before. I’ll check it out.

      Reply
  32. Maddy

    Hello! Just alerting you to the story, ‘The Luncheon’ – it displays Jeffrey Archer as the author, but it is Somerset Maugham. Fantastic story.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Maddy,
      “The Luncheon” that I have listed is the one by Jeffrey Archer. Apparently, Maugham has a story by that name as well, which Archer’s story seems to be based on.

      Reply
  33. Dan M

    I’m looking for a short story I read in the mid 80s. It was about how different species perceived time. I seem to remember one species experiencing time quickly and moving like fireflies, and another species experiencing time slowly seeing those fireflies as stars. Can’t seem to find it no matter how long I search. I believe it was one story in a book used in an English class and the collection focused on sci-fi stories. Any help in finding it is appreciated.

    Reply
  34. Diane Krause

    Thank you for providing all these wonderful short stories under such terrific topics. I’ll be returning often. My only wish is for a follow button. And your about page is the best I’ve ever seen.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Glad you like it, Diane. I can’t remember if I’ve ever tried to add a follow button or not. I’ll look into that. Thanks for visiting, from me and Chester.

      Reply
  35. Jo

    Hi Howard! I really love this site. Love all the resources on here for writers and students. Any interest in selling the site? You can email me!

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Sorry, Adam. Nothing’s coming to mind. I have this category on my research list, but it’s still empty.

      Reply
  38. David C Donovan

    Thank you for this amazing site. I teach flash fiction to high school seniors in a creative writing course. This is by far the best source online. Wonderful!!!

    Reply
  39. Jill Muddle

    Doris Leesing wrote a short story about a one night stand from the woman’s point of view. Can anyone tell me the name of the short story ? I think it is relevant to today’s conversation around METOO (this request is prompted by an interview with the woman who wrote “Cat People”).

    Reply
  40. TANYA McCall

    Thanks for creating this website! Like a one stop shop for stories to use in my English classroom and some new short story discoveries from great writers.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      I have “A Jury of Her Peers” on several pages so I don’t want to reproduce the description again. But it does fit into the categories you named.

      Reply
  45. Ruth

    Trying to help a friend out. How does she get permission to use some of your passages for her dissertation? We cannot find your contact information.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Ruth,
      I go by Howard Allen on this site. That’s the only information I have available. As long as the source is cited, I don’t think any special permission is required. And, of course, be cautious about quoting from a non-academic source (like this site) in a dissertation.

      Reply
  46. Alireza Sohrabi Asl

    Hello. Dear friends, I have a question, and I hope you know the answer. In the Abuse section of the website, there is a story name like this. The Molesters / Joyce Carol Oates. I searched a lot online, but I didn’t find it or the book that this story is in. Please Help me if you know where I can find this story

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Alireza,
      That story is in the novel Expensive People. A character in the novel wrote the story. Oates also published it as a short story in the Quarterly Review of Literature. I have it in an anthology called The Story-Makers by Rudy Wiebe. I haven’t been able to find a copy of it online.

      Reply
  47. Uri Breitman

    Hello Howard, your “reading online” page is missing at least one website in the “free resources” section – it’s the Short Story Project website, which is very nice and has also has stories in Spanish, German and Hebrew.
    https://www.shortstoryproject.com/

    I think it deserves to be added.

    Reply
  48. Adam Fout

    Hey Howard, thanks again for adding a few of my stories to your site. I have a few new flash science fiction stories that I thought you might be interested in — they’re hosted free on my website.

    One is the story of a woman who has found something to save her people, something they’ve sought for ten thousand years, something they thought they’d never find, something she DID find in the depths of a forgotten planet. Here’s the link:

    https://adamfout.com/a-sci-fi-story-a-dark-place/

    The other is the story of a woman in a far future tribal community of nanofiber spears and digitized dwellings, a leader betrayed by her own kind, a woman who fights against impossible odds, and the choice that dooms her. Here’s the link:

    https://adamfout.com/the-death-of-a-strong-woman/

    Thanks again for everything you do!

    Reply
  49. Craig O

    In college in 1988 I read a short story about a mother who began to step away from her family responsibilities and stay in her room. She increasingly isolated herself until, in a spurt of energy, she prepared a meal for her family, then returned to her room and died. I thought it was entitled “a good wife (or mother)”. I haven’t been able to locate it since. Any ideas on author or where to find it?

    Reply
      1. Craig O

        Thank you! That’s the story I remember, and you’ve given me the opportunity to re-read and experience it again. I’ve enjoyed discovering your Short Story Guide. Your categories are helpful for identifying the kinds of stories I can choose to read, and the links take me right there. You’re providing a very cool service to everyone!

        Reply
  51. Curious George

    I was wondering if anyone knew the title of the short story of a white leader of a racist hate group that died of an illness and his people revere him so that they pooled their money to have his head frozen in hopes he could be restored to health in the future. In the future he was cured and revived only to find his head had been transplanted onto a black cadaver.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      I wasn’t familiar with this one. It’s really good, simple and short. I added it. Thanks for the suggestion.

      Reply
  54. Joanna Tipple

    I was looking up stories for Epiphany when I found your site. It is a good resource and it appears people appreciate it. I do have a question however about your comment that James Joyce coined the term “epiphany.” The statement I think is a bit misleading. The term “epiphany” has been used in the Church context since the early days. Just wanted to clarify….
    From wikipedia –

    The word Epiphany is from Koine Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, meaning manifestation or appearance. It is derived from a verb meaning “to appear.”[20] In classical Greek it was used of the appearance of dawn, of an enemy in war, but especially of a manifestation of a deity to a worshiper (a theophany). In the Septuagint the word is used of a manifestation of the God of Israel (2 Maccabees 15:27).[21] In the New Testament the word is used in 2 Timothy 1:10 to refer either to the birth of Christ or to his appearance after his resurrection, and five times to refer to his Second Coming.[21]

    Alternative names for the feast in Greek include (τα) Θεοφάνια, Theophany as neuter plural rather than feminine singular, η Ημέρα των Φώτων, i Imera ton Foton (modern Greek pronunciation), hē hēmera tōn phōtōn (restored classical pronunciation), “The Day of the Lights”, and τα Φώτα, ta Fota, “The Lights”.[22]

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Joanna, You’re right.
      My statement about Joyce coining “epiphany” is misleading. I should have said he repurposed the word, giving it a literary meaning that it didn’t have before. I will fix the wording on that page.
      Thanks for visiting.

      Reply
  55. H

    Here’s some more!

    “Blade Squadron: Zero Hour”

    https://archive.org/stream/Star_Wars_Insider_October_2015#page/n29/mode/2up

    “Bait”

    https://archive.org/stream/Star_Wars_Insider_January_2016#page/n91/mode/2up

    “Blade Squadron: Kuat”

    https://archive.org/stream/Star_Wars_Insider_October_2016#page/n35/mode/2up

    “Kindred Spirits”

    https://archive.org/stream/Star_Wars_Insider_September_2015_USA#page/n29/mode/2up

    “The End of History”

    https://archive.org/stream/Star_Wars_Insider_January_2015_UK#page/n49/mode/2up

    “Last Call at the Zero Angle”

    https://archive.org/stream/Star_Wars_Insider_April_2015_UK#page/n49/mode/2up

    “Orientation”

    https://archive.org/stream/Star_Wars_Special_Edition_2016_USA#page/n117/mode/2up

    “Rebel Bluff”

    https://archive.org/stream/Star_Wars_Insider_July_2015_UK#page/n29/mode/2up

    “TK-462” (mistakingly printed under the early title “TK-146275”)

    https://archive.org/stream/Star_Wars_Insider_July_2016#page/n35/mode/2up

    Reply
  58. Rose

    Thank you for this site – I’m a former avid reader and budding writer and found it made me eager to read in a way I’d missed for a long time.

    Reply
  59. J Walker

    In grad school I took a class in women’s fiction, where I read a short story I have not been able to locate in the years since. A woman in Europe goes out for a motorcycle ride with a man she is dating, only to realize through some things he says to her and a look in his eye that he is the reincarnation of her Nazi tormentor. If I recall correctly, they fight, and she kills him at the end of the story. Anyone know the name of this story?

    Reply
  62. Janet Bixler

    Hi Howard Allen,
    I’m a theatre director and am interested in using some of these short stories in a staged reading (production for an audience, small ticket price) on the theme: Stand Up; Speak Out. I was wondering who I contact for permission to read the stories to an audience.

    Reply
  64. Mariann G

    This site is excellent – so happy to have found. I am wondering if you have come across a short story about a spinster (southern) who must move out of her parent’s home, tries to buy a home only to fall in love with an artist who she meets there. After sitting for him a few times she finds out the artist is trying to outbid her on the home, she purposefully dances him off of the top stairs and he dies from the fall. Something like that anyway. Listened to the audio book back in 2005 in a short story compilation set. Have been looking for the name for years. Sound familiar?

    Reply
  69. Adam Fout

    I recently wrote a story about addiction that is based in part on my own experience as an addict and the insanity I experienced — though it does contain some cursing, I think it may be a good read for high school students to help them understand what the mind of an addict is like and where drugs can lead you after high school (the main character is in college but failing due to her addiction).

    I host it for free on my site, and the ending is hosted free on another site that I link to — It’s called “A Beautiful Death.” Here’s the link http://adamfout.com/drug-addiction-stories-a-beautiful-death Would you be interested in adding this to your Short Stories About Drugs and Addiction List?

    I also wrote another story about both drug addiction and eating disorders. I didn’t see anything on shortstoryguide.com about eating disorders, which I know many middle school kids and high school kids struggle with these days — maybe it could be a new category? I think it could also be a good fit for your Drugs/Addiction List.

    The entire story is hosted free on my website here: http://adamfout.com/sad-short-story/ Would you consider adding it as well?

    Thank you for your time — I look forward to hearing back from you.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Adam,
      I stick to stories that have been traditionally published, but I will leave your links here for anyone who wants to check them out.

      Reply
      1. Adam Fout

        Hey Howard, both of those stories were actually traditionally published — here are the links:

        A Beautiful Death was originally published on The Courtship of Winds: https://www.thecourtshipofwinds.org/adam-fout

        We’re Not OK, Are We? was originally published in Borrowed Solace (I can only link to the page where you’d be able to see the issue—you have to buy it to read it, which is one of the reasons I’ve included it free on my website).

        Reply
  70. Liz Roth

    You’re very welcome for the suggestions!
    Some additional nominations for inclusion in the “Death and Dying” category:
    “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” by Katherine Anne Porter
    “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Briece

    Reply
  71. Liz Roth

    I’m profoundly grateful to have discovered this site this morning!
    Thank you for creating it and for inviting readers to submit suggestions for additions to the lists.

    Two suggestions for additions to the list of stories re death and dying:
    “A Small, Good Thing” by Raymond Carver
    “Taking Care” by Joy Williams.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Great suggestions, Liz.
      I’ve added all of them. I can’t believe I didn’t think of Hop-Frog for the Revenge page.
      (A glitch seems to have prevented your full comment from displaying properly, but I can read it in my feed.)
      Thanks for visiting.

      Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Thanks for visiting, Margaret.
      I don’t accept submissions. I think all the stories on the site have been published somewhere. If you can provide a link to a published story of yours, I would be glad to add it to my queue. I wish you success with your writing!

      Reply
  73. Jeremiah

    Just want to say thank you for providing this site! What a treasure trove of resources unlike anything I’ve found on the web! As an educators, this site has been a real life-saver for me.

    Reply
  74. Mark

    Can anyone help me to find a children’s short story about “… the brightest thing …” from my childhood ? It must have been written pre-1960s. Basically, the plot, as I can remember it, is a class is chalenged to bring the brightest object they can find into school the next day. One boy hasn’t found anything and, as he walks to school, he sees an injured bird in the road. He gathers it up and runs to school for help. He holds it up to the teacher and, and at that moment, the bird dies and a large tear rolls down his cheek – probably sparkling in the sun. The teacher awards the boy the prize for the brightest thing – his tear.
    It is one of those moments that still lingers in my memory more than half a century on. I would love to read it again.

    Reply
  75. yudy

    very good site to read short stories… i read a story written by anne hart title Friday Everything changed but uanable to find the author profil. anyone would help me?

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Yudy,
      There doesn’t seem to be much available on this writer. The blurb on her from Inside Stories I says “A contributor to Canadian magazines and anthologies, Anne Hart was born in Winnipeg. She spent her childhood years in Nova Scotia, and then moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland, where she presently lives.”
      This Wikipedia entry seems to be her.

      Reply
      1. yudy

        that answers my question.. now i have another question about the information of when and where this short story “Friday everything changed publicatin. because i’m doing reseach and i need these detail information i’ve searched on internet but unable to find. thanks

        Reply
  76. Hypatia

    I’m trying to find a short story about a girl – maybe 18-25 – who has this tech attached to her neck so she can get killed over and over and so long as the box isn’t damaged, she can be brought back. All I know for sure is that it isn’t Dying for a Living by Kory M. Shrum.

    It is driving me batty not being able to figure it out.

    Reply
  77. Peggy

    I am pleased to have found the title and author of a short story I read years ago in junior high school – “The Star” by Arthur C. Clarke. The story was part of a compilation published sometime in the late 1950’s. There is another memorable story that I’m hoping you might be able to help me find. The plot involved a home tutor to a young boy who was very intelligent but the child tried to hide how smart he was. The story is the unfolding of each visit to the child and the tutor’s realization how advanced the child was, but why would the young boy want to hide it? So – any leads who might have written this short story and the story title? Thank you for any leads you might offer.

    Reply
  78. Stacy C

    I have taught 3 HS short story classes this year and will teach more next year — since I have the same students over and over, I can’t repeat stories. Your site has been a great help. Thanks!

    Reply
  79. Sylvia

    Does anyone remember a short story about a man who was a lookout in casino robbery and sat down and played roulette (I think) to look inconspicuous. He kept playing the same number and kept winning and started drawing attention to himself which was not what he wanted to do. I read this in one of my high school English classes and absolutely cannot remember what the name of this was but it was a great story.

    Reply
  80. Vera

    Wow! Such a great collection, thank you for all the work! Can you recommend a short story about globalization? Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Vera, Sorry but I can’t think of a story about globalization. I’ve added it to my list of possible themes, so I’ll be keeping it in mind. Thanks for visiting.

      Reply
  82. Richard Wayne

    I am trying to identify author/title of memorable short story about two midgets who find each other, marry and have a “normal” child. It doesn’t end well! Can anybody help, PLEASE. THANK YOU

    Reply
    2. Howard Allen

      Richard, I hope you found it by now and you’re probably not checking back anymore, but just in case, you might be looking for “Sir Hercules” by Aldous Huxley.

      Reply
  83. stephen davis

    I read a short story in 1964 with this basic plot: a dinner host makes a bet with one of the guests that they cannot escape from a special sealed room. The guest is then locked in the room, but within a short time he seems to be having a heart attack. The host thinks it’s a ploy to get him to open the door, thereby making the guest the winner of the bet. The rest of the guests believe the heart attack is real, since the guest locked in the room has a history of heart problems. So what does the host do – open the door and automatically lose the bet, or take the chance that the guest is faking and does not die of a heart attack after all?

    I want to convert this short story into a screenplay for a Masters course I am taking, and I want to credit the original author with the plot. But I have looked and looked and cannot find the author or short story anywhere (it was originally published in a paperback compilation of short stories, if I recall correctly, but that was 50 years ago). I suppose the copyright has expired, but I would still like to give credit.

    Can you help me locate this story and its author? Thank you.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Stephen,
      I don’t know this story and haven’t been able to find it in anything I have. It sounds like a story that would still be read today, so I don’t know why it’s so hard to find. Maybe another visitor to the site will be able to identify it.

      Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Yam,
      I don’t have an email associated with this site, and I don’t give out my personal one. Feel free to ask me something here. If it’s something that should be continued privately, then we’ll do that.

      Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Jen, I can’t make any guarantees but I’ve made a note of that category, and I’ll see what I can do. Thanks for stopping by the site.

      Reply
        1. Howard Allen

          Great suggestions, Liz.
          I’ve added all of them. I can’t believe I didn’t think of Hop-Frog for the Revenge page.
          Thanks for visiting.

          Reply
  86. Edgar James

    Absolutely love this site! Thanks for putting so much time and energy into it. This will be an invaluable resource for my students!

    Reply
      2. Howard Allen

        I’ve recently read a few Breece Pancake stories. I like them so far. I put “Time and Again” on the gothic page.

        Reply
  88. Erin Patrick Connery

    Hi there, I was trying to locate the whale by Yves Theriault, but could not find the book it is located in. Can you help? Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Erin,
      I have The Whale in an anthology called “Inside Stories 1” by Kirkland and Davies. It’s a great anthology with 24 short stories.
      I think it’s available in lots of places. If you have any questions about it, just ask.

      Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Catherine,
      I have Winter Dreams on the Money/Materialism page. I have added it to the two pages you mentioned. Thanks for the suggestion and thanks for visiting.

      Reply
  91. Anna McHugh

    Really helpful! I’m looking for stories about Discovery, because the New South Wales Higher School Certificate in Australia has a mandatory unit on that theme (from 2015-2019). Thanks a lot!

    Reply
  92. Avital GC

    Hi,
    Congratulations on this excellent collection!
    In relation to the flashes, while their length may be suitable for schools, I wouldn’t categorize them based on age. In fact, most of those I know are better fitting for adults.
    However, thank you for this effort. I hope to read here a lot.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      That’s a good point.
      Teachers will have to use their judgement on which flash stories are appropriate for students based on their content and whether they’re likely to understand much of it (I found some of them difficult).
      Thanks for reading.

      Reply
        1. Howard Allen

          That’s mainly due to the length, which you pointed out.
          I realize flash stories aren’t written specifically for students, but teachers often like a good really short story. The ones on that page have been anthologized, suggesting they should have some literary merit or entertainment value and thus be a suitable pool of stories for teachers to look into. I also wanted to get Middle and High school in the title to help it show up in search results.

          Reply
          1. Howard Allen

            I see from your gravatar that you are the writer of one of the stories on the page, “Fire. Water.” I’d like to say something really intelligent about it, but I don’t want to risk embarrassing myself. I’ll just say that I like it.

  94. Kelsey

    I’m glad, as a high school teacher, to have found this site. What a great resource! Thanks for putting in the time. It’s appreciated.

    Reply
  96. Pat Torref

    A great collection of short stories! What prompted you to get this site started? How you do decide what stories to include?
    What classes do you teach? Naturally, I am assuming you are an ELA teacher.

    Appreciative and curious –
    Pat

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Pat, I’m not a teacher, just an avid reader.
      When I really got interested in short stories, I was searching for a resource that would guide me on subjects and themes but I didn’t find a lot. I figured that readers and teachers must be searching for that too, so I started this site.
      I include stories that i’ve read and some that I haven’t, if I can get reliable information for the description and on where to put them.
      I’m glad that some people are finding the site useful.
      Thanks for visiting.

      Reply
  98. Jessica

    This is a fantastic resource. Thank you for compiling all these stories. I was hoping you could help me find a copy of Judy McCrosky’s “Call Me.” It’s perfect for an upcoming unit in my class, but I cannot find the text anywhere. Thank you!

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Hi Jessica,
      I was unable to find a link to “Call Me”.
      The story is available in a compilation called “Breaking Free A Cross-Cultural Anthology” by John Borovilos. It’s not very expensive on Amazon, and it contains lots of other good middle school fiction and poetry. It’s also available on Abebooks and Thriftbooks.
      If you have any questions about the anthology, just ask.
      I hope you find the story, and thanks for visiting the site.
      Howard.

      Reply
  100. T.H

    Great collection.
    Just curious why you didnt remember to include a column for stories about Slavery, just as you did for The Holocaust.

    I am sure these shall also make for interesting reading. By the way your Jewbird story is very interesting.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Thanks for visiting, T.H
      For now i’m putting stories about slavery under the Racism category. There are four stories there that deal with slavery in some way: The Witness, An Outpost of Progress, The Beginning of Homewood, and Fever.
      As that list grows, I will most likely move them to their own category. (It’s a good idea, more convenient for a reader)
      I thought The Jewbird was interesting too. I just discovered that story a few months ago.

      Reply
  101. MS

    Thank you for creating such a time-saving website!! Though some of the links seem to be broken (and can be easily googled on my own), this is an excellent resource for me as a teacher! I frequently seem to be looking for a short story “about…” and can’t seem to find the one I want in a timely manner. This will make my year easier!

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Glad you’re finding the site useful, MS.
      I’ve fixed the links in the top menu. If you’re aware of any others that are broken feel free to let me know.
      Thanks for visiting the site.

      Reply
  102. Jane Dixon

    Great site, but who is behind it? I can’t seem to find any background information on the source anywhere.

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Thanks for visiting the site, Jane. I’m Howard Allen. I also write on Hubpages. The links on the top menu will bring you there (Twist Endings, Stories for Students, and Collections).

      Reply
  103. RR

    Links to sub-pages at top (Very Short Stories, Stories with Twist, Collections) do not seem to work at the moment – ?

    Reply
    1. Howard Allen

      Sorry about that, RR. There was a problem with those links. Thanks for letting me know. They should work now.

      Reply
  104. Madhav Joshi

    Thank you very much for providing a nice collection of stories at a click. You have made me a permanent visitor for ‘short story guide’.

    Reply
      1. Akhil Reddy

        Hey! I have been trying to find A way out of the forest by Maara Haas everywhere I can. I live in India and it is close to impossible to find it. Can you please please help me with it? Where did you read it? Do you have a copy of it?

        Reply
          2. Lisa Timberlake

            Thanks for a wonderful site. I cannot find a way to make a new thread comment, only add a comment to another link.
            I have been searching for a short story and it is driving me crazy. It is about a nice gentleman who is absolutely loathed by his his coworker. The entire story is about him trying to find out why and/or correct the situation but it is never resolved. This story had a big impression on me. It reminded me a bit of Bartleby the Scrivener. If you get this and know of the story could you let me know?
            Thank you!

          3. Howard Allen

            Lisa,
            I don’t know this story but it sounds familiar. I’ll do a little looking. If you can think of any more details from it, please let me know. It sounds like something I would like. It made me think of “Moon-Face” by Jack London and “The Tarn” by Hugh Walpole, both of which I like, but they’re different from what you’re looking for.

      2. Rajesh

        Hello Sir Howard,
        Thanks for the wonderful stories. Just one question, could I use these stories to make Youtube videos? Will the channel be monetized or not?
        Please reply.

        Reply
        1. Howard Allen

          Rajesh,
          Most of the stories on the site are copyright protected, so that would likely be a problem. However, there are many short stories in the public domain that you are definitely free to use any way you want.
          I’m assuming you meant can you use the text of the stories. If you just want to talk about them, that’s fine.

          Reply

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