Try these stories once.
“THE LOTTERY” BY SHIRLEY JACKSON
This used to be my favorite short story, and I might only think that because I read it when I was a freshman in high school and I remember being shocked by the ending. It’s always stayed with me.
“A GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND” BY FLANNERY O’CONNOR
Another story with an ending that you won’t forget anytime soon. O’Connor was a master. If you’ve never read any of her work I would start here.
“IN THE PENAL COLONY” BY FRANZ KAFKA
It’s a chilling story. A man known as the Traveller is visiting a foreign penal colony where he is shown a special machine used to execute prisoners. The machine inscribes the prisoner’s crime onto their body until they die (kind of sounds familiar if you’ve read the fifth Harry Potter book). It takes twelve hours of torture before the prisoner dies. I told you it was chilling!
“THE DEVIL IN AMERICA” BY KAI ASHANTE WILSON (TOR)
Kai Ashante Wilson has quite a talent. This ties present day police brutality towards African Americans to post-emancipation America and a family of freed slaves that are living with the Devil that followed them from Africa.
“THE CITY BORN GREAT” BY N.K. JEMISIN (TOR)
Cities, once they are old enough, must be born. New York City is ready to be born, and must be led into the world by a reluctant midwife.
“SPIDER THE ARTIST” BY NNEDI OKORAFOR (LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE)
Okorafor is a wonderful storyteller, and if you’ve never read her books, this would be a great place to start. And if you like this short story, Binti: The Complete Trilogy was released in February!
“EXHALATION” BY TED CHIANG (LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE)
Oh, you’ve never read Ted Chiang? Well, you must go out now and read this story and then read Stories of Your Life and Others and his new collection Exhalation: Stories, which comes out in May. I was shocked by how good and complex his writing was. I had no idea that the movie The Arrival was based on one of his short stories.
“THE DAUGHTERS OF THE MOON” BY ITALO CALVINO (THE NEW YORKER)
I don’t know. It’s either Zadie Smith’s “The Embassy of Cambodia” or this story that is my favorite on the list… I can’t decide. I think it’s this story. A story about the people of Earth deciding to throw away the Moon. It’s a story of consumerism. Luckily, I own “The Complete Cosmicomics“, so I can continue reading Calvino’s magnificent short story collection.