Short Stories

Hi, classmates! How are you doing? Now that we don’t have Game of Thrones, and we still have to wait for The Walking Dead, we can read something short and sweet. Today’s post is going to be about my favourite short stories. For me, the most important elements of a short story are the theme, the characters, and the style.

     The Raft (Stephen king)

As you know, I love Stephen’s work. This short story is very good.  The story is about a group of friends that decide to swim in a remote lake. What they don’t know is that in the water lives a creature that is waiting for his next victim. Their only chance of survival is a wooden raft in the middle of the lake.  I love the story because it’s full of suspense and action. What’s more, I’m afraid of the ocean and lakes. Sharks, octopus, and whales frighten the life out of me.

   Genesis and Catastrophe  (Roald Dahl)

The story is about a woman who has just given birth to a baby boy. The couple has had three babies, and all of them have died. According to the husband, the babies were all weak and died after a while. This new baby looks weak just like the others. What they don’t know is that this baby, in particular, will survive and change history.

   The Black Cat  (Edgar Allan Poe)

I read this story when I was 14, and I got really scared. I have to say that Edgar Allan Poe was an excellent writer. I think he is the only author who can change my mood with one sentence. This short story is very dark and cruel. The only thing I’m going to say about this story is that everything starts when an angry man kills his black cat, Pluto. From that moment all hell breaks loose.

      Suffer the Little Children (Stephen King)

Oh! Stephen, you did it again. This creepy short story is about teachers. Emily Sidley teaches in a primary school, and she loves her students. After an incident with one of her students, she decides to take a leave of absence. When she goes back to school, she notices that her students have changed. They are evil now. She starts thinking that her students are doppelgangers. If you have read “Zero Hour” written by Ray Bradbury, you can have a guess what would happen next. Actually, Zero Hour has a happy ending comparing to this one.  

      Lamb to the Slaughter (Roald Dahl)

This story is a mix of horror and humour. I have a blast reading it. Moreover, this story could be a script for an episode of Desperate Housewives. Mary is a pregnant woman who loves her husband, Patrick. One day he decides to dump her. Mary grabs a frozen leg of lamb and hit her husband with it. I’m not going to tell you how the story ends, but it is very funny. I love how the writer mixes horror and comedy so easily.

Have a nice day!