Five Great Short Stories

“For my money, when it comes to literary modes, short fiction ranks as first among equals. From London’s “To Build a Fire,” and Blackwood’s “The Willows,” to Vance’s “Liane the Wayfarer,” and “The Cask of Amontillado,” by Poe, the short story, the novelette, and novella strike me as the most potent expressions of horror and dark fantasy literature. Horror thrives on escalation of tension and dread, elements that all too easily dissipate in novel format.”

— Laird Barron from his afterword to Walk on the Wild Side: The Best of Karl Edward Wagner 

I love Karl Edward Wagner’s sword and sorcery stories about Kane the eternal wanderer and I've been looking forward to reading his horror fiction. I finally jumped into the new edition of Wagner’s In a Lonely Place from Valancourt books. Reading the first story led me to some other stories. 

“In the Pines” by Karl Edward Wagner from In a Lonely Place (Valancourt Books, 2023)

A couple is staying at a cabin in the mountains of Tennessee when the husband finds an old painting of a woman. When he talks to the locals, he learns about some tragic events connected with the cabin. The more he learns, the more he becomes fascinated with the woman in the painting. From the lonely atmosphere of the opening paragraphs to the use of lyrics from “In the Pines,” an old bluegrass song, to the final lines, this is such a haunting and original story. 

After reading this story I came across an entry on author Laird Barron’s blog where he posted his full afterword to Walk on the Wild Side: The Best of Karl Edward Wagner. I love short fiction and the quote above really spoke to me. I’m familiar with the stories he mentions. I’ve read most of them, and I have all of them in various collections. I figured now was a good time to read or reread them. 

“To Build a Fire” by Jack London from The Call of the Wild (Penguin Classics, 2018)

This story is included in my copy of The Call of the Wild and I read both a few years ago. Ignoring warnings, a man decides to hike to some friends in the extreme cold of the Yukon. The story highlights the importance of preparation and thinking carefully before making decisions in extreme weather conditions. A powerful story about man versus nature.

“The Willows” by Algernon Blackwood from Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood (Digireads.com, 2009)

Two men are canoeing down the Danube River when they decide to make camp on a small island covered with willows. The narrator becomes creeped out by the way the willows move in the wind and begins sensing some kind of presence. The way the environment gradually becomes threatening is very well done as is what comes after.

In Supernatural Horror in Literature by H.P Lovecraft, Lovecraft had this to say about the story and I have to agree: 

“Foremost of all must be reckoned The Willows, in which the nameless presence on a desolate Danube island are horribly felt and recognised by a pair of idle voyagers. Here art and restraint in narrative reach their very highest development, and an impression of lasting poignancy is produced without a single strained passage or a single false note.”

“Liane the Wayfarer” by Jack Vance from The Dying Earth (Baen Books, 1986)

I read The Dying Earth a few years ago and wrote a review. Here’s what I wrote about this story:

“We meet Liane again, the vain and dangerous thief from the previous story. He meets a beautiful woman named Lith. He is infatuated with her, but she will have nothing to do with him unless he performs a task for her. Lith shows him half of a beautiful tapestry.  She explains that the other half has been stolen and placed in some ruins in the north. His task is to recover the missing tapestry. He agrees without hesitation. When I started this story, I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, but it became one of my favorite stories from this collection. Short and sweet with one heck of an ending.”

“The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe from The Murders in the Rue Morgue and Other Tales (Penguin Classics, 2012)

I don’t remember when I first read this, but it was probably during my school days. The main character Montresor takes revenge on Fortunato, who he claims has insulted and offended him greatly. Fortunato seems unaware of how Montresor feels, and we get no details of the supposed insults. This is one of Poe’s most macabre and famous stories. It does an excellent job of creating a foreboding atmosphere and has quite an unsettling ending. Although short, by having certain details left out it’s also complex. 

Here is Lovecraft on Poe in Supernatural Horror in Literature, and once again I agree:

“Certain of Poe’s tales possess an almost absolute perfection of artistic form which makes them veritable beacon-lights in the province of short story.”

All of the stories above have some things in common. First, each story in its own way starts out very atmospheric. Next, Laird Barron’s quote applies because I feel each one “thrives on escalation of tension and dread.” Finally, each story has a powerful ending. 

These are all some of my favorite authors and I’ll be reading more of them, including Laird Barron who is relatively new to me. He’s been on my radar for a while and I have a copy of his first Isaiah Coleridge novel Blood Standard, but I haven't gotten to it yet. After reading what he had to say about short fiction, I’m really interested in checking out his shorter work as well.