‘Tis the season for sitting on a park bench or in the corner of a coffee shop with an iced latte or on a red and white checkered picnic blanket spread out on the grass that you might have to adjust because you ended up sitting on a large branch…and what better way to spend that time than reading a nice short story? You get to look smart and studious with a book in your hand, but you don’t have to dedicate hours to reading a whole novel. A well-written short story is a perfect literary chunk that, despite not taking as long to read, will leave you just as jaw-dropped as hitting the “The End” at the last page of a 300-page book. Short stories are economical with word choice and use powerful sentences and stylistic devices that can create a truly transformative experience for readers.

In this blog we are featuring five short story collections from a variety of authors and editors. The selected collections feature a variety of storylines, characters, and themes, so this list has something to offer for every reader. 

Let’s explore these five short story collections so that you can decide which to read first!

 

1. All the Aliens in the Neighborhood and Other Stories by Donald Dewey

All the Aliens in the Neighborhood is a collection of stories centering around men and women in a middle-class Brooklyn neighborhood who take one extra look at themselves and their neighbors and are shaken by how blithely they had been coasting along until then.

Included in this compilation are: 

• The Trolley Barn

• Mrs. Roanoke

• Security Check

• More Than Less

• The Opals Man

• Secrets

• Johnny on the Spot

• Till’s Piano Lesson

• In Concert

• Still Life

• A Shaggy Monkey Story

• Three Black Sweaters

• All the Aliens in the Neighborhood

Page Count: 210

Imprint: Brown Posey

Genre: Fiction / Literary / Short Stories / Urban

 

1. A Community of Writers: A Collection of Short Stories edited by Ann Elia Stewart

Stories from the The Natalie D. Craumer Writer's Workshop at the Fredricksen Library in Camp Hill, PA:

• Hunting Season - Rayne Ayers Debski

• Take Care - Margaret DeAngelis

• Angel in the Mist - Laurie J. Edwards

• Survivor Barbie - C.A.Masterson

• A Soldier's Gift - Don Helin

• Operation Pumpkin Patch - Gina Napoli

• A Cautious Life - Larry C. Kerr

• The Green Eyed Monster - Catherine Jordan

• Smoke - Lori M. Myers

• Number 11 - Maria McKee

• The Things She Chose to Keep - Susan Pigott

• The Surprise Party - Carol A. Lauver

• An excerpt from "Oops," Said God - Duffy Batzer

• Swan Song - Ann Elia Stewart

• Dragon Riders - D.A.Morrow

• Free as a Bluejay - Madelyn Killion

• 4:30 - Bob Walton

• Fade to Black - Kathryn Grace

• The Nature of Sin - Maria McKee

• Dead Letters - Susan Girolami Kramer

• Dissipation - C.A.Masterson

• The Mirror - Susan E. Bangs

• Betsy's Delight - Marlene Ross

• Moving Targets - Debra A. Varsanyi

• Creature of Habit - Don Helin

Page Count: 180

Imprint: Brown Posey

Genre: Literary

 

1. That Darkened Doorstep edited by Catherine Jordan

When faced with a darkened doorstep, think before you walk through. Feel our dread, grief, anxiety, and fear at an unopened door. A chilling collection that encompasses diverse viewpoints and a wide interpretation of the theme. This horror anthology is inspired by (reimagined) true events! Included in this volume:

• Jacque Day

• S. J. Townend

• Mia Dalia

• Dianna Sinovic

• J. L. Royce

• Vickie Fernandez

• Amanda Headlee

• M. Brown

• Fred J. Lauver

• Carol A. Lauver

• Lori M. Myers

• Diane Sismour

• Catherine Jordan

• Alyson Faye

• John Kujawski

• Thomas M. Malafarina

• Douglas Ford

• Sergio Palumbo

• Amie DeStefano

• Louisa May Alcott

Page Count: 250

Imprint: Hellbender Books

Genre: Fiction / Horror / Short Stories

 

1. Through a Glass Darkly by Hugh Fox

"Through a Glass Darkly" contains 22 short stories by the legendary author and poet Hugh Fox:

• Through a Glass Darkly

• St. Martin and the Beggar

• Ghouls

• Looking For

• Spring Wind

• April and January

• St. Julie and the Bullet

• Aunt Fern's Diary

• Ça Sufit/ That's Enough

• Chips

• Survival

• Vishnu's Dream

• Else

• Was

• Who?

• The Gates of Satori

• Survival

• Through the Wall

• Hope

• In Excelsius

• Ice Cream / I Scream

• Jean Anne

Page Count: 110

Imprint: Brown Posey

Genre: Literary

 

1. The Dominant Idea and Other Stories by Herbert Stover edited by Debra Reynolds

Herbert Stover was best known for his full-length historical novels full of action and historic figures, always with a twist of romance. However, before he sold his first novel to a New York publishing house after World War II, Stover struggled as an upstart writer of pulp fiction short stories, the vast majority of which were written in the 1920s and early 1930s. Rejection after rejection came back in the mail, and Stover, now in the Depression, turned his focus to his education career. The letters and stories were put away, largely forgotten.

After Stover's death, his property exchanged hands. One day, in the early 2000s, the current owner was exploring the old barn on the property and found an old wooden bucket in the rafters. It contained pictures, letters, and typed stories that had been returned to Stover. But, the gentleman did nothing with these stories until the Fall of 2022, when author Guy Graybill and publisher Lawrence Knorr visited to take pictures of the former Stover homestead. The bucket was graciously given to Sunbury Press, and the adventure began!

Debra Reynolds was handed the project of transcribing, editing, and patching the stories, where there were gaps due to the erosion of the paper. Silverfish had done their worst, but fortunately, preferred the pulp rather than the ink. Most of the stories were nearly complete. A couple required Debra's creativity to "become Herbert Stover" and fill the missing page or two. 

What follows is a volume of stories, lost for nearly 100 years! They are mostly contemporary detective / police action-adventure tales, almost always with a twist of romance. Stover also liked the technology of the day, and included automobiles, airplanes, trains, and telephones to a large degree. The stories are remarkably fresh and are entertaining to this day, providing a window into the mind of a young man who would decades later become one of the region's most famous authors. 

In this volume: 

• Whetstone Gap

• A Smudge of Red

• The Shadowed House

• The Dominant Idea

• Mercy Shot

• Thin Sibliance

• The Rambling Payroll

• The Tenth Car

• You Get Your First Buck

• The Second Crash

• Undraped

• Blood Is Thicker

• Reynard of the Ridges

• Tongue Tied

• Bogus

• Gauntlet

• Chickens Come Home

• Whisper Valley

• The Withdrawn Hand

• Caution, Soft Shoulders

Page Count: 198

Imprint: Catamount Press

Genre: Fiction / Historical Fiction / Short Stories / Mystery & Detective / Cozy / General

Thank you for checking out our “Short Story Collections Book List”! Stay tuned for more blog posts like this one coming soon!