5 Short Stories You Should Read

By Stephanie Valente

We don't believe in best-of lists as the end-all and be-all of what you should be reading. But, we do believe in lists that inspire, intrigue, and stir a deep, provocative spark within you. Here, are some all-around pulling short fiction pieces you should read.

1. Lauren Spinabelli – Practical Fairy Tales For Girls Like You

Miss Ursula specialized in curing young women of tangible and intangible fears. She was the best doctor in our village, concocting medicinal fairy tales to cure any phobia.

2. Emma Cline – Los Angeles

At her interview, Alice had brought a résumé, which she’d made some effort to print out at a copy store. She had also purchased a folder to transport the résumé intact but no one ever asked to see it. John, the manager, had barely asked about her employment history. At the end of their five-minute conversation, he instructed her to stand against a blank wall and took her picture with a digital camera.

3. Danielle Evans – Nobody's Gonna Sleep Here Honey

Veronica admits there was a moment when she thought this was going to be glamorous. Everything was only just beginning to go to hell: walls and checkpoints going up, a scattershot of environmental disasters, self-declared militias on patrol.

4. Michael Seidlinger – People Watching

You aren’t alone even though it still feels that way, long gaps of nothing between discussions that seem to have everything to do with the weekend, which leads you to the assumption that tonight won’t be much.

5. Helen McCory – The Four Minute Warning Sounds

See this couple, bow, standing apart, at wait, in this white room. For we have loved this world for the final time and everything in it is now breaking. They have heard the danger; they have closed the door firmly behind them.

Stephanie Valente lives in Brooklyn, New York, and works as an editor. One day, she would like to be a silent film star. She is the author of Hotel Ghost (Bottlecap Press, 2015) and Waiting for the End of the World (Bottlecap Press, 2017). Her work has appeared in dotdotdash, Nano Fiction, LIES/ISLE, and Uphook Press. She can be found at her website.