4th Quarter 2024 favorites

4th Quarter 2024

The 4th Quarter (Oct-Dec) stories ordered solely by my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Peach Cobbler’ by Deesha Philyaw
  2. ‘The Pleasures Of Television’ by Rebecca Bernard
  3. ‘Pitch Memory’ by Ethan Canin
  4. ‘Hollywood Lanes’ by Megan Abbott
  5. ‘Former Marine’ by Russell Banks
  6. ‘Sarah Cole: A Type Of Love Story’ by Russell Banks
  7. ‘Eula’ by Deesha Philyaw
  8. ‘Rough Deeds’ by Annie Proulx
  9. ‘The Haunted And The Haunters’ by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
  10. ‘Christmas At The Cross’ by Maeve Murphy
  11. ‘The Finkelstein 5’ by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
  12. ‘A Country Christmas’ by Louisa May Alcott
  13. ‘The Ascent’ by Ron Rash
  14. ‘The Dune’ by Stephen King
  15. ‘First Dark’ by Elizabeth Spencer
  16. ‘The Music School’ by John Updike
  17. ‘It’s Like A Whisper’ by Megan Abbott
  18. ‘The Adventure Of The Musgrave Ritual’ by Arthur Conan Doyle
  19. ‘Oxford Girl’ by Megan Abbott
  20. ‘The Wind In The Rose-Bush’ by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
  21. ‘Footfalls’ by Wilbur Daniel Steele
  22. ‘Monster’ by Michael Czyzniejewski
  23. ‘Our Eyes Couldn’t Stop Opening’ by Megan Abbott
  24. ‘The Wrong Man’ by Nella Larsen
  25. ‘We’ by Mary Grimm
  26. ‘Freedom’ by Nella Larsen
  27. ‘The Fog Horn’ by Ray Bradbury
  28. ‘The Wrong Shape’ by G.K. Chesterton
  29. ‘Today We Hit’ by Megan Abbott

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May 2020 favorites

May 2020

The May stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Debt Of Honor’ by V.S. Pritchett
  2. ‘The Adventure Of The Dancing Men’ by Arthur Conan Doyle
  3. ‘A Woman On The Roof’ by Doris Lessing
  4. ‘First Love, Last Rites’ by Ian McEwan
  5. ‘Mrs. Fortescue’ by Doris Lessing
  6. ‘To Room Nineteen’ by Doris Lessing
  7. ‘The Wheelbarrow’ by V.S. Pritchett
  8. ‘England Versus England’ by Doris Lessing
  9. ‘Hunted Down’ by Charles Dickens
  10. ‘Flesh And The Mirror’ by Angela Carter
  11. ‘The Interlopers’ by Saki
  12. ‘The Marvellous Girl’ by V.S. Pritchett
  13. ‘Second Best’ by D.H. Lawrence
  14. ‘How I Finally Lost My Heart’ by Doris Lessing
  15. ‘The Sunday Following Mother’s Day’ by Edward P. Jones
  16. ‘The Fall’ by V.S. Pritchett
  17. ‘The Fly In The Ointment’ by V.S. Pritchett
  18. ‘On Saturday Afternoon’ by Alan Sillitoe
  19. ‘La Sainte-Vierge’ by Daphne du Maurier

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April 2020 favorites

April 2020

The April stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘Witness For The Prosecution’ by Agatha Christie
  2. ‘An Error In Chemistry’ by William Faulkner
  3. ‘The Adventure Of The Norwood Builder’ by Arthur Conan Doyle
  4. ‘The Little Men’ by Megan Abbott
  5. ‘The Absence Of Emily’ by Jack Ritchie
  6. ‘The Case Of The Missing Will’ by Agatha Christie
  7. ‘The Chocolate Box’ by Agatha Christie
  8. ‘The Fascinating Problem Of Uncle Meleager’s Will’ by Dorothy Sayers
  9. ‘The Parker Shotgun’ by Sue Grafton
  10. ‘The Adventure Of The Cheap Flat’ by Agatha Christie
  11. ‘Miss Marple Tells A Story’ by Agatha Christie
  12. ‘The Veiled Lady’ by Agatha Christie
  13. ‘Billy’s Girl’ by Gordon Jackson
  14. ‘The Genuine Tabard’ by E.C. Bentley
  15. ‘The Queer Feet’ by G.K. Chesterton
  16. ‘The Coin Of Dionysius’ by Ernest Bramah

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October 2019 favorites

October 2019

The October stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Death Of Halpin Frayser’ by Ambrose Bierce
  2. ‘Rip Van Winkle’ by Washington Irving
  3. ‘Heat’ by Joyce Carol Oates
  4. ‘On The Hill’ by Elizabeth Spencer
  5. ‘In The Region Of Ice’ by Joyce Carol Oates
  6. ‘Ghost Girls’ by Joyce Carol Oates
  7. ‘The Heroine’ by Patricia Highsmith
  8. ‘High Lonesome’ by Joyce Carol Oates
  9. ‘The Nine Billion Names Of God’ by Arthur C. Clarke
  10. ‘The Swimmers’ by Joyce Carol Oates
  11. ‘The Tragedy At Marsdon Manor’ by Agatha Christie
  12. ‘Three Is A Lucky Number’ by Margery Allingham
  13. ‘La Moretta’ by Maggie Shipstead
  14. ‘The Doll’s Ghost’ by F. Marion Crawford
  15. ‘Afterward’ by Edith Wharton
  16. ‘The Leather Funnel’ by Arthur Conan Doyle

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October 2018 favorites

October 2018

The October stories ordered solely on my personal tastes.

  1. ‘The Adventure Of The Speckled Band’ by Arthur Conan Doyle
  2. ‘St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised By Wolves’ by Karen Russell
  3. ‘The Landlady’ by Roald Dahl
  4. ‘Jesse’ by Rosemarie Robotham
  5. ‘Haunting Olivia’ by Karen Russell
  6. ‘ZZ’s Sleep-Away Camp For Disordered Dreamers’ by Karen Russell
  7. ‘Lady Yeti And The Palace Of Artificial Snows’ by Karen Russell
  8. ‘Sense Of Humor’ by Damon Runyon
  9. ‘The Music Teacher’ by John Cheever
  10. ‘Nausea 1979’ by Haruki Murakami
  11. ‘The Undertaker’ by Alexander Pushkin
  12. ‘The Colour Out Of Space’ by H.P. Lovecraft
  13. ‘The Rosary’ by Robert Kelly
  14. ‘A Haunted House’ by Charles Dickens
  15. ‘The Man Of Adamant’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  16. ‘Signal’ by John Lanchester
  17. ‘The Bog Girl’ by Karen Russell

As always, join the conversation in the comments section below, on SSMT Facebook or on Twitter @ShortStoryMT.

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