Questions tagged [short-stories]
For about a fictional work too small to be called a [novel] or [novella] - usually less than 10-20 thousand words and no chapters. Use to either identify the media on a [story-identification] question or disambiguate works where the tag covers the short story and its form in other media.. If you are looking for a particular anthology of short stories, use the [anthology-book] tag instead.
5,443 questions
12
votes
0
answers
189
views
Short story from the early 60's where every year a citizen of a town was sacrificed
Modern town where each year one citizen volunteers as a sacrifice for the whole town. During the year between volunteering and the day of atonement he can do anything. Break any legal or moral law ...
- 121
31
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Short story a watcher who sleeps ten thousand years and wakes to destabilize stagnant civilization if needed 1980s or earlier
I need to find the author and title of a short story, but I only remember the plot.
In the story, we follow a mysterious human with advanced technology. He is in a hill country and encounters tribes ...
- 313
9
votes
1
answer
322
views
What is the title of a book of short stories. all based on a single extraterrestrial world. which was destroyed in the end?
The first story involved a boat trying to sail down a river in a competition of some sort(?), and they hired a man who could fly to sail above them and warn of dangers.
The last book was about a man ...
- 99
16
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Short story: jumping to/from FTL travel affects body and mind at different rates [duplicate]
A short story I read in the 70s regarding the first FTL flight. The astronaut finds when he achieves FTL velocity his physical body and mind react at different rates, although they reach equilibrium ...
- 1,011
22
votes
0
answers
290
views
A woman kills a man with her knowledge of traffic patterns
The story must be from the 1950 or so, when it was still rare that women worked in a job. I read the story in a collection of science-fiction stories.
The narrator works in a big company, possibly a ...
- 1,670
13
votes
1
answer
875
views
Trying to identify an Analog magazine story where human music contains coded a alien message
This is a short story from the 1980s (I'm almost positive it was published in Analog) about a scientist analyzing music over the last several centuries, and finding a common sequence of notes that he ...
- 77.8k
18
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Fantasy story from F&SF Magazine about a djinn, and a sheik's descendants and nation becoming wealthy by water transforming into oil
I’m hoping someone here can help me identify a fantasy story I read sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s. I believe it appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&SF), though ...
- 571
5
votes
0
answers
56
views
Short story where dream events manifest physically (wet/sandy), ending with protagonist decapitated by riders in a dream [duplicate]
I’m trying to identify a short story I read in the mid- to late-1980s, likely in an anthology (possibly branded “Alfred Hitchcock” in Germany, but that may be a false memory).
Plot details I recall:
...
- 51
3
votes
2
answers
123
views
Modern version of Poe's "Masque of the Red Death"
Several years ago (pre-Covid) I read a short story that was an updated version of Masque of the Red Death that was set on Long Island (the Hamptons?) and was told from a security guard's point of view....
- 39
26
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Telepathic plants lure space travellers to a feast
I read this short in the '90s, in either a general SF anthology or a collection of stories from the same author. I can remember a lot of details but none of them turn up in search, so it might not be ...
12
votes
0
answers
90
views
Looking for 1-page sci-fi comic (mid-1990s): tribe on asteroid destroyed by humans — “Great shadow is coming”
I read a single-page science-fiction comic sometime in the mid-1990s.
Two humans in a spaceship approach an asteroid, assuming it’s uninhabited.
On the surface lives a small tribal people — one of ...
- 121
16
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Science fiction short story with duodecimal measurements in technical specification
I once read a short story of an alien stranded on Earth and has its craft examined by human scientists who then discovered that all measurements are in duodecimal (base 12). Or maybe it was an ...
- 1,745
14
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Landing at a ghost airfield where pilots of both sides greet you
There is a short story about a wartime pilot who flies into the clouds and sights a ghost airfield (although he doesn't realize it's a ghost airfield) where pilots of both sides have landed and are ...
- 407
7
votes
2
answers
171
views
Short story where a man woke up from stasis [duplicate]
I have read this short story in the mid of 90s or so about a man (crew member of a spaceship or technician, or space mission member), who woke up and found out that there is a baron, who controls all. ...
- 73
17
votes
1
answer
959
views
Short story about machine that shows clients' fantasies
I read this short story or chapter for my philosophy class back in 2013 and I've never been able to find it again. On the syllabus it's simply titled "Welfare Department" and says its a pdf ...
- 187