Can you recommend some really short mystery stories?
Yes. 'The Silent Caller' is a short mystery. A phone rings in an empty house. The answering machine picks up but there's only silence. The owner checks the call history but it shows no number. Turns out it was a neighbor's kid accidentally dialing the wrong number. Also, 'The Vanishing Book' where a student's textbook disappears from his locked locker. It was taken by another student who had the same locker combination by mistake.
Sure. One is 'The Missing Key'. A man wakes up to find his front door key missing. He searches everywhere in his small apartment but can't find it. Later, he discovers his cat has knocked it under the rug. Another is 'The Strange Note'. A woman finds a note in her mailbox with just a time and a location. She goes there out of curiosity and finds an old friend waiting to surprise her.
There's 'The Unseen Visitor'. A family hears footsteps in the attic at night. They go up to check but find nothing. The next day, they find out a squirrel had gotten into the attic through a small hole. And 'The Mysterious Light'. A hiker sees a strange light in the forest at night. When he investigates, he realizes it was just a flashlight left by another hiker who got lost and was rescued earlier.
Can you recommend some really really short bedtime stories?
One short bedtime story could be 'The Sleepy Rabbit. A rabbit was so tired after a day of hopping. It found a soft patch of grass and closed its eyes, falling asleep quickly. And that's the story.
Can you recommend some really really scary short stories?
One really scary short story is 'The Tell - Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe. It's about a narrator who is driven mad by an old man's vulture - like eye and eventually murders him. The narrator's increasing paranoia as he hears the heartbeat, which may be his own guilt - ridden conscience, is truly terrifying.
Can you recommend some a short mystery stories?
Sure. 'The Tell - Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe is a great short mystery story. It's about a narrator who tries to convince the reader of his sanity while describing how he murdered an old man because of his 'evil eye'.
Can you recommend some from 'the best really really short stories'?
One could be 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings'. It's a rather strange and thought - provoking story. It has elements of the magical and the ordinary, making the readers think about how we perceive the different and the unknown in our society.
Can you recommend some really creepy short stories?
There are many. For example, 'Carmilla' is a vampire story that predates Dracula. It has a very eerie atmosphere as the main character is haunted by a female vampire. Then there's 'The Black Cat' by Poe again. The narrator's descent into madness and his relationship with the black cat are quite disturbing. Also, 'The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar' is really creepy as it involves a man being hypnotized on his deathbed and the strange things that occur during and after that.
Can you recommend some really scary short stories?
One really scary short story is 'The Tell - Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe. It's about a narrator who is haunted by an old man's vulture - like eye and his descent into madness as he plots to kill the old man. Another is 'The Monkey's Paw' where a family gets a cursed paw that grants wishes, but with terrifying consequences. And 'The Yellow Wallpaper' which shows a woman's psychological breakdown in a room with hideous wallpaper.
Can you recommend some short really scary stories?
One short and scary story is 'The Tell - Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe. In this story, the narrator is obsessed with an old man's vulture - like eye and eventually murders him. He then hears the sound of the old man's heart still beating, which drives him to insanity. Another is 'The Hitchhiker'. A person keeps seeing the same hitchhiker on the road no matter how far they drive, creating a sense of unease and mystery. And 'The Monkey's Paw' is also terrifying. A family gets a magical monkey's paw that grants wishes, but every wish comes with a horrible and unexpected consequence.
Can you recommend some really short bedtime stories?
Sure. Here is a really short bedtime story. Once upon a time, there was a little rabbit. It was lost in the forest. But then it saw a friendly deer. The deer led the rabbit home. Good night!
Can you recommend some really sad short stories?
Another sad short story is 'A Rose for Emily' by William Faulkner. It tells the story of Miss Emily Grierson, a reclusive woman in a southern town. She has a strange relationship with a man named Homer Barron. In the end, it's revealed that she has killed him and has been sleeping with his corpse for years. It's a disturbing and sad exploration of isolation, tradition, and the decay of the Old South.
Can you recommend some really interesting short stories?
Sure. 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry is a great one. It tells the story of a young couple who are very poor but sacrifice their most precious possessions to buy gifts for each other. Another is 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson. It's a thought - provoking story set in a small town with a very unusual lottery. And 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings' by Gabriel García Márquez is also interesting. It has elements of magic realism as it tells about a strange man with wings who appears in a village.