Ruskin Bond's works also contain a lot of humour. For example, in many of his short stories set in the Indian hills, he uses humour to depict the simple yet interesting lives of the local people.
Yes, 'Swami and Friends' by R. K. Narayan is a classic. It follows the adventures of a young boy named Swami and his friends in a small South Indian town. The humorous situations and the vivid portrayal of the characters make it a delightful read.
One characteristic is that they often deal with taboo or serious topics in a light - hearted or unexpected way. For example, death, which is normally a very solemn subject, can be made into a joke in dark humour stories. Like the story where a man at his own funeral wakes up and says, 'You guys are making way too much noise.', which turns the very serious event of a funeral into something with a bit of dark comical twist.
Sure. One of my family's humour stories is when my little brother tried to imitate our grandpa's walk. He put on a pair of too - big shoes and walked around the living room waddling like a duck. Grandpa laughed so hard that he almost cried.
Sure. Here's one. A man goes to the doctor and says, 'Doctor, I keep seeing into the future.' The doctor says, 'When did this start?' The man replies, 'Next Tuesday.'
There's a story about a family where the grandfather accidentally dyed his hair bright pink while trying to cover his grey hairs at home. When he came out of the bathroom, everyone was shocked at first, but then they couldn't stop laughing. He ended up going to a family gathering with that pink hair and became the center of attention and laughter. It was really a humorous moment for the whole family.
Dark humour novels often deal with serious or taboo topics like death, war, and social problems in a humorous way. For example, they might make jokes about the absurdity of war or the silliness of human behavior in the face of mortality.
One is 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson. It's set in a small town where every year there's a lottery. At first, it seems like a normal event, but in the end, the 'winner' gets stoned to death by the townspeople. It's a chilling yet darkly humorous look at how blindly following tradition can be dangerous.
Well, one characteristic is the use of absurd situations. For example, in 'Catch - 22', the idea that you can't be excused from flying dangerous missions because only insane people would want to fly them, but if you ask to be excused, you're considered sane so you have to fly. It's a really absurd concept that is funny in a dark way.
They often use irony. In dark humour short stories, things are not as they seem on the surface. The situation might be really bad, but the way it's presented, like through the use of sarcasm or a play on words, makes it humorous in a dark way. Take 'The Cask of Amontillado' where the narrator's false friendship and his act of revenge are told in a way that has this ironic and darkly humorous undertone.