One thing that makes really weird short stories interesting is their ability to break the rules. They don't follow the typical narrative structures. Take 'The Lottery' for example. It starts off like a normal small - town story but then takes a dark and unexpected turn. They also allow for a lot of interpretation. Different readers can take different things from these stories, like in 'The Masque of the Red Death' where the symbolism can be interpreted in various ways, which makes the story rich and engaging.
One really weird short story is 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It's about a woman who slowly descends into madness while being confined in a room with yellow wallpaper. Another is 'The Metamorphosis' by Franz Kafka, where a man wakes up one day transformed into a giant insect. And then there's 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson, which has a very strange and disturbing ending in a small town's annual lottery.
One really weird ghost story is about the haunted doll. There is a doll named Annabelle. People claim that it moves on its own and has caused strange happenings. It has an evil presence around it, and many who have encountered it reported feeling a sense of dread.
The mystery and the element of the supernatural. These stories can transport us to a different world, a world where the rules of the physical world don't apply. They make us question our beliefs and open our minds to possibilities that we don't usually consider. For instance, a story of a haunted forest where trees move on their own and voices are heard in the wind is captivating as it challenges our perception of what is real.
I'm not sure specifically who the author of the 'book of weird short stories' is. It could be an anthology with multiple authors contributing their unique and strange short stories.
They often have a sense of the uncanny. For example, they might have strange settings like an otherworldly city or a forest that defies the laws of nature.
Well, there might be a story where a girl discovers a door in her attic that leads to a parallel world filled with talking animals and plants. This world has its own set of rules and she has to figure out how to get back home. In the 'book of weird short stories', such unexpected and fascinating scenarios are often explored.
A short story of friendship could be: 'A woman dropped her books. Another helped. They started chatting and became friends. It shows how a small act can start a friendship.