best surreal short stories

Well, 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson can be considered a great surreal short story. The seemingly normal small - town setting suddenly takes a very dark and unexpected turn during the lottery. Also, Borges' short stories are full of surrealism. For instance, in 'The Garden of Forking Paths', he plays with concepts of time and infinite possibilities in a mind - bending way. And then there's 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings' by Gabriel García Márquez, which has elements like a man with wings showing up in a village, blurring the lines between the real and the magical.

I'd recommend 'The King of the Golden River' by John Ruskin for beginners. It has a kind of fairy - tale like surreal quality with its magic river. Also, 'The Selfish Giant' by Oscar Wilde has a touch of the surreal when the giant's garden changes with the seasons in an almost magical way. 'Bluebeard' is another story that has a surreal and somewhat dark undertone, especially with the locked room full of secrets.

One of the best is 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson. It has a surreal atmosphere where a seemingly ordinary town has a very strange and disturbing lottery. Another great one could be 'Bartleby, the Scrivener' by Herman Melville. The character Bartleby's passive resistance and his strange behavior in an office setting is quite surreal. And 'A Rose for Emily' by William Faulkner, with its non - linear narrative and the grotesque situation of Emily Grierson, is also a remarkable surreal short story from a New Yorker's perspective.

Surreal short stories often have illogical or dream - like elements. For example, events might occur that would never happen in real life, like objects having conversations or people flying without any means. This breaks the normal rules of reality.

Some of Haruki Murakami's best surreal short stories include 'On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning'. In this story, the idea of a chance encounter with a seemingly perfect girl is presented in a surreal way. The story plays with the concept of time and missed opportunities. 'Sleep' is also a great one. It tells about a woman who suddenly finds herself unable to sleep in a rather surreal and disturbing manner, exploring themes of identity and the self in an off - kilter way.

The best surreal New Yorker short stories are special because they break the boundaries of ordinary reality. They allow readers to enter a world where the rules are different. For example, a story might have a character who can fly without any explanation, which challenges our normal perception of the world.

One of the well - known surreal New Yorker short stories is 'The Swimmer' by John Cheever. It has a dream - like quality as the protagonist decides to swim across all the pools in his neighborhood back to his home, and along the way, there are strange encounters and a sense of the passage of time and changing social status.

To find the best surreal New Yorker short stories, first, subscribe to The New Yorker magazine itself. This way, you'll be exposed to new and upcoming surreal short stories. Check out literary awards related to short stories. Often, the winning or shortlisted works are of high quality. You can also follow literary critics on social media or read their blogs. They often review and recommend surreal short stories from The New Yorker and other sources.

Sure. 'The Ice Man' is a great one. It's about a woman who marries an ice man, which is a very surreal concept. Murakami uses this to explore relationships and the unknown. Another is 'Tony Takitani', which tells the story of a man named Tony Takitani in a somewhat dreamy and surreal way, with his unique experiences and the way his life unfolds in a rather strange world.

Jorge Luis Borges' works often fall into the surreal category. For instance, 'The Library of Babel' presents a mind - boggling concept of an infinite library containing all possible books. His writing is full of complex ideas, labyrinthine structures, and strange, dream - like scenarios that make his novels some of the best in the surreal genre.