Short fiction thread

I still haven’t finished the aforementioned anthology, as I’m reading it gradually around other books and primarily when falling asleep at night, but I’m finding that it really has some gems.

A few of the standouts so far:

  • The 1953 story “It’s a Good Life” by Jerome Bixby. This is the basis of the segment in The Twilight Zone: The Movie in which a boy can read thoughts and control matter with his mind. I found the Twilight Zone somewhat haunting as a kid, but the story is so much more distressing.

  • The 1937 story “Sanatorium at the Sign of the Hourglass” by Bruno Schultz. I mentioned in another thread that I coincidentally watched the movie not long after reading this story. Not realizing this at first only enhanced the dreamlike mood for me. Also, I just now learned that the classic Brothers Quay short film “Street of Crocodiles” was based on another story by Schultz. I will have to read that one.

  • The 1967 story “The Other Side of the Mountain” by Michel Bernanos. As much as I’d like to mention a few specific things about this story, I think I’m better off just recommending reading it blind.