Recommend some horror/sci-fi short-story collections

[negativ]

I need fodder for bed-time stories. Not for kids, but for me.

I like to read in bed at night while trying to get off to sleep, but invariably one of two things happens:

1. I get two, or maybe three paragraphs in before falling dead asleep. This is not necessarily a bad outcome, but it is a huge obstacle to reading the story. Not only will I not absorb enough to know what's going on, but what I do absorb will probably be scrambled or not remembered at all, and I will have to backtrack.

OR

2. I will get really engrossed in the story, and be unable to stop reading. Just one.... more... chapter! and the next thing I know, it's 4:30AM and I have to be on the way to work in two hours.

The perfect solution to both problems seems to be short story collections. I like Stephen King's short stories, but I *think* I've already read them all (about 30 times). I liked Larry Niven's "Playgrounds of the Mind", and of course "I, Robot". However, I've pretty much worn those out. There must be loads more, but I'm not really well-versed on the short-story format and I have no idea where to turn next. Any suggestions? I don't care who the author is, so long as it's at least marginally readable. Robots are always a plus, but I've never cared much for dragons and wizards and the like.

[Piscivore]

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, in three volumes (I, IIa and IIb) can be hard to get ahold of used but have all the classics. I also have Dangerous Visions and Again, Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison, and while I havent read all the stories therein the ones I have read are excellent.

[Professor Yaffle]

If you will venture towards fantasy, you might like Neil Gaiman's short story collections - Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things.

I'm sure there are some of his short stories online, so you can check him out first and see if he is your cup of tea.

Edit: Here are a few:

http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/Cool_Stuff/Short_Stories

http://www.holycow.com/dreaming/stories/snow.html

http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/cmp/neil_g.html

[Piscivore]

If you will venture towards fantasy, you might like Neil Gaiman's short story collections - Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things.

I'm sure there are some of his short stories online, so you can check him out first and see if he is your cup of tea.

Edit: Here are a few:

http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/Cool_Stuff/Short_Stories

http://www.holycow.com/dreaming/stories/snow.html

http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/cmp/neil_g.html

Enthusiastically seconded. While fantasy, there is nothing at all Tolkienish about his writing.

[Fnord]

For sleep-inducing bedtime stories, try Tekwar series (William Shatner) or the Dune series (Frank Herbert).

[Pope130]

Any of H. Beam Piper's short story collections (several currently in re-release). He had a great sense of place, creating vivid situations with few words. The novel First Cycle is written as a series of short stories covering critical moments in a longer story.

Robert Klaus

[Morrigan]

Ignore Fnord, since Dune is awesome, and it's a long series anyway, not what you are looking for.

I recommend those Lovecraft collections:

The Transition of H. P. Lovecraft: The Road to Madness (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345384229?ie=UTF8&tag=encymetatheme-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345384229) - shows a lot of his early works and how he progressed, very interesting
Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345384210?ie=UTF8&tag=encymetatheme-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345384210)
The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345350804?ie=UTF8&tag=encymetatheme-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345350804) - a great "Best of", if you only want just one of the three above I recommend that one (though I'm not sure if it has At the Mountains of Madness, and the first one does - great story) above the others.

For sci-fi, and a bit of horror and fantasy I recommend George RR Martin's "Dreamsongs (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0575081481?ie=UTF8&tag=encymetatheme-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0575081481)" (you can get it in two volumes too, here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553805452?ie=UTF8&tag=encymetatheme-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0553805452) and here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553806580?ie=UTF8&tag=encymetatheme-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0553806580)) - some really good stuff in there, especially Nightflyers (forget the campy crappy movie), Sandkings, The Ice Dragon, and many others.

[JSmith]

If you're up for some thought-provoking scifi short stories, might I recommend Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang? Chiang is very good at taking an idea and fleshing out the implications in the short story format. The lead story is working the story of an ancient miner ascending the Tower of Babel. Why would the Tower of Babel need a miner? When they get to heaven, they're going to have to dig up through heaven's bottom, right? Another story is about a universe where people ascend to heaven and descend to hell on an everyday basis (kind of like a fundamentalist's fantasy), and the implications of this sort of universe. These are all well-done, thoughtful short stories.

Another good collection of thought-provokign scifi short stories is Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia Butler. The title story is set on a distant planet where humans act as incubators for an alien species' larvae. The bond is an honored one, and (usually) not harmful to the human host. Another good story here is “Speech Sounds,” about a future Los Angeles wherein society has been all-but destroyed by a plague that destroys the human ability to communicate.

I hope you enjoy these,
Jason

[Denver]

Ignore Fnord, since Dune is awesome, and it's a long series anyway, not what you are looking for.

I recommend those Lovecraft collections:

The Transition of H. P. Lovecraft: The Road to Madness (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345384229?ie=UTF8&tag=encymetatheme-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345384229) - shows a lot of his early works and how he progressed, very interesting
Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345384210?ie=UTF8&tag=encymetatheme-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345384210)
The Best of H. P. Lovecraft: Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345350804?ie=UTF8&tag=encymetatheme-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0345350804) - a great "Best of", if you only want just one of the three above I recommend that one (though I'm not sure if it has At the Mountains of Madness, and the first one does - great story) above the others.

I second the Lovecraft. Here is the best collection of Lovecraft I have found:

H. P. Lovecraft: Tales (Library of America) (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=lovecraft&x=0&y=0)

[Nogbad]

Ursula Le Guin is a good Sci Fi writer and has written some excellent short stories.

My favourite Sci Fi writer has to be Iain M Banks. He has the coolest robots but his books are longish. "Use of Weapons" has to be one of the darkest Sci Fi books around. I think he has one collection of shorter stories called "State of the Art".

[Gregory]

I don't know much about SciFi, but for the "horror" part...

Algernon Blackwood being one of the greatest horror writers of all time, you should pick up an anthology of his work. I don't have any specific suggestions about which anthology, but try to get one with both "The Willows" and "The Wendigo," if you can.

I'm not sure if it's still in print, but White and Other Tales of Ruin by Tim Lebbon has my recommendation, the title story in particular.

Then ... Manly Wade Wellman is good. Sort of "old-school" horror, with curses, angry ghosts, pious clergymen confronting demons and vampires, etc. Lovecraft would probably sneer, but they're very well-written. Night Shade Books has put out some extremely handsome collections of his work.

Speaking of Lovecraft, regarding Morrigan's suggestion, if you go the Lovecraft route (and he wrote some good stories--some awful ones, too), I don't think you should worry about whether the anthology you pick up has At the Mountains of Madness--it's really too long for what it sounds like you're asking for. More a short novel than a short story.

Also speaking of Lovecraft, you should check out this anthology (http://www.amazon.com/H-P-Lovecrafts-Favorite-Weird-Tales/dp/1593600569/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212021055&sr=8-1). The concept is extremely simple; in various letters, Lovecraft made lists of his favorite horror stories; here are all those stories together. Has "The Willows" which I mentioned before.

I could probably add another more items, if I didn't need to study for a test, but those should certainly get you started,

[sts60]

The Golden Apples of the Sun, by Ray Bradbury.

Tales from the White Hart, by Arthur C. Clarke.

Old school! Word!

[JoeEllison]

Harlan Ellison.

You can pick up the giant Essential Ellison for like $25, and it is probably 1200 pages or more of great short stories.

[Rufo]

Excellent suggestions so far.

I'd like to add The October Country, also by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury's collections in general are worth checking out. As for Stephen King, you can never be completely sure if you've read all of his. There tends to be one hiding somewhere. Keep your eyes open. ;)

A masterful horror writer in my native language, John Ajvide Lindquist, has so far only had novels translated to English. However, in a year or so his short story collection "Paper Walls" might have been translated as well. Don't know how easy his works are to get hold of abroad, though.

[Pope130]

Then ... Manly Wade Wellman is good. Sort of "old-school" horror, with curses, angry ghosts, pious clergymen confronting demons and vampires, etc. Lovecraft would probably sneer, but they're very well-written.


Manly Wade Wellman is excellant. I have "Sherlock Holmes War of the Worlds" written with Manly Wellman. Great stuff.

[I Ratant]

The Year's Best SCIENCE FICTION edited by Garner Dozois always has really good stories.
It's up to Vol 24.
He also produces "The Best of the Best which goes across several years.

[Piscivore]

Manly Wade Wellman is excellant. I have "Sherlock Holmes War of the Worlds" written with Manly Wellman. Great stuff.

In that vein, Gaiman has a story called "A Study in Emerald", crossing Holmes with Lovecraft. Good stuff.

[HistoryGal]

Any of Robert Bloch's short stories should do you well.

HG

[Gregory]

Tales from the White Hart, by Arthur C. Clarke.

Seconding this; it's absolutely excellent.

Another horror writer you might check out is William Hope Hodgson; he's most famous for nautical stories--ghost ships, etc. This (http://www.amazon.com/Adrift-Haunted-Seas-Stories-William/dp/1593600496/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212040250&sr=8-1) is as good a place to start as any, I suppose.

[Vim Razz]

Not quite horror/sci-fi, but still fun pulp reading: Robert Howard's original Conan and Solomon Kane short stories have recently been collected and republished.

[Kotatsu]

Jack Vance: Green Magic, Future Tense or Eight Fantasms and Magics. I think he wrote more short story collections, but these are the only ones I have read, and thus the only ones I can recommend.

[Wudang]

Since you like Larry Niven how about his "N-Space" colection of shorts. Or "Convergent series".

For robots, what about Keith Laumer's Bolo stories?

Cordwainer Smith's "The instrumentality of mankind"?

[Syameese]

IMO the best ever science fiction short-story is "Displaced Person" by Eric Frank Russell.

It is only 4 pages long and my copy was printed in an anthology apparently dated 1968,. I don't know how hard it would be to find now, but I recommend ppl try

[fuelair]

I don't know much about SciFi, but for the "horror" part...

Algernon Blackwood being one of the greatest horror writers of all time, you should pick up an anthology of his work. I don't have any specific suggestions about which anthology, but try to get one with both "The Willows" and "The Wendigo," if you can.

I'm not sure if it's still in print, but White and Other Tales of Ruin by Tim Lebbon has my recommendation, the title story in particular.

Then ... Manly Wade Wellman is good. Sort of "old-school" horror, with curses, angry ghosts, pious clergymen confronting demons and vampires, etc. Lovecraft would probably sneer, but they're very well-written. Night Shade Books has put out some extremely handsome collections of his work.

Speaking of Lovecraft, regarding Morrigan's suggestion, if you go the Lovecraft route (and he wrote some good stories--some awful ones, too), I don't think you should worry about whether the anthology you pick up has At the Mountains of Madness--it's really too long for what it sounds like you're asking for. More a short novel than a short story.

Also speaking of Lovecraft, you should check out this anthology (http://www.amazon.com/H-P-Lovecrafts-Favorite-Weird-Tales/dp/1593600569/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212021055&sr=8-1). The concept is extremely simple; in various letters, Lovecraft made lists of his favorite horror stories; here are all those stories together. Has "The Willows" which I mentioned before.

I could probably add another more items, if I didn't need to study for a test, but those should certainly get you started,
The Wellman's are based on Eastern backwoods stories of witches, devils, weird spirits, etc. A traveler named John (and sometimes a friend or two) works for good against them. Seabury Quinn's Dr. Jules de Grandin stories are great fun (and he beat ghostbusters in using technology against the occult by about 50 years) - unfortunately, even fairly recent editions are a touch on the expensive side (meaning I could turn a couple of hundred dollars + if I sold my six paperbacks (60-75 cents each about 20 years ago) but that ain't happening).

[fuelair]

The Golden Apples of the Sun, by Ray Bradbury.

Tales from the White Hart, by Arthur C. Clarke.

Old school! Word!And, if you enjoy White Hart, go for Tales from Gavigan's Bar (a US version). Also, any Lewis Padgett, Henry Kuttner (yes, I know). Ted Sturgeon excellent, Robert Sheckley excellent, Frederic Brown excellent, Isaac Asimov excellent, Robert A. Heinlein excellent, James Blish, etc. etc. Also, August Derleth, Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury.

[Wudang]

If you liked Displaced Person try Steven Brust's "To Reign in Hell" - a novel, sorry for the drift.

[thrombus29]

I think there are two Robert Sheckley collections, both good.
Seconding Fredrick Brown
Fritz Leiber (I forget what it's called, but there is one collection with both "Space time for Springers" and "Gonna Roll the Bones", Get that one)
Seconding Harlan Ellison also, Start with "The Deathbird" and "The Beast Who Shouted Love at The Heart Of The World". It's all good though.

[Bikewer]

All good selections; for Horror, try the excellent 1981 collection Dark Forces:

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Forces-Kirby-McCauley/dp/055314801X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212065329&sr=8-2

Cutting-edge stuff from all the top contemporary writers in the genre.

I forget the publisher, but each year there's a "Year's Best" collection in Sci-Fi, Horror, and Fantasy.

[Denver]

Seconding this; it's absolutely excellent.

Another horror writer you might check out is William Hope Hodgson; he's most famous for nautical stories--ghost ships, etc. This (http://www.amazon.com/Adrift-Haunted-Seas-Stories-William/dp/1593600496/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212040250&sr=8-1) is as good a place to start as any, I suppose.

Funny you should mention Hodgson - I am working my way through Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Literature" (a treatise he wrote covering many of the weird fiction / horror writers and stories that influenced him), and I am currently reading Hodgson:


The Ghost Pirates and Other Revenants of the Sea (http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Pirates-Other-Revenants-Sea/dp/189238941X/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212068474&sr=1-3)

So far this is a wonderful collection.
But, if I was recommending to someone who hasn't read Lovecraft yet, I would still recommend starting there first.

[Morrigan]

Speaking of Lovecraft, regarding Morrigan's suggestion, if you go the Lovecraft route (and he wrote some good stories--some awful ones, too), I don't think you should worry about whether the anthology you pick up has At the Mountains of Madness--it's really too long for what it sounds like you're asking for. More a short novel than a short story.

True enough, I forgot it was among his longest ones. But it's one of my favourite stories, I couldn't help mentioning it. :)

[Denver]

FYI, the collection I mentioned in a previous post also includes At the Mountains of Madness.

H. P. Lovecraft: Tales (Library of America) (http://www.amazon.com/H-P-Lovecraft-Library-America/dp/1931082723/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4610790-7224101?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212075904&sr=8-1)

[jonas11]

Ray Bradbury has a lot of good sci-fi short stories

[jonas11]

Ray Bradbury has a lot of good sci-fi short stories

[coalesce]

I liked Clive Barker's "Books Of Blood" short stories in the mid-80s, as well as "Weaveworld" for a much longer read.

Michael

[Buckaroo]

Excellent suggestions so far.

I'd like to add The October Country, also by Ray Bradbury. Bradbury's collections in general are worth checking out.

I'll second this one. I read it way back in eighth grade, and still get the chills when I think about two stories in particular: The Emissary (shiver!) and The Lake (gulp!).

Terrifying, beautiful stuff.

[jj]

Any of the Harry Dresden novels by Jim Butche?

[balrog666]

For the classics, I recommend the Master, Frederic Brown, as they are currently being reprinted in "From These Ashes: The Complete Short SF of Fredric Brown".

Older: Look for the collections of A. E. van Vogt.

Newer: Look for the collections of Roger Zelazny and Walter Jon Williams.

[Childlike Empress]

Stanislaw Lem's Star Diaries is by far the best collection of sci-fi stories i've ever come across.

[bruto]

For some classic horror you could do worse than Ambrose Bierce. Try "The Boarded Window." Throw in the war stories while you're at it.

For individual horror stories of a different sort, I also recommend Italo Calvino's "The Argentine Ant," and Jorge Luis Borges's "The Gospel According to Mark."

[RebeccaBradley]

You could try the old paperback Alfred Hitchcock Presents collections - not hard to find at secondhand bookstores, and perfect for bedtime reading. Some of the stories are classics and often anthologized, but other stories are pretty obscure and hard to find otherwise. Some are suspense rather than horror, strictly speaking, but a lot of the authors mentioned above are well represented, especially Robert Bloch.

[Myriad]

I second George R.R. Martin's SF/horror short story anthology Sandkings. Every story in it is deeply disturbing, each for a completely different reason (and most of them, in their own way, more thought-provoking than the well-known title story). I don't think any SF writer has ever conveyed the sheer terrifying scale of space and time, even in a spacefaring milieu, as well as Martin does in the story "The Stone City."

There's an old three-volume SF collection called the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Volume 1 is short stories, 2 and 3 are novella length stories, and every one of them in all three volumes is a must-read classic. For that reason you'll have seen many of them before in other anthologies, but do find copies and fill in any gaps.

There are other Clarke short story collections besides Tales from the White Hart, which are also good. They're the reason I entered second grade with a bizarre assortment of disconnected science knowledge, such as entropy, stereo-isomers and their importance in nutritional chemistry, the behavior of Helium II, and Mobius strips.

Respectfully,
Myriad

[blobru]

I'll third the SF HoF recommendations by Myriad and Piscivore.

If your problem is falling asleep too soon after you start reading, try 100 Great Science Fiction Short-Short Stories (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385130449/), edited by Isaac Asimov (whose "Nightfall" was voted best story of all time by the SF HoF, just ahead of Weinbaum's "A Martian Odyssey").

Asimov, among many other things, was an historian of the genre. He edited several great anthologies of early SF, all worth tracking down as well: Before the Golden Age (which includes the little-known novella "Tumithak of the Corridors", which Asimov says inspired his Foundation series); Asimov presents the Great SF Stories of: 1939 (vol. 1) to ...1963 (vol. 25?) [great stuff except for the missing Heinlein stories]; The Hugo Winners (fan picks), New Hugo Winners, etal., ed. by Asimov & co.

As the SF HoF anthology was intended to honor stories written before the SFWA began handing out its yearly Nebulas, award-winning stories from 1965-74 are also anthologized as The Science Fiction Hall of Fame vol.'s 3 & 4, I think (and annually ever since).

And, Asimov supplemented his classic I, Robot stories with two later collections called Robot Dreams and Robot Visions (http://www.amazon.com/Robot-Visions-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0451450647/), containing the originals, later robot fiction, and some essays on robotics.

[Bododio]

Welcome to the Monkey House (http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Monkey-House-Kurt-Vonnegut/dp/0385333501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213146371&sr=1-1), Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

[Almo]

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Science-Fiction-Short-Stories/dp/0380507730/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213217589&sr=8-1

I liked this one. But mind you these are short-short stories. Like 1-3 pages each.

ETA: How can you go wrong with a book containing a story called "How Now Purple Cow?"