![]() ![]() Like The Black Cat, this story is a masterclass in how to utilize the unreliable narrator, in this case a horrific murderer who becomes obsessed with offing his benefactor. It is a high point in a career by one of the finest writers in American literature. Has there ever been a story that so successfully manipulated its readers? Probably not. A first read often misses just how many subtle hints and clues she provides for the reader about the horror to come. Jackson’s tale is so shocking because of how craftily she weaves her tale. People draw small slips of paper to determine which family wins the lottery, and then again to determine which member of the family is the ultimate winner.Īt the end, the winner is stoned to death by the townspeople. Everyone gathers together in the town square. The story revolves around a small village holding their annual lottery. ![]() There are a lot of stories on this list with shocking twists at their ends, but perhaps none is as mind-blowing as the twist that Jackson whollops readers with in The Lottery. It also has the distinction of causing the most subscription cancellations of the New Yorker magazine, which originally published Jackson’s story. Jackson’s best-known work is - along with Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart and Jacobs’s Monkey’s Paw - likely the most-often anthologized story in the English language. It is all in the suggestion.Īnd like other authors on this list, Blackwood is a highly-skilled craftsman whose stories appear quite simple on the surface but which are far more complex than they first appear. No surprise when the lawyer starts hearing strange sounds and eventually believes he sees the kit-bag being pulled mysteriously across the floor.īlackwood is a master at building mood and suspense, weaving tales around gruesome subjects without ever offering any actually graphic details. The kit-bag, in fact, that his client used in the disposal of his victims. But when he arrives home he realizes the kit-bag is the same one that belonged to his murderous client. His boss offers to let him use his kit-bag for his skiing gear, and the lawyer accepts. With the trial over, the lawyer is determined to pack his bags and head for the Alps for a skiing trip. ![]() The story follows a young lawyer who has recently succeeded in securing a not-guilty verdict for his very-much-guilty client. The Kit-Bag is a shining example of his work. Few stories are as powerful as this one.īlackwood remains the acknowledged master of the classic ghost story. So pissed, in fact, that they set their parents up and trap them in the room, where they are promptly eaten by lions.īradbury’s story hits with one of the great twists of modern fiction, but it is its rumination on childhood and technology that linger the most. Peter and Wendy’s parents become concerned about the amount of time the children spend in the room, as well as their obsession with the African veldt, which the parents feel is creepy and unhealthy.Īnd - no surprise - the kids are pissed. Such as an African veldt, which the kids have become stuck on. The room is a marvel, able to reproduce anything one imagines. The story revolves around two children - aptly named Peter and Wendy - who have become obsessed with a room in their techno-wonder of a home. With its unnerving exploration of the dark side of childhood and the dangers of technology, The Veldt is perhaps even more relevant today than when it was written over 70 years ago. After all, what else is a podcast but a radio drama? Fletcher’s work illustrates the peak of the form, demonstrating how suspense and fear can be crafted with the fewest of words.īradbury was the greatest short story writer since Poe, and The Veldt is possibly his best story. Reading a radio drama to kids may seem out of step, but actually we are living in the era of the radio drama revived. Slowly it becomes clear that something far more sinister and supernatural is going on here. Obviously the hitcher nabbed a ride, got ahead of the narrator and was dropped off again.īut then the narrator spots the hitcher again. Then he spots the same hitchhiker again.Īt first, this seems like nothing more than a coincidence. He spots a hitchhiker along the way but passes the man by. The Hitchhiker is told from the point of view of man driving across the country. Her best known radio plays - The Hitchhiker and Sorry, Wrong Number - are brilliantly executed tales of suspense. In her own time Fletcher was a highly-regarded writer of radio dramas. ![]()
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