19+ Best Stephen King Short Stories [RANKED]
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Best Stephen King Short Stories: Stephen Edwin King is an astounding American author of supernatural fiction, horror, crime, suspense, fantasy, and science-fiction novels. And a cultural icon all in all!
We all know he had a successful writing career but…
Did you know?
He has written over 130 short stories so far! That’s only the short stories, not just the novels.
So, in case you want to taste the horror of Stephen King’s novels but cannot find time to read an entire one, don’t worry because you can just read his short stories instead.
And, the best part, we will provide you with a long list of his best, must-read stories. Get ready to be scared…kidding!
Let’s begin…
#1. Night Shift
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-01.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>“Night Shift” was Stephen King’s debut collection of short stories, and let’s just say he didn’t come into the world of writing quietly.
If you’ve ever seen an 80s zombie movie and found the low-budget, unrealistic gore scarier than today’s high-quality effects, you’ll love Night Shift.
Its stories may lack the refinement of some of Stephen King’s later works as he’s still pretty new then, but they’re still the stuff of nightmares.
So rest assured:
Night Shift contains something for everyone, from highly emotional stories like “Last Rung on the Ladder,” which is about a guy who blames himself for his sister’s suicide, to nasty post-apocalyptic tales like “Night Surf.”
The short story collections are:
Check out: Night Shift
#2. Different Seasons
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-02.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>The first collection of stories by Stephen King is more dramatic than terrible. Indeed, the first story even inspired The Shawshank Redemption, a popular film.
Moreover…
While “Apt Pupil” and “The Breathing Method” are nonetheless frightening, but stand out for their lack of dangerous, otherworldly beings or gory scenes that have become mainstays of some of Stephen’s King’s other short stories.
Different Season includes four Stephen King Short Stories such as,
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: Hope Spring Eternal,
Apt Pupil: Summer of Corruption,
The Body: Fall From Innocence,
The Breathing Method: A Winter’s Tale.
Check Out: Different Seasons
#3. Skeleton Crew
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-02.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>Next from the short story collection is “Skeleton Crew.” The best horror is the kind that changes the seemingly ordinary and harmless into something evil and scary, and Skeleton Crew nails it down.
Plus…
In one story, a word processor — otherwise mundane and useful equipment — becomes a weapon in the hands of a guy. In another story, a supermarket becomes the setting of a life-or-death conflict between an ever-growing mist swallowing a town.
This book has 22 stories, including a novella and two poems. The names are,
The Mist,
Here There Be Tygers,
The Raft,
Word Processor of the Gods,
The Reaper’s Image, Nona, For Owen,
Survivor Type,
Uncle Otto’s Truck,
Morning Deliveries,
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands, Beachworld,
The Monkey,
Cain Rose Up,
Mrs. Todd’s Shortcut,
The Jaunt,
The Wedding Gig,
Paranoid: A Chant,
Big Wheels,
Gramma,
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet,
The Reach.
Check out: Skeleton Crew
#4. Four Past Midnight
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-04.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>Do you find yourself wishing Stephen King’s short stories lasted a little longer? Rejoice: another collection of novellas has arrived!
Unlike Different Seasons, this book keeps loyal to King’s trademark supernatural horror while also incorporating psychological and cosmic horror aspects.
Adding in more…
The subject of midnight runs through all four stories in Four Past Midnight.
As a result, the stories depict people desperately holding to their sanity while being pulled further and further away from it.
This book has four Stephen King short stories, including:
The Langoliers,
Secret Window,
Secret Garden,
The Library Policeman,
The Sun Dog.
CHECK OUT: FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT
#5. Nightmares and Dreamscapes
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-05.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>Next, we have “Nightmares & Dreamscapes,” one of the best Stephen King Short Stories.
A single finger emerges from a drain. Unusual teeth become predatory. In New York, flies perch on an old pair of sneakers and die, while the Nevada desert consumes a Cadillac. Meanwhile, Castle Rock’s mythology reappears… and grows on you.
What exactly does it all imply? What more could it possibly imply?
Stephen King has returned with the third collection of stories, a massive, many-chambered cave of a volume, with tunnels leading every way to hell… and a few to glory.
Nightmares and Dreamscapes include twenty-four short stories.
They are Dolan’s Cadillac,
The End of the Whole Mess,
Suffer the Little Children,
You Know They Got a Hell of a Band,
Home Delivery, Rainy Season,
My Pretty Pony,
Sorry, Right Number,
The Ten O’Clock People,
Crouch End,
The House on Maple Street,
The Fifth Quarter,
The Night Flyer,
Popsy,
It Grows on You,
Cattery Teeth,
Dedication,
The Moving Finger,
Sneaker,
The Doctor’s Case,
Umney’s Last Case,
Head Down,
Brooklyn August,
The Beggar and the Diamond.
CHECK OUT: NIGHTMARES AND DREAMSCAPES
#6. Hearts in Atlantis
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-06.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>It is one of the best short story collections, which contains five interconnected stories set between the 1960s and the 1990s, all of which are connected to horrible events in Vietnam.
War has remained with us long after the war ended in 1975.
Moving on…
Despite the intended relationship between each narrative, some reviewers believe that each piece is better appreciated as a separate entity than a whole.
On the other hand, other reviewers suggest that while this isn’t King’s scariest work, it is one of his most profound, focusing on the very real terrors that can last a lifetime.
Hearts in Atlantis has five Stephen King Short stories, including:
Low Men in Yellow Coats,
Hearts in Atlantis,
Blind Willie,
Why We’re in Vietnam,
Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling.
CHECK OUT: HEARTS IN ATLANTIS
#7. Everything’s Eventual
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-07.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>“Everything’s Eventual” is regarded as one of King’s “lighter” collections. It’s possibly because many of the stories elicit a sensation of discomfort rather than true panic.
However, as we all know, a deep sensation of dread can last far longer than a terrifying experience.
I am warning you about this horror read.
Along with that…
The book’s most popular entry is the thrilling tale “1408” which is about a nonfiction writer who writes about the supernatural despite not believing in it.
In a great meta spin on the classic ghost story, room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel quest to prove him incorrect.
This book has fourteen stories:
Autopsy Room Four,
The Man in the Black Suit,
All That You Love Will Be Carried Away,
The Road Virus Heads North,
Lunch at the Gotham Cafe,
That Feeling,
The Death of Jack Hamilton,
L.T.’s Theory of Pets,
In the Deathroom,
The Little Sisters of Eluria,
Everything’s Eventual,
You Can Only Say What It Is in French,
1408,
Riding the Bullet,
Luckey Quarter.
CHECK OUT: EVERYTHING’S EVENTUAL
#8. Just After Sunset
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-08.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>“Just After Sunset” is the next incredible Stephen King Short story collection.
Take one look at that holographic book cover, and we guarantee your stomach will turn, demonstrating Just After Sunset’s propensity to elicit discomfort right from the start.
Furthermore…
Check out the great story of “The Cat from Hell” for a genuinely bizarre read.
If you’re looking for a good excuse to stay in bed, watch “Stationary Bike,” a film about a man whose efforts to lower his cholesterol levels turn into nightmares.
This book has thirteen stories, such as:
Willa,
The Cat from Hell,
The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates,
Mute,
Ayana,
Harvey’s Dream,
Rest Stop,
Stationary Bike,
The Things They Left Behind,
Graduation Afternoon,
The Gingerbread Girl, N,
A Very Tight Place.
Check Out: Just After Sunset
#9. Full Dark No Stars
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-09.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>“Full Dark No Stars” is an incredible collection of four novellas that’s not for the faint of heart.
Because of the emotional pain readers are put through, not because of splattered blood or graphic violence but because of how each story burns slowly, with a twist for the grim boiling away the entire time, we remind you to proceed with caution.
Turns out…
The reviewers are aware that things will go wrong at some point, but they are unaware of how, when, or the consequences.
Each narrative leaves you with the grim impression that nothing is as it seems and that we’re all always on the verge of anarchy.
This book has four stories, including:
1922,
Big Driver,
Fair Extension,
A Good Marriage.
Check Out: Full Dark No Stars
#10. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-10.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>We’re sure you’ll love this Stephen King short story collection, as each story is accompanied by a brief autobiographical passage that reveals how the story came to be.
Many see it as one of King’s more “polished” collections — mourning the freaky, pulpy tones of some of his earlier books like Night Shift.
However…
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams celebrates King’s years of experience, showing his ability to adeptly switch between themes of life, death, morality, guilt, and regret — all with his trademark spine-tingling, bone-chilling overtone.
The book has 20 short stories, including:
Mile 81,
Batman and Robin Have an Altercation,
The Dune,
Bad Little Kid,
A Death,
The Bone Church,
Morality,
Afterlife,
Ur,
Herman Wouk Is Still Alive,
Under the Weather, Blockade Billy,
Mister Yummy,
Tommy,
The Little Green God of Agony,
That Bus Is Another World,
Obits,
Drunken Fireworks,
Summer Thunder.
Check out: Bazaar of Bad Dreams
#11. The Dune
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-11.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>Stephen King has a good time with “The Dune,” a more traditional horror novel with a chilling twist. A man tells his lawyer about a secret infatuation he has with a dune on an unknown island off the coast of Florida that can forecast people’s deaths.
Every time he visits the island, the man notices a fresh name inscribed in the sand, and that individual is discovered dead within a month.
The shocking truth behind the man’s narrative is revealed with a wicked smirk. It’s a scary little story that might remind you of Edgar Allan Poe.
#12. The Man in the Black Suit
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-12.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>A guy clothed in a black suit that smells like burnt matches is the subject of Stephen King’s best literary horror story to date.
Actually…
The story is more of a meditation on mortality than a horror story.
This story’s monster isn’t out to get you. Instead, it wants you to know it’s there and ready to help.
Check out: The Man In the Black Suit
#13. Autopsy Room Four
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-13.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>“Autopsy Room Four” isn’t the kind of Stephen King gothic horror stories you’re used to, and it’s possibly the most enjoyable story Stephen King has ever written.
Nonetheless, it’s still a dark thrilling experience.
The situation is as real as it gets, and the ending is rather amusing. This is a fantastic story for anyone seeking a lighter Halloween story.
Check out: Autopsy Room Four
#14. Gramma
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-14.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>“Gramma” is the next best Stephen King short story we have. Harlan Ellison adapted it for Twilight Zone ’85, and it was more recently converted into a film starring Chandler Riggs.
A young boy is left alone with his grandmother, a bedridden older woman who greatly terrorizes him.
Also…
As you may have already known, he does have a lot to be afraid of.
Horror fans may be interested to learn that this novel is set in the Cthulhu Mythos, a shared fictional universe developed by H.P. Lovecraft, one of King’s heroes.
If you’re a serial killer or a horror fan, this one’s for you.
Check out: Gramma
#15. The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-15.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>Tonight’s story is a sequel to a Different Seasons novella called “The Breathing Method,” and it’s about a man with a strange phobia: he’s scared of touching anyone and avoids all physical contact like the plague.
It’s a lot of fun to get to the end of this one.
Moreover…
Although it isn’t a classic like his other horror stories, this story circle style gives it a Halloween atmosphere.
Check out: The Man Who Would Not shake Hands
#16. Graveyard Shift
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-16.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>The second Stephen King Short story in the collection, “Graveyard Shift,” is an excellent example of what King can do when seemingly regular things become bad…like, truly, really horrible.
A group of workers is charged with cleaning out the abandoned basement of a textile mill that has millions of rats living in it.
They then descend into the Mill and face the horrors of their life.
Check out: Graveyard Shifts
#17. I am The Doorway
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-17.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>If you’ve been reading Stephen King’s novels, you must know about body horror by King.
I Am the Doorway is one of his early works, with a dash of science fiction thrown in for good measure.
After coming into contact with a weird alien mutagen on a mission to Venus, an astronaut returns. When he returns, he discovers that his hands are sprouting eyeballs!
Check out: I am the Doorway
#18. The Mangler
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-18.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>“The Mangler” is one of the most stunning and terrifying short stories Stephen King wrote.
We all can agree…
Stephen King has a method of turning everyday existence into a gruesome death. This one was adapted into a film directed by Tobe Hooper and stars Robert Englund a few years ago.
Yes, it is just as horrible as you imagine.
Check out: The Mangler
#19. Here There Be Tygers
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<a href="https://bouncemojo.com"><img src="https://bouncemojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Stephen-King-Short-Stories-19.webp" alt="Stephen King"></a>Stephen King enjoys torturing children in his stories, and “Here There Be Tygers” is one of the more lighthearted examples.
Let me add in more…
In King’s novel, a little boy desperately wants to use the restroom but is terrified to do so after
It was one of King’s first stories, written when he was in high school.
Check out: Here There Be Tygers
Conclusion: Best Stephen King Short Stories
We believe these are enough horror stories for now!
The fact that Stephen King has written 130 horror stories in his life is pretty fascinating, but his novels are also the cream of the crop in his genre.
If you want to read about Stephen King’s lifestyle, Net Worth, and earnings, Click Here.
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