Saturday, July 12, 2008

Great Short Story Titles

Idly seeking some reference I came across one Joseph Ashby-Sterry, who, in 1869, published a story called The Haunted Counterpane. I formally nominate this as one of the all time great short story titles - unless you know better.

6 comments:

  1. How about the more recent 'The Middle Toe of the Right Foot' by Ambrose Bierce, from the same family of titles as 'Counterpane', that draw you in, and almost force you to go on, and discover what lies within.
    Mahlerman

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Passing Of the Third Floor Back.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry to lower the tone, but I've always liked JG Ballard's 'Why I Want to F*ck Ronald Reagan', for the prosaic brutality with which it expresses a startling, disturbed and disturbing desire.

    ReplyDelete
  4. In Dreams Begin Responsibilities. And it's a great story, into the bargain.

    ReplyDelete
  5. 'Boys! Grow Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar!' was a memorable one from Ray Bradbury.

    I've always though the best title for a novel was 'Something Happened' by Joseph Heller.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love:
    'Remind me to murder you later'

    By James Finney Boylan.

    ReplyDelete