Best of
Short-Story-Collection

2000

The Future Has a Past: Stories


J. California Cooper - 2000
    In "A Filet of Soul," Luella's luck soon changes when her mother leaves her a modest inheritance, but not as soon as she initially imagines. And in "The Lost and Found," Irene confronts her womanizing boyfriend with the one piece of information that will bring him to his knees. Bursting with earthy wisdom and humor, these warmly engaging tales are a testament to Cooper's gifts as a storyteller.

Our Trees Still Grow In Dehra


Ruskin Bond - 2000
    We are introduced, in a series of beautifully imagined and crafted cameos, to the author's family, friends, and various other people who left a lasting impression on him. In other stories we revisit Bond's beloved Garhwal hills and the small towns and villages that he has returned to time and again in his fiction. Together with his well-known novella, A Flight of Pigeons (which was made into the film Junoon), which also appears in this collection, these stories once again bring Ruskin Bond's India vividly to life.

Pastoralia


George Saunders - 2000
    Whether he writes a gothic morality tale in which a male exotic dancer is haunted by his maiden aunt from beyond the grave, or about a self-help guru who tells his followers his mission is to discover who's been "crapping in your oatmeal," Saunders's stories are both indelibly strange and vividly real.

The Toughest Indian in the World


Sherman Alexie - 2000
    A Spokane Indian journalist transplanted from the reservation to the city picks up a hitchhiker, a Lummi boxer looking to take on the toughest Indian in the world. A Spokane son waits for his diabetic father to come home from the hospital, tossing out the Hershey Kisses the father has hidden all over the house. An estranged interracial couple, separated in the midst of a traffic accident, rediscover their love for each other. A white drifter holds up an International House of Pancakes, demanding a dollar per customer and someone to love, and emerges with $42 and an overweight Indian he dubs Salmon Boy. Sherman Alexie's voice is one of remarkable passion, and these stories are love stories -- between parents and children, white people and Indians, movie stars and ordinary people. Witty, tender, and fierce, The Toughest Indian in the World is a virtuoso performance by one of the country's finest writers.

High Cotton


Joe R. Lansdale - 2000
    Lansdale stories represents the best of the “Lansdale” genre—a strange mixture of dark crime, even darker humor, and adventure tales. The stories are varied in setting and theme, but they are all pure Lansdale—eerie, amusing, and occasionally horrific. In “The Pit,” modern gladiators square off against one another using Roman methods. An alternate-history tale called “Trains Not Taken” shows Buffalo Bill as an ambassador and Wild Bill Hickok as a clerk. Lansdale’s love of large lizards and humor are evident in the stories “Godzilla’s Twelve Step Program” and “Bob the Dinosaur Goes to Disneyland.”

Indigo


Satyajit Ray - 2000
    Indigo is the mood in this new collection of stories about the supernatural, the peculiar and the inexplicable from Satyajit Ray, one of the best-loved writers of our times. There are tales here of dark horror, fantasy and adventure along with heart-warmingly funny stories about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. In 'Big Bill' Tulsi Babu picks up a newly-hatched chick from a forest and brings it home only to find it growing bigger and fiercer by the day; in 'Khagam' a man kills a sadhu's deadly pet snake and invites a curse which brings about horrifying changes in his body; and in the title story, a young executive resting in an old abandoned bungalow for a night, finds himself caught up in a chilling sequence of events which occurred more than a century ago. Also included here is 'The Magical Mystery', a brand new Feluda story discovered amongst Ray's papers after his death, and several tales featuring Uncle Tarini, the master storyteller who appears in translation for the first time. From Mr. Shasmal, who is visited one night by all the creatures he has ever killed, to Ashamanja Babu, who does not know what to do when his pet dog suddenly begins to laugh, the unforgettable characters in these stories surprise, shock and entertain us in equal measure. Indigo is a veritable treasure trove especially for those who like a taste of the unusual in a short story and an unexpected twist at the end.

Tales of Pain and Wonder


Caitlín R. Kiernan - 2000
    Caitlin R. Kiernan has added a new voice to the world of horror and supernatural writing. Her stories consistently make it into The Years Best Fantasy and Horror and The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. Her writing is unique, thought provoking, and leads you to places that you fear, yet find fascinating.

Christmas At Ardmore / The Quinns Christmas / Excerpts From The Villa


Nora Roberts - 2000
    It contained 2 short Christmas stories featuring characters from the Chesapeake Bay Saga and the Gallaghers of Ardmore trilogy.Due to the short length and the fact that the book is very hard to find, the stories are available on Roberts's website.Christmas in ArdmoreThe Quinn's Christmas

Blackberries, Blackberries


Crystal Wilkinson - 2000
    There are many Black country folks who have lived and are living in small towns, up hollers and across knobs. They are all over the South--scattered like milk thistle seeds in the wind.

More Stories from My Father's Court


Isaac Bashevis Singer - 2000
    B. Singer's classic memoir In My Father's Court, these stories, published serially in the Daily Forward, depict the beth din in his father's home on Krochmalna Street in Warsaw. A unique institution, the beth din was a combined court of law, synagogue, scholarly institution, and psychologist's office where people sought out the advice and counsel of a neighborhood rabbi.The twenty-seven stories gathered here show this world as it appeared to a young boy. From the earthy to the ethereal, these stories provide an intimate and powerful evocation of a bygone world.

Fairy Tales


Berlie Doherty - 2000
    Her masterful and authentic retellings of twelve treasured tales are well-matched by Jane Ray's evocative illustrations. Teeming with rich colors, golden trim patterns, silhouettes, and symbols, these pictures—like the timeless stories they interpret—are to be pored over and cherished. Come back to CINDERELLA, SNOW WHITE, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE FROG PRINCE, and eight other beloved tales. Enter a haunting world of magic and enchantment.

The Best of Cemetery Dance, Volume 1


Richard ChizmarDouglas Clegg - 2000
    Braunbeck109 • The Pig Man • (1993) • short story by Augustine Funnell125 • Mobius • (1987) • short story by Richard Christian Matheson129 • The Rendering Man • (1994) • short story by Douglas Clegg147 • Weight • (1994) • short story by Dominick Cancilla159 • Layover • (1991) • short story by Ed Gorman169 • Johnny Halloween • (1992) • short story by Norman Partridge181 • Hope • (1993) • short story by Steve Bevan187 • The Mailman • (1988) • short story by Bentley Little197 • Silhouette • (1996) • short story by Stephen Mark Rainey215 • Roadkill • (1991) • short story by Tom Elliott221 • The Rifle • (1995) • short story by Jack Ketchum233 • Pieces • (1992) • short story by Ray Garton237 • Rustle • (1993) • short story by Peter Crowther255 • When the Silence Gets Too Loud • (1995) • short story by Brian Hodge269 • The Rabbit • (1990) • short story by Jack Pavey281 • The Flood • (1986) • short story by John Maclay287 • The Right Thing • (1994) • short story by Gary L. Raisor [as by Gary Raisor]305 • Pig's Dinner • (1991) • short story by Graham Masterton317 • Crash Cart • (1993) • short story by Nancy Holder329 • Wall of Words • (1994) • short story by Lucy Taylor337 • Metastasis • (1990) • short story by David B. Silva349 • Wrapped Up • (1981) • short story by Ramsey Campbell357 • Depth of Reflection • (1990) • short story by David L. Duggins369 • The Mole • (1990) • short story by David Niall Wilson375 • Saviour • (1991) • short story by Gary A. Braunbeck391 • Great Expectations • (1990) • short story by Kim Antieau397 • Shell • (1992) • short story by Adam Corbin Fusco

In a Forest, a Deer


Ambai - 2000
    Winner of the Hutch Crossword Book Award 2006, this collection is an enduring testimony of the ideology and belief that Ambai's writings affirm-the need to know and be in touch with a stable or 'grounded' self that allows fluidity and change in modern times of travel, dislocation, and exile.

Strange Travelers: New Selected Stories


Gene Wolfe - 2000
    It has been ten years since the last major Wolfe collection, so Strange Travelers contains a whole decade of achievement. Some of these stories were award nominees, some were controversial, but each is unique and beautifully written.

Beluthahatchie and Other Stories


Andy Duncan - 2000
    The title story spins the tale of a guitarist who refuses to disembark the train at Hell and his adventures at the next stop, Beluthahatchie. Other stories include plot lines about the career concerns of a member of 'The Executioner's Guild' and graveyard romances in 'The Premature Burials'. These science fiction and speculative stories are told with a flair for Southern patois and are followed by comprehensive author's notes.

Hunger: A Novella and Stories


Lan Samantha Chang - 2000
    “Spare and haunting tales that ask ordinary questions about that extraordinary emotion: love.”—Chicago TribuneThe novella and five stories that make up this collection reveal the lives of immigrant families haunted by lost loves: a ghost seduces a young girl into a flooded river; a mother commands a daughter to avenge her father’s death; and in the title novella, a woman speaks from beyond the grave about her tragic marriage to an exiled musician whose own disappointments nearly destroyed their two daughters.

Cage of Bones & Other Deadly Obsessions


John Everson - 2000
    A woman who provides a true window to her soul. A dirty deal with the devil on the side of a road. And a real cage of bones! The first short fiction collection from John Everson, originally released by Delirium Books, features some of his best erotic horror, including his most popular tale, "Pumpkin Head," a dark tale of jack-o-lanterns...and the dangers of Halloween lusts... TABLE OF CONTENTS: "Introduction" by P. D. Cacek "Yellow" The cave held the seed of ancient gods...their vacation provided the climax of despair. "Long Distance Call" There are some calls you should never answer. "Cage of Bones" It was beautiful. After weeks of preparation it was finished. A full body restraint. Made of steel. Wood. Leather. And bones. "Dead Girl On The Side of The Road" Her body was his, unchanging, for 25 years to enjoy whenever he chose. "Pumpkin Head" She held the browning vine up from her belly, and with squeamish understanding, he dug through his clothes for his pocketknife. "Direkit Seed" Her name was Ceiran, with a C. She sang sexy Barry Manilow songs and worked in a club. And she was a witch. "Every Last Drop" Tony couldn't resist the promise of the perfect blowjob. But more than his orgasm was being sucked away. "When Barrettes Brought Justice To A Burning Heart" The derelict with the milky white eyes promised revenge, and that was something Bill wanted more than life itself. "The Mouth" The defining evidence that separates sex and murder is really only the amount of blood left behind on the bed. "Creaks" Sometimes the most frightening parts of growing up are the discoveries of our own nature. "Remember Me, My Husband" Ella Marie had been dead for 100 years when she gave him her ring. "Wooden" "Tonight," she promised, "I'll be back. I'll bring some matches. We'll have a bonfire, you and I. Dead wood burns best." "Swallowing The Pill" Some pills get easier to swallow...with practice. "Broken Window" In giving him entrance to her soul, had Katrina given too much? "Tomorrow" He was a bored child prodigy who could use his will to make his pets and parents do whatever he chose. What will he do tomorrow? "Mirror Image" The mirror reflects his true nature. Or is it someone else? "Murdering The Language" Gretta only wanted to protect the library's patrons from smut and filth. But some lessons in literature are painful. "Anniversary" Margaret lived for the nights of the full moon. And she wanted this night to be perfect; it was their first anniversary. "The Last Plague" When nothing else is left, what is there left to lose? "Bloodroses" She was blinded by lust and razored by marriage. But at least she had the thorns of her rose garden to soothe her. "Afterword"

Troublemakers


John McNally - 2000
    From the streets of Chicago's southwest side to the rural roads of Nebraska to the small towns of southern Illinois, these men tread a very fine line between right and wrong, love and hate, humor and horror.Each story is a Pandora's box waiting to be opened: a high school boy with a new driver's license picks his brother up from jail; a UPS driver suspects his wife of having an affair but cannot find any tangible evidence of her indiscretion; an unemployed man's life begins to unravel after he discovers a dead man in a tree in his own backyard; two boys spend Halloween with an older thug; a young college teacher's patience is tested by both his annoying colleagues and the criminals who haunt his neighborhood. In story after story, McNally's troublemakers lead readers to a place no less thrilling or dangerous than the human heart itself.

The Mountains Won't Remember Us: and Other Stories


Robert Morgan - 2000
     Struggling to survive in an ancient mountain landscape that alternately thwarts their efforts and infuses them with joy and vitality, the strong-limbed and strong-willed people of the Blue Ridge Mountains undergo the transition from ploughshares to bulldozers -- from the Indian skirmishes of the post-Revoluationary War era to the trailer parks of the present day. In these eleven first-person narratives, Morgan visits the themes that matter to all people in all places: birth and death, love and loss, joy and sorrow, the necessity for remembrance and the inevitability of forgetting. This is a moving tribute to that which is universal and eternal -- the majestic immutability of the earth and the heroic human struggle to live, love, and create new life.

An Unspeakable Betrayal: Selected Writings


Luis Buñuel - 2000
    This collection proceeds chronologically, from poetry and short stories written in Buñuel's youth in Spain to an essay written in 1980, not long before his death. Newly translated into English, the writings offer startling insights into the filmmaker's life and thought. The earliest pieces came well before Buñuel joined the Surrealist movement in Paris and created the landmark film Un chien andalou with Salvador Dalí. Yet these and the early Surrealist writings reveal the inventiveness of the mind that would later create such masterpieces of cinema as L'Age d'or, Los olvidados, Viridiana, The Milky Way, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and That Obscure Object of Desire. Later writings, which include screenplays and reflections on his own and others' films, illuminate many aspects of Buñuel's career, as well as the ways of thinking and perceiving that underlie his unique cinematic style. The final essay by this extraordinary artist sums up his view of the world—still vibrant and full of contradictions—at the end of his life.

The Velvet Touch


Edward D. Hoch - 2000
    Hoch's latest collection contains 14 stories about Nick Velvet, the choosey crook who steals only the seemingly valueless -- a bald man's comb, an overdue library book, a faded flag, a playing card, and so on. And in order to pull off a successful robbery, Nick often has to solve a crime as well -- sometimes the crimes committed by Sandra Paris, The White Queen, who claims to do impossible things before breakfast. The Velvet Touch contains all of Nick's encounters with the White Queen. The book includes an introduction by the author and a complete Nick Velvet checklist.

Such a Pretty Face: Tales of Power and Abundance


Lee MartindaleGene Wolfe - 2000
    Think again! Come join Gene Wolfe, Elizabeth Anne Scarborough, Jane Yolen, Jody Lynn Nye, and Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, who along with nineteen other authors introduce you to some of the funniest, wildest, sexiest, most powerful, and normal (considering these are science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories) fat people on earth and a few other planets. Meet a pirate named Valkyrie and a cardsharp named Fat Moriah. Meet a xeno-fitness instructor and an earth-mage who don't apologize for taking up space. Meet fat cats on a mission and a very different kind of vampire. Meet characters for whom plus-size is about body size and heart. Brought together in this first-of-its-kind collection are stories that raise the set point on adventure and redraw the picture of the hero along the way. This title includes tales of power and abundance that prove, that heroes and heroines come in all sizes.

Worshipping Small Gods


Richard Parks - 2000
    These destinations range from comic zen parables as in the title story, "Worshiping Small Gods," to the darkest depths of the human heart as in "Voices in an Empty Room." Whether dark fantasy, comedy, near future sf or wry contemporary fantasy, these stories all share that same insight and honesty . . .