Short Story Collections/Anthologies

I adore short stories! Adore them! I, of course, love the immersive world of a fabulous novel, but a short story can pack a wallop like nothing else! Sure not all stories are going to grab you, that's true for long or short stories. But when you read that one! Oh! What a thing of beauty! They stay with you in a more complete way, I find, than a novel. And as someone who doesn't reread much, I find a great short story such a pleasure to reread.

One thing, though, is finding those great short stories. That takes a lot more effort. I've read plenty of collections that have not held my interest. Why is that? I cannot say, rather what I can say is what works for me. Generally I would say great collections fall into two categories for me: those by authors that I adore and those curated by an editor I adore. Now, I only recently came to understand the importance of the editor. By far my absolutely favorite curator/editor of short stories is John Joseph Adams. I first "discovered" him via Geek's Guide to the Galaxy (I like David Barr Kirtley, too!), where he impressed me when discussing his anthology Cosmic Powers. He did not disappoint! In the interest of full disclosure, though, I've only read two John Joseph Adams' anthologies thus far, but I will change that in the near future!

So I decided to collect my own compilation of short story anthologies. Enjoy!

1. The 13 Best Horror Stories of All Time edited by Leslie Pockell (1902)
2. The Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy 2017 edited by John Joseph Adams and Charles Yu
3. Cat Pictures and Other Stories by Naomi Kritzer (2014)
4. Christmas Stars edited by David G. Hartwell (1964)
5. Cosmic Powers edited by John Joseph Adams (2017)
6. Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen (2017)
7. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (1945)
8. My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins (2014)
9. Quantum Zoo edited by DJ Gelner and JM Ney-Grimm (2014)
10. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (2002)
11. Strange Romance by Scott William Carter (2012)
12. Till Human Voices Wake Us by Annie Bellet (2012)
13. Trigger Warnings by Neil Gaiman (2013)
14. A Wild Swan by Michael Cunningham (2015)