The Greatest Stories of all Time
All literature tells stories. Here, however, we are looking at short stories, defined as prose fiction up to 17,500 words. Longer works are reserved for our Greatest Novels and Greatest Novellas lists.
Titles are chosen for this list based on the same extensive research and surveys that helped create The Greatest Literature of All Time list. They represent the best stories of all genres, cultures and eras.
Please note, this list is for standalone stories only. Great anthologies, collections and story cycles are listed separately.
This Greatest Stories list is continually updated as new works are discovered and appreciation of older stories evolves.
Latest update: March 16, 2024
The 444 greatest stories
In chronological order
BCE
c.1500
"Poor Man of Nippur"
Anonymous
Babylonia
story
c.1200
"Tale of Two Brothers"
Anonymous
Egypt
story
c.1100
"Story of Wenamun"
Anonymous
Egypt
story
CE
c.800–1200
"The First Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor"
Anonymous
Persian
story
c.800–1400
"The Fisherman and the Jinni"
Anonymous
Persia
story
c.900
"The Butterfly Lovers"
Anonymous
China
story
1348
"The Heart of Guillaume de Cabestaing"
Giovanni Boccaccio
Italy
story
"The Story of Patient Griselda"
Giovanni Boccaccio
Italy
story
c. 1387–1400
"The Knight's Tale"
Geoffrey Chaucer
England
poem
"The Wife of Bath's Tale"
Geoffrey Chaucer
England
poem
1558
"The Misadventures of Bornet"
Marguerite de Navarre
France
story
1697
"Bluebeard"
Charles Perrault
France
story
"Cinderella"
Charles Perrault
France
story
"Little Red Riding Hood"
Charles Perrault
France
story
"Puss in Boots"
Charles Perrault
France
story
"Sleeping Beauty"
Charles Perrault
France
story
1710
"Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp"
Antoine Galland
France
story
"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves"
Antoine Galland
France
story
1805
The Marquise of O..."
Heinrich von Kleist
Germany
story
1807
The Earthquake in Chile"
Heinrich von Kleist
Germany
story
1816
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King"
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Germany
story
1816
The Sandman"
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Germany
story
1827
"The Two Drovers"
Walter Scott
Scotland
story
1828
"The Tapestried Chamber ...or The Lady in the Sacque"
Walter Scott
Scotland
story
1830
"The Elixir of Life"
Honoré de Balzac
France
story
"An Incident in the Reign of Terror"
Honoré de Balzac
France
story
"A Passion in the Desert"
Honoré de Balzac
France
story
1834
"The Queen of Spades"
Alexander Pushkin
Russia
story
1835
"Diary of a Madman"
Nikolai Gogol
Ukraine
story
"Nevsky Prospekt"
Nikolai Gogol
Ukraine
story
"Wakefield"
Nathaniel Hawthorne
United States
story
"Young Goodman Brown"
Nathaniel Hawthorne
United States
story
""The Nose"
Nikolai Gogol
Ukraine
story
"The Minister's Black Veil"
Nathaniel Hawthorne
United States
story
1837
"The Little Mermaid"
Han Christian Anderson
Denmark
story
"The Spectre of Tappington"
Richard Harris Barham
England
story
"The Great Carbuncle"
Nathaniel Hawthorne
United States
story
"Prophetic Pictures"
Nathaniel Hawthorne
United States
story
1838
"The Story of Mary Ancel"
William Makepeace Thackeray
England
story
1842
"The Overcoat"
Nikolai Gogol
Ukraine
story
1843
"The Ugly Duckling"
Hans Christian Andersen
Denmark
story
"The Birth-Mark"
Nathaniel Hawthorne
United States
story
1848
"A Christmas Tree and a Wedding"
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Russia
story
"White Nights"
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Russia
Story
"District Doctor"
Ivan Turgenev
Russia
story
"Mumu
Ivan Turgenev"
Russia
story
1853
"Bartleby the Scrivener"
Herman Melville
United States
story
"The Lightning-Rod Man"
Herman Melville
United States
story
1855
"The Squire's Ghost"
Mary Gaskell
England
story
1868
"The Luck of Roaring Camp"
Bret Harte
United States
story
1869
"The Outcasts of Poker Flat"
Bret Harte
United States
story
"The Eclipse"
James Fenimore Cooper
United States
story
1872
"Green Tea"
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Ireland
story
"The Naughty Saint Vitalis"
Gottfried Keller
Switzerland
story
1873
"Marjorie Daw"
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
United States
story
1874
"A Fight With a Cannon"
Victor-Marie Hugo
France
story
1876
"The Meek One"
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Russia
story
"Scarlet Stockings"
Luisa May Alcott
United States
story
1877
"The Legend of St. Julian the Hospitaler"
Gustav Flaubert
France
story
"The Dream of a Ridiculous Man"
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Russia
story
1880
"Boule de Suif"
Guy de Maupassant
France
story
"The Pavilion on the Links"
Robert Louis Stevenson
France
story
1882
"The Knightsbridge Mystery"
Charles Reade
England
story
"Plautus in the Convent"
Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
Switzerland
story
"The Lady, or the Tiger?"
Frank R. Stockton
United States
story
1884
"The Necklace"
Guy de Maupassant
France
story
1885
"The Huntsman"
Anton Chekhov
Russia
story
"The Looking Glass"
Anton Chekhov
Russia
story
"The Three Questions"
Leo Tolstoy
Russia
story
"The Griffin and the Minor Canon"
Frank R. Stockton
United States
story
1886
"Lispeth"
Rudyard Kipling
England
story
"The Happy Prince"
Oscar Wilde
Ireland
story
"Vanka"
Anton Chekhov
Russia
story
"How Much Land Does a Man Need?"
Leo Tolstoy
Russia
story
1887
"The Horla"
Guy de Maupassant
France
story
"The Canterville Ghost"
Oscar Wilde
Ireland
story
"The Nightingale and the Rose"
Oscar Wilde
England
story
"The Selfish Giant"
Oscar Wilde
England
story
"A Legend of Old Egypt"
Bolesław Prus
Poland
story
1889
"The Bet"
Anton Chekhov
Russia
story
"Chickamauga"
Ambrose Bierce
United States
story
"A Horseman in the Sky"
Ambrose Bierce
United States
story
1890
"The Courting of Dinah Shadd"
Rudyard Kipling
England
story
"Without Benefit of Clergy"
Rudyard Kipling
England
story
"The Bottle Imp"
Robert Louis Stevenson
Scotland
story
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"
Ambrose Bierce
United States
story
"Brooksmith"
Henry James
United States
story
1892
"Kabuliwala"
Rabindranath Tagore
Bengal
story
"Our Lady's Juggler"
Anatole France
France
story
"The Yellow Wallpape"
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
United States
story
"Christmas Every Day"
William Dean Howells
United States
story
"The Real Thing"
Henry James
United States
story
1893
"The Damned Thing"
Ambrose Bierce
United States
story
"Désirée’s Baby"
Kate Chopin
United States
story
1894
"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"
Rudyard Kipling
England
story
"The Outlaws"
Selma Logerlöf
Sweden
story
"Regret"
Kate Chopin
United States
story
"The Story of an Hour"
Kate Chopin
United States
story
1895
"A Farewell"
Arthur Schnitzler
Germany
story
"One Autumn Night"
Maxim Gorky
Russia
story
"The Yellow Sign"
Robert W. Chambers
United States
story
"The Altar of the Dead"
Henry James
United States
story
1896
"Little Herr Friedemann"
Thomas Mann
Germany
story
"The Reporter Who Made Himself King"
Richard Harding Davis
United States
story
1897
"The Fortune-Teller"
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
Brazil
story
1898
"The Man Who Could Work Miracles"
H.G. Wells
England
story
"Gooseberries"
Anton Chekhov
Russia
story
1899
"The Darling"
Anton Chekhov
Russia
story
"The Lady with the Dog"
Anton Chekhov
Russia
story
"Twenty-six Men and a Girl"
Maxim Gorky
Russia
story
1900
"How Old Timofei Died With a Song"
Rainer Maria Rilke
Poland
story
1901
A Dark Brown Dog
Stephen Crane
United States
story
How the Leopard Got His Spots
Rudyard Kipling
England
story
1903
A Dog's Tale
Mark Twain
United States
story
1904
The Mezzotint
M.R. James
England
story
"They"
Rudyard Kipling
England
story
Eveline
James Joyce
Ireland
story
The Red Laugh
Leonid Andreyev
Russia
story
The Cop and the Anthem
O. Henry
United States
story
The Other Two
Edith Wharton
United States
story
The White People
Arthur Machen
Wales
story
1905
The Burning of Egliswyle
Frank Wedekind
Germany
story
The Last Leaf
O. Henry
United States
story
1906
Lazarus
Leonid Andreyev
Russia
story
The Gift of the Magi
O. Henry
United States
story
1907
Putois
Anatole France
France
story
1908
The Death of Bachelor
Arthur Schnitzler
Austria
story
To Build a Fire
Jack London
United States
story
The Ransom of Red Chief
O. Henry
United States
story
1911
Casting the Runes
M.R. James
England
story
The Odour of Chrysanthemums
D.H. Lawrence
England
Story
The Open Window
H.H. Munro
England
story
Sredni Vashtar
H.H. Munro
England
story
1913
The Judgment
Franz Kafka
Czech.
story
1914
The Prussian Officer
D.H. Lawrence
England
story
The Schartz-Metterklume Method
H.H. Munro
England
story
1915
Before the Trial
Franz Kafka
Czechia
story
Rashōmon
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Japan
story
1916
Enoch Soames
Max Beerbohm
England
story
1917
A Country Doctor
Franz Kafka
Czechia
story
The Tale
Joseph Conrad
England
story
The Mark on the Wall
Virginia Woolf
England
story
A Jury of Her Peers
Susan Glaspell
United States
story
1919
In the Penal Colony
Franz Kafka
Czechia
story
The Interlopers
H.H. Munro
England
story
Loneliness
Sherwood Anderson
United States
story
The Fourth Man
John Russell
United States
story
1921
Rain
W. Somerset Maugham
England
story
I Want to Know Why
Sherwood Anderson
United States
story
1922
A Hunger Artist
Franz Kafka
Czechia
story
In a Grove
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Japan
story
The Horse Dealer’s Daughter
D.H. Lawrence
England
Story
I'm a Fool
Sherwood Anderson
United States
story
1923
Theater
Jean Toomer
United States
story
1924
The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket
Yasunari Kawabata
Japan
story
Di Grasso
Isaac Babel
Russia
story
The Most Dangerous Game
Richard Connell
United States
story
The Golden Honeymoon
Ring Lardner
United States
story
The Story of My Dovecote
Isaac Babel
Russia
story
Haircut
Ring Lardner
United States
story
1927
My First Goose
Isaac Babel
Russia
story
The Trumpet Sounds
Mary Roberts Rinehart
United States
story
1929
The End of the Party
Graham Greene
England
story
Big Blonde
Dorothy Parker
United States
story
Theft
Katherine Anne Porter
United States
story
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall
Katherine Anne Porter
United States
story
A Telephone Call
Dorothy Parker
United States
story
Flowering Judas
Katherine Ann Porter
United States
story
1931
The Story of Babar
Jeean de Brunhof
France
story
Guests of the Nation
Frank O'Connor
Ireland
story
Terra Incognita
Vladimir Nabokov
Russia
story
Dry September
William Faulkner
United States
story
That Evening Sun
William Faulkner
United States
story
Silent Snow, Secret Snow
Conrad Aiken
United States
story
Twilight
John W. Campbell
United States
story
Wash
William Faulkner
United States
story
A Martian Odyssey
Stanley G. Weinbaum
United States
story
The Basement Room
Graham Greene
United States
story
The Foreigner
Francis Steegmuller
United States
story
1936
Spring in Fialta
Vladimir Nabokov
Russia
story
The Devil and Daniel Webster
Stephen Vincent Benét
United States
story
The Graveyard Rats
Henry Kuttner
United States
story
Big Boy Leaves Home
Richard Wright
United States
story
1937
Call Me Joe
Poul Anderson
United States
story
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities
Delmore Schwartz
United States
story
1938
Leiningen Versus the Ants
Carl Stephenson
Germany
story
Helen O'Loy
Lester Del Rey
United States
story
Pigeons From Hell
Robert E. Howard
United States
story
Flight
John Steinbeck
United States
story
The Use of Force
William Carlos Williams
United States
story
1939
The Wall
Jean-Paul Sartre
France
story
Barn Burning
William Faulkner
United States
story
The Door
E.B. White
United States
story
The Chaser
John Collier
United States
story
Girls in Their Summer Dresses
Irwin Shaw
United States
story
1940
Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius
Jorge Luis Borges
Argentina
story
The Roads Must Roll
Robert A. Heinlein
United States
story
It
Theodore Sturgeon
United States
story
The Man Who Was Almost a Man
Richard Wright
United States
story
1941
The Garden of Forking Paths
Jorge Luis Borges
Argentina
story
The Lottery in Babylon
Jorge Luis Borges
Argentina
story
A Girl from Red Lion, PA
H.L Mencken
United States
story
Microcosmic God
Theodore Sturgeon
United States
story
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
James Thurber
United States
story
The Hitch-Hikers
Eudora Welty
United States
story
Why I Live at the P.O.
Eudora Welty
United States
story
A Worn Path
Eudora Welty
United States
story
1942
Sorrow-Acre
Isak Dinesen
Denmark
story
The Quilt
Ismat Chugtai
India
story
The Catbird Seat
James Thurber
United States
story
The Weapon Shop
A.E. van Vogt
United States
story
Rear Window
Cornell Woolrich
United States
story
1943
A String of Beads
Somerset Maugham
United States
story
Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper
Robert Bloch
United States
story
Mimsy Were the Borogroves
C.L. Moore, Henry Kuttner
(as Lewis Padgett)
(as Lewis Padgett)
United States
story
1944
Beware of the Dog
Roald Dahl
England
story
Arena
Fredric Brown
United States
story
1945
The Aleph
Jorge Luis Borges
Argentina
story
The Small Assassin
Ray Bradbury
United States
story
First Contact
Murray Leinster
United States
story
1946
First Love
Samuel Beckett
Ireland
story
1947
The Enormous Radio
John Cheever
United States
story
Smoke Ghost
Fritz Leiber
United States
story
With Folded Hands...
Jack Williamson
United States
story
1948
Signs and Symbols
Vladimir Nabokov
Russia
story
Miami–New York
Martha Gellhorn
United States
story
That Only a Mother
Judith Merril
United States
story
The Lottery
Shirley Jackson
United States
story
Scanners Live in Vain
Cordwainer Smith
United States
story
Little Black Bag of Magic
C.M. Kornbluth
United States
story
Coming Attraction
Fritz Leiber
United States
story
1951
Bestiary
Julio Cortázar
Argentina
story
Christmas Not Just once a Year
Heinrich Böll
Germany
story
Goodbye, My Brother
John Cheever
United States
story
Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland
Carson McCullers
United States
story
The Resemblance Between a Violin Case and a Coffin
Tennessee Williams
United States
story
1952
The Birds
Daphne du Maurier
England
story
Surface Tension
James Blish
United States
story
A Child's Christmas in Wales
Dylan Thomas
Wales
story
1953
The South
Jorge Luis Borges
Argentina
story
The Nine Billion Names of God
Arthur C. Clarke
England
story
Three-Ten to Yuma
Elmore Leonard
United States
story
A Good Man Is Hard to Find
Flannery O'Connor
United States
story
Gimpel the Fool
Isaac Bashevis Singer
United States
story
Man Fom the South
Roald Dahl
Wales
story
1954
Fondy Fahrenheit
Alfred Bester
United States
story
All Summer in a Day
Ray Bradbury
United States
story
The Country Husband
John Cheever
United States
story
The Five-Forty-Eight
John Cheever
United States
story
The Cold Equations
Tom Godwin
United States
story
1955
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Colombia
story
Good Country People
Flannery O'Connor
United States
story
Toba Tek Singh
Sadaat Hasan Manto
Pakistan
story
1956
The Night Face Up
Julio Cortázar
Argentina
story
1957
The Adulterous Woman
Albert Camus
Algeria
story
The Guest
Albert Camus
Algeria
story
A Bond for Two Lifetimes—Gleanings
Fumiko Enchi
Japan
story
The Habit of Loving
Doris Lessing
United States
story
Sonny's Blues
James Baldwin
United States
story
1958
The Challenge
Mario Vargas Llosa
Peru
story
1959
The Landlady
Roald Dahl
Wales
story
The Sacrificial Egg
Chinua Achebe
Nigeria
story
The Soldier's Peaches
Stuart Cloete
South Africa
story
The Ledge
Lawrence Sargent Hall
United States
story
Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyes
United States
story
1960
Borges and I
Jorge Luis Borges
Argentinia
story
A Horse and Two Goats
R.K. Narayan
India
story
Patriotism
Yukio Mishima
Japan
story
1961
The Tomorrow-Tamer
Margaret Laurence
Canada
story
I Stand Here Ironing
Tillie Olsen
United States
story
A&P
John Updike
United States
story
The Moon Moth
Jack Vance
United States
story
Harrison Bergeron
Kurt Vonnegut
United States
story
1962
Let Them Call It Jazz
Jean Rhys
England
story
Novotny's Pain
Philip Roth
United States
story
Pigeon Feathers
John Updike
United States
story
1963
Gogol's Wife
Tomasso Landolfi
Italy
story
The Jewbird
Bernard Malamud
United States
story
A Rose for Ecclesiastes
Roger Zelazny
United States
story
1964
The Swimmer
John Cheever
United States
story
1965
Going to Meet the Man
James Baldwin
United States
story
'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman
Harlan Ellison
United States
story
Parker's Back
Flannery O'Connor
United States
story
1966
The Saint
V.S. Pritchett
England
story
Glittering City
Cyprina Ekwensi
Nigeria
story
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
Joyce Carol Oates
United States
story
1967
The Night Driver
Italo Calvino
Italy
story
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?
Raymond Carver
United States
story
1968
Boys and Girls
Alice Munro
Canada
story
Henne Fire
Isaac Bashevis Singer
United States
story
1969
How I Contemplated the World from the Detroit House of Correction and Began My Life Over Again
Joyce Carole Oates
United States
story
1979
Super-Toys Last All Summer Long
Brian W. Aldiss
England
story
Private Tuition by Mr Bose
Anita Desai
India
story
1971
Don't Look Now
Daphne du Maurier
England
story
Inconstant Moon
Larry Niven
United States
story
The Suitcase
Cynthia Ozick
United States
story
1972
Goat Song
Poul Anderson
United States
story
Naga
R.K. Narayan
India
story
Eurema's Dam
R.A. Lafferty
United States
story
1973
The Whimper of Whipped Dogs
Harlan Ellison
United States
story
The One Who Walks Away From Omelas
Ursula K. Le Guin
United States
story
Everyday Use
Alice Walker
United States
story
1974
Five-Twenty
Patrick White
Australia
story
How I Met My Husband
Alice Munro
Canada
story
I Bought a Little City
Donald Barthelme
United States
story
1975
Rape Fantasies
Margaret Atwood
Canada
story
Roses, Rhododendrons
Alice Adams
United States
story
1976
The Bicentennial Man
Isaac Asimov
United States
story
The School
Donald Barthelme
United States
story
1977
Jeffty Is Five
Harlan Ellison
United States
story
1978
The Beggar Maid
Alice Munro
Canada
story
Why Don't You Dance?
Raymond Carver
United States
story
1979
The Hockey Sweater
Roch Carrier
Canada
story
1980
The Shawl
Cynthia Ozick
United States
story
The Ugly Chickens
Howard Waldrop
United States
story
1981
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
Raymond Carver
United States
story
Coin of the Realm
Charles L. Grant
United States
story
The Reach
Stephen King
United States
story
1982
Calling Card
Ramsey Campbell
England
story
1985
The Chosen Husband
Mavis Gallant
Canada
story
Greasy Lake
T. Coraghessan Boyle
United States
story
1986
Communnist
Richard Ford
United States
story
The Way We Live Now
Susan Sontag
United States
story
1987
Buffalo Girls, Won't You Come Out Tonight
Ursula K. Le Guin
United States
story
The Things They Carried
Tim O'Brien
United States
story
1988
The Management of Grief
Bharati Mukherjee
United States
story
1989
You're Ugly, Too
Lorrie Moore
United States
story
1990
A Real Doll
A.M. Homes
United States
story
Meneseteung
Alice Munro
Canada
story
Bears Discover Fire
Terry Bisson
United States
story
1991
Never Marry a Mexican
Sandra Cisneros
United States
story
Emergency
Denis Johnson
United States
story
The Pugilist at Rest
Thom Jones
United States
story
1992
I Want to Live!
Thom Jones
United States
story
1993
In Plain Sight
Mavis Gallant
Canada
story
The Elephant Vanishes
Haruki Murakami
Japan
story
The Second Bakery Attack
Haruki Murakami
Japan
story
Silver Water
Amy Bloom
United States
story
1994
In Dancing Bear
Doug Allyn
United States
story
1997
Tiny, Smiling Daddy
Mary Gaitskill
United States
story
The Half-Skinned Steer
Annie Proulx
United States
story
Bullet in the Brain
Tobias Wolff
United States
Story
1997–1999
Brokeback Mountain
Annie Proulx
United States
story
1998
Sea Oak
George Saunders
United States
story
1999
Interpreter of Maladies
Jhumpa Lahiri
United States
story
2000
Bee Honey
Banana Yoshimoto
Japan
story
2001
The Bear Came Over the Mountain
Alice Munro
Canada
story
2003
What You Pawn, I Will Redeem
Sherman Alexie
United States
story
2004
Runaway
Alice Munro
Canada
story
2005
Two Hearts
Peter S. Beagle
United States
story
2009
A Tiny Feast
Chris Adrian
United States
story
2010
Safari
Jennifer Egan
United States
story
2011
The Paper Managerie
Ken Liu
United States
story
2013
Godspeed and Perpetua
A. Igoni Barrett
Nigeria
story
2015
Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers
Alyssa Wong
United States
story
2016
Seasons of Glass and Iron
Amal El-Mohtar
Canada
story
2017
Funny Little Snakes
Tessa Hadley
England
story
