When we are first taught how to read from a story book or , magazine, comic or whatever our reading material would of necessity be short and hopefully had a specific point to it. As toddlers we loved them. We would progress to longer stories of course. However I have never lost my fascination and love of the well written short story as a unique little gem in the world of literature. Give me a previously unread collection of them and I am like a child with a new toy.
I learned to read on a diet of short stories, my early writing consisted of short stories- I still read and write short stories - so I find it sad when I hear people dismissing them as if they are somehow not fit to be discussed so much anymore. The novel and the short story are very different writing arts. Not a massive difference when penned by a literary giant granted - anything from Dickens, Poe, Stephen King, Roald Dahl , Saki and so on is normally instantly identifiable in any case -however a difference just the same. A really well written short story will remain in your memory forever.
When I was young most libraries had separate short story sections. I believe I read all of the short story collections in our fairly small little library in a Glasgow housing scheme.
So have a look at some of mine. I write what I love to read. Twists, turns and the big surprise only at the end. You will notice they are normally entitled Tales of something or other with 2 exceptions Aiding & Abetting and Slinger.
The "Tales of " thing I unashamedly stole from Tales of the Unexpected, Tales of Terror, Tales from the Crypt and so on ,those fabulous little collections that kept me up reading long after I should have been asleep at night