About Short Stories -- Comments by Jim Sutton

whatever it is that we expect to see,

that's what we tend to see

About Short Stories

"Poe is the earliest master of the short-story who was conscious of its possibilities and of its limitations."

Note to The Fall of the House of Usher

The short story has a permanent place in literature. Of that I have no doubt. Many of us haven't the time or patience to read whole books as often as we might like. And even if time is no constraint, we may enjoy starting a day or finishing an evening with a short story or two.

Even as a child, I liked short stories every bit as much as watching TV or listening to music. Of course, when I can combine good music with a good read, I am all the more content. I love to read, I love a good story, and I love to get the thing finished.

I also love to write short stories. I want to get the telling done so that I can see how it ends.

The first stories I ever told were the stories that my mother told me. I would relate the adventures of Little Red Riding Hood or of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to other children. As I grew a little older I might tell stories of the Werewolf to neighborhood kids, so that we could imagine things in the evening shadows.

When I reached my teens, I devoured Science Fiction stories, mysteries, and all kinds of tales of fantasy and supernatural horror. I went through the phase of being thrilled with vampire stories, ghost stories of all kinds, and so on.

I still love to read and to write. And of everything I write, I still like the short stories the best, I think. The short story is an entertaining way of getting a point across. It's also just plain fun to play "what if" in a story, or to tell a story for laughs.

Whatever your reason for reading short stories, I hope you find something here that proves delightful. And if you do, be sure to check back, from time to time, as new stories are added through the year.

Jim Sutton