Locus "Greatest Fantasy Short Story of All Time" Poll

[Wombat]

I'm intrigued with the Bradbury selections -- Uncle Einar but not The Homecoming? Odd choice.

And Masque of the Red Death? Is that really Poe's best? I like it, certainly, but why not The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, The Murders in the Rue Morgue? They are certainly as well known and at least as good.

I could say similar things about many of the other authors and the choices

I would have a terribly difficult time deciding on several of these short stories. Comedy versus horror versus wonder versus heroic fantasy, etc. -- hard to see how they match up against each other. Well, I guess I'll have to come up with some choices for 'em...

 

[ragboy]

I haven't read many of the stories on their list. I wanted to vote for a Swanwick story, but couldn't remember which was which. I think these are also my five favorite fantasy short story authors of all time, as well, except for Barker, but In the Hills was a great story. I'd probably substitute Swanwick or Bradbury for Barker on a fave author list... I chose the Leiber story because it was good, but I can't remember the one that depicted Fafhrd in his youth. That was a great and had a lot of depth that I didn't find in his other stuff. Avram Davidson is probably _the_ master of the short form, though a young Bradbury can give him a run for his money. People of the Black Circle is the quinntessential Conan story, hands down. Rats in the Walls is the Lovecraft story I remember the most vividly. I just introduced Lovecraft to my 11 yo son. He couldn't sleep for an entire night after that one.



FantasyStory1st write-in: Howard, Robert E., The People of the Black Circle

FantasyStory2nd write-in: Barker, Clive, In the Hills, the Cities

FantasyStory3rd write-in: Davidson, Avram, The Golem

FantasyStory4th write-in: Lovecraft, H.P., The Rats in the Walls FantasyStory5th write-in: Leiber, Fritz, Lean Times in Lankhmar

 

[Fast Learner]

Wow, that's an incredible list, and some really amazing stories. Just stunning. I can't imagine narrowing it down to less than 50, much less 5.

(Plus, I busted my ass working on this book when I worked at HarperCollins, and Harlan Ellison yelled at me on the phone because I didn't send his copy to him before the book was released. But then, he yells at everyone.)

At one point I thought about starting a club (or 12-step group) for People Who Were Yelled At By Harlan Ellison In A Professional Capacity, but even with the qualifier the club simply isn't exclusive enough to be logistically organizable.

(He yelled at me for fixing 3 typos/grammatical errors in a story he submitted for an anthology I helped publish, asking who the hell I was to change his work. The next day, though, he re-submitted the story with only 3 changes. Can you guess which ones? Brilliant and talented guy, mind you, and I even like him, but he yells.)

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

At one point I thought about starting a club (or 12-step group) for People Who Were Yelled At By Harlan Ellison In A Professional Capacity, but even with the qualifier the club simply isn't exclusive enough to be logistically organizable.

(He yelled at me for fixing 3 typos/grammatical errors in a story he submitted for an anthology I helped publish, asking who the hell I was to change his work. The next day, though, he re-submitted the story with only 3 changes. Can you guess which ones? Brilliant and talented guy, mind you, and I even like him, but he yells.)

The whole time he was yelling at me, asking me my name, how long I had been there, did I know who he was, that I should be fired, etc.; I was just thinking "Wow, I pissed off Harlan Ellison. Cool."

 

[mmadsen]

A list like that makes me feel almost unlettered. Now I just need a nice compilation of all of those stories...

 

[Fast Learner]

The whole time he was yelling at me, asking me my name, how long I had been there, did I know who he was, that I should be fired, etc.; I was just thinking "Wow, I pissed off Harlan Ellison. Cool."

LOL, me too!

 

[howandwhy99]

That's a great list. It seems there are too few women on there though.

Here is one of my favorites:
Le Guin, Ursula K., The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

 

[Chaldfont]

Its amazing how few of these I've read--I'll be taking this list with me to the library tonight.

But it's awesome to see Bisson's Bear's Discover Fire in that list. I love that story.

 

[devilish]

If you can get a copy, pick up The Fantasy Hall of Fame, edited by Robert Silverberg. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/104-8476516-4216733?v=glance&s=books
That's where I read a bunch of these stories for the first time. (Plus, I busted my ass working on this book when I worked at HarperCollins, and Harlan Ellison yelled at me on the phone because I didn't send his copy to him before the book was released. But then, he yells at everyone.)

Rats! Out of Print!

Would love to have all these in one (or four) volumes!!

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Rats! Out of Print!

Would love to have all these in one (or four) volumes!!

Yeah, it's OOP, but fairly easy to find.