Short stories | Lecturia

Shirley Jackson: The Witch

“The Witch” (The Witch) is a short story by Shirley Jackson, published in 1949 in the collection The Lottery or The Adventures of James Harris. The story takes place inside a train carriage, where a boy is traveling with his mother and baby sister. While the mother tries to remain calm by reading a book, the boy watches the landscape, talks to the passengers, and lets his imagination run wild, populated by witches and fantastical creatures. The atmosphere changes when a stranger sits down next to the boy and begins to tell him a disturbing story.

Edogawa Rampo: The Caterpillar

“The Caterpillar” (Imomushi) is a disturbing short story by Japanese writer Edogawa Rampo, published in January 1929 in the magazine Shin Seinen. It tells the disturbing story of Tokiko’s life with her husband, Lieutenant Sunaga, a former Japanese soldier who was seriously wounded in the war and is now reduced to a body without limbs or voice. In a remote house, she cares for him, caught between compassion and boredom. As the days pass, in an increasingly oppressive and sinister atmosphere, Tokiko experiences a marked psychological deterioration due to guilt, a feeling of confinement, and her darkest desires.

Ray Bradbury: The Long Years

In “The Long Years,” a short story by Ray Bradbury published on September 15, 1948, in Maclean’s and later collected in The Martian Chronicles (1950), Mr. Hathaway and his family are the only inhabitants of a desolate Mars. Twenty years ago, the Great War on Earth left the red planet a tomb. When Mars was evacuated, Hathaway and his family, who were engaged in archaeological studies in the mountains, were left behind. Since then, they have lived in a state of waiting, hoping for the return of a rocket to take them back to civilization. One day, a light in the sky seems to herald the end of their long wait, offering them renewed hope of rescue and a return home.

Mario Vargas Llosa: A Visitor

“A Visitor” (Un visitante) is a short story by Mario Vargas Llosa, published in 1959 in the book Los jefes. It tells the story of the unexpected arrival of a man nicknamed El Jamaiquino at a lonely farmhouse where Doña Merceditas, an older woman, lives on the edge of the jungle. Although the visitor initially appears friendly, he soon reveals a hidden agenda: he is on the trail of Numa, a former accomplice. Through a series of tense and enigmatic interactions between the protagonists, Vargas Llosa develops a plot of betrayal and revenge, in which the characters’ pasts and their complex relationships are crucial to bringing to life a suspenseful narrative.

Ray Bradbury: Night Meeting

“Night Meeting” is a short story by Ray Bradbury, published in 1950 in The Martian Chronicles. Set on Mars, colonized by humans, the story follows Tomás Gómez, an Earth colonist traveling along an old Martian road on his way to a party. On his way, he stops to contemplate the beauty and tranquility of the night landscape. However, his journey takes an unusual turn when he encounters an enigmatic Martian. Although they try to greet each other cordially and communicate, they soon discover that something insurmountable separates them.

Edgar Allan Poe: Silence—A Fable

In “Silence” (Silence—A Fable), a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in 1838 in Baltimore Book, a demon tells a story about a desolate region in Libya near the Zaire River. A disturbing landscape marks this land: a sickly river, gigantic water lilies, and a dark and turbulent jungle, all without calm or silence. One night, under a rain that turns to blood, the demon observes a majestic man on a rock. This man, lonely and melancholic, contemplates the desolate landscape. The demon invokes the elements to torment him, but nothing seems to move this man, who is tired of people and eager to be alone.