the TOP 10 Best Stephen King SHORT STORIES ***possible spoilers***
 

It was very hard to narrow this list down to just ten, but here they are (not in any particular order):

01) I Am The Doorway
a former astronaunt is wheelchair-bound after a crash landing years ago, and he keeps his hand wrapped with gause. The gause is not to protect the hand, but to protect humanity and his own sanity.

02) Strawberry Spring
a man tells the story of a strange fog that came one week back when he was in college, and of the murders that occurred during that week...and now the fog is back.

03) Children of the Corn
[i]something strange happened in Gatlin, Nebraska - something strange and deadly to the grown-ups, that is.

04) Mrs. Todd's Shortcut
For me, this story was the "little engine that could." I used to pass over this story when reading the compilation "Skeleton Crew," but one day I finally settled in to read it, and boy! It became one of my favorites.
Mrs. Todd is a woman who loves a good short cut, and she convinces a skeptical townsman of an outrageously short short-cut by taking him in her car. The short-cut was a trip through hell... Very reminiscent of Pet Sematary-land.

05) The Jaunt
I find it hard to believe that this short story was rejected by many magazines before King finally decided to publish it in a book compliation.
In the future, people have to be put to sleep in order to travel from the Earth to Mars. A family, waiting to disembark, learns of how this amazing technology was invented by one man, by accident, and the consequences this telling has on this family.

06) Beachworld
Two astronaunts land on a world seemingly made up entirely of sand.

07) Survivor Type
A doctor finds himself stranded on a desert isle with nothing but a doctor's kit and heroin. He soon has an accident, and must decide what to do for himself, as he is both hurt and starving...

08) The End of the Whole Mess
Two brothers. One is a genius. The other is an even bigger genius. The Bigger Genius develops a vaccine that will cure the world of its aggressions, and promptly figures a way to spread the vaccine to every corner of the world. But there's something wrong...

09) Rainy Season
a ritual of every 7 years in a small town in Maine. A sacrifice must be done every 7 years in order for this small town to continue prospering.

10) The Last Rung On The Ladder
Last but not least. Not supernatural in any way, but heartfelt and totally engrossing.
A brother and a sister, both very young, are playing in their father's barn. The game is to climb to the top of the rafters, then jump into a pile of hay. The sister is ready for another go, and she climbs the ladder, but something happens...

As any Stephen King fan is aware, there are many, many short stories in his catalog, but only a few really stay with you your whole life. These are my 10. What are yours?

Survivor Type is FANTASTIC. Loved that one.

I can think of a bunch off the top of my head that you didn't list, but can't think of the titles at the moment. King's short stories are EXTREMELY underrated.

"Survivor Type" was a brilliant little story. A ridiculously simple concept that King really amped up to 11.

"The Boogeyman" was the first King story I ever read. I think I was eight or nine when I picked up "Night Shift" and thought it was really awesome at the time. At the time, I'd never read anything like it... it was so vivid (smelled like a dead mouse in a pop bottle). Years later when I re-read it, I was surprised to see how my interpretation had changed, in that

And, speaking of "The Jaunt," I've always had a soft spot for King's science fiction short stories. They have a wonderful EC Comics/Twilight Zone vibe to them that very few contemporary authors have been able to capture.

Your interpretation is wrong, actually.

I've only ever read Nightmares & Dreamscapes, but Crouch End is by far my favorite story from there. It was adapted piss-poorly for the TV miniseries.

I think his short stories are much better than many of his latest novels.

In no particular order

The Monkey
The House on Maple Street
Rainy Season
Jerusalem's Lot

more to come...

Boogeyman
The Long Walk (more a novella, but it was included with other short stories)
Shawshank Redemption (same thing, more of a novella)
The Last Rung on the Ladder
The Fog
The Raft
Battleground
Grey Matter
They've Got a Helluva Band
Trucks

The Long Walk

Um, no, it was included with other novellas, namely RAGE, ROADWORK and THE RUNNING MAN.

my faves:

The Boogeyman
Children of the Corn
The Mangler

I liked The Mist, but I think that one may be too long to be considered a short story.

For me it's:
Jerusalem's Lot
Battleground
Grey Matter
Trucks
The Mangler
The Monkey

um, okay then, scratch that off my list
:rolleyes:

Quitters, Inc.

Was The Sun Dog a story or novella?

Novella, along with "The Langoliers", "Secret Window, Secret Garden" and "The Library Policeman" in FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT.

Lots of favorites already mentioned, but no fans of "The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet"?

"Quitters, Inc." and "Survival Type" are brutal, fun stories -- two of my favorites.

I'm kinda amazed that someone else mentioned Crouch End. I've read a lot of King's stuff (short stories, novellas, novels, you name it).. and for some reason that story always stuck with me.. Its short, not particularly unique or imaginative.. and an obvious homage (or rip off, depending on your point of view) to Lovecraft.. Still.. its one of those stories that resonates with me for some reason..

It always makes me think of the Red Light District in Amsterdam... not including the prostitutes, of course.. just, the way that the Red Light District.. seems to be from a different dimension than the rest of the planet.. lots of tall, closely built buildings that seem to tower over the streets.. people that are either insane or drugged running around... the crazy red glow (hence the name) that permeates the area.. its easy to imagine that one turn around a corner would pit you face to face with some monster..

I dont know. Maybe its just me.

I'm a fan