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Top Short Fiction Titles as Voted by ISFDB Users

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Rank Rating Title Year Author(s)
1 9.91 Story of Your Life 1998 Ted Chiang
2 9.71 Flowers for Algernon 1959 Daniel Keyes
3 9.67 It's a Good Life 1953 Jerome Bixby
4 9.67 Reasons to Be Cheerful 1997 Greg Egan
5 9.57 Hell Is the Absence of God 2001 Ted Chiang
6 9.50 The Screwfly Solution 1977 James Tiptree, Jr.
7 9.50 Dear Devil 1950 Eric Frank Russell
8 9.40 Sandkings 1979 George R. R. Martin
9 9.33 Behold the Man 1966 Michael Moorcock
10 9.30 The Shadow Over Innsmouth 1936 H. P. Lovecraft
11 9.29 The Women Men Don't See 1973 James Tiptree, Jr.
12 9.18 Jeffty Is Five 1977 Harlan Ellison
13 9.14 The Last Question 1956 Isaac Asimov
14 9.14 Light of Other Days 1966 Bob Shaw
15 9.11 Fondly Fahrenheit 1954 Alfred Bester
16 9.08 The Call of Cthulhu 1928 H. P. Lovecraft
17 9.06 Nightfall 1941 Isaac Asimov
18 9.00 Mimsy Were the Borogoves 1943 Lewis Padgett
19 9.00 The Pit and the Pendulum 1842 Edgar Allan Poe
20 9.00 The Cold Equations 1954 Tom Godwin
21 9.00 The Tell-Tale Heart 1843 Edgar Allan Poe
22 9.00 The Cask of Amontillado 1846 Edgar Allan Poe
23 9.00 A Rose for Ecclesiastes 1963 Roger Zelazny
24 9.00 The Machine Stops 1909 E. M. Forster
25 9.00 Enemy Mine 1979 Barry B. Longyear
26 9.00 Scanners Live in Vain 1950 Cordwainer Smith
27 9.00 Kaleidoscope 1949 Ray Bradbury
28 9.00 The Little Black Bag 1950 C. M. Kornbluth
29 8.93 The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas 1973 Ursula K. Le Guin
30 8.92 Ender's Game 1977 Orson Scott Card
31 8.91 A Sound of Thunder 1952 Ray Bradbury
32 8.90 The Word for World Is Forest 1972 Ursula K. Le Guin
33 8.88 Second Variety 1953 Philip K. Dick
34 8.86 The Marching Morons 1951 C. M. Kornbluth
35 8.86 The Quest for Saint Aquin 1951 Anthony Boucher
36 8.83 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge 1890 Ambrose Bierce
37 8.83 The Gernsback Continuum 1981 William Gibson
38 8.83 And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side 1972 James Tiptree, Jr.
39 8.83 Arena 1944 Fredric Brown
40 8.83 The Lucky Strike 1984 Kim Stanley Robinson
41 8.80 The Veldt 1950 Ray Bradbury
42 8.75 The Monkey's Paw 1902 W. W. Jacobs
43 8.75 The Dunwich Horror 1929 H. P. Lovecraft
44 8.71 "—And He Built a Crooked House" 1941 Robert A. Heinlein
45 8.71 By His Bootstraps 1941 Robert A. Heinlein
46 8.71 The Nine Billion Names of God 1953 Arthur C. Clarke
47 8.70 Tower of Babylon 1990 Ted Chiang
48 8.70 Passengers 1968 Robert Silverberg
49 8.70 A Boy and His Dog 1969 Harlan Ellison
50 8.67 Desertion 1944 Clifford D. Simak
51 8.67 Impostor 1953 Philip K. Dick
52 8.67 Nightwings 1968 Robert Silverberg
53 8.67 Sailing to Byzantium 1985 Robert Silverberg
54 8.62 Foundation 1942 Isaac Asimov
55 8.62 We Can Remember It for You Wholesale 1966 Philip K. Dick
56 8.60 When It Changed 1972 Joanna Russ
57 8.57 The Persistence of Vision 1978 John Varley
58 8.50 Fire Watch 1982 Connie Willis
59 8.50 Houston, Houston, Do You Read? 1976 James Tiptree, Jr.
60 8.50 The Colour Out of Space 1927 H. P. Lovecraft
61 8.50 A Martian Odyssey 1934 Stanley G. Weinbaum
62 8.50 Seventy-Two Letters 2000 Ted Chiang
63 8.46 "All You Zombies ..." 1959 Robert A. Heinlein
64 8.44 Allamagoosa 1955 Eric Frank Russell
65 8.43 Blood Music 1983 Greg Bear
66 8.43 The Ugly Chickens 1980 Howard Waldrop
67 8.43 Beyond Lies the Wub 1952 Philip K. Dick
68 8.40 I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream 1967 Harlan Ellison
69 8.33 Understand 1991 Ted Chiang
70 8.33 The Pusher 1981 John Varley
71 8.33 The Star 1955 Arthur C. Clarke
72 8.33 To Serve Man 1950 Damon Knight
73 8.29 Speech Sounds 1983 Octavia E. Butler
74 8.29 The Crystal Egg 1897 H. G. Wells
75 8.25 Microcosmic God 1941 Theodore Sturgeon
76 8.25 There Will Come Soft Rains 1950 Ray Bradbury
77 8.22 Coraline 2002 Neil Gaiman
78 8.17 The State of the Art 1989 Iain M. Banks
79 8.17 That Only a Mother 1948 Judith Merril
80 8.14 Neutron Star 1966 Larry Niven
81 8.14 Bloodchild 1984 Octavia E. Butler
82 8.14 The Way of Cross and Dragon 1979 George R. R. Martin
83 8.14 The Bicentennial Man 1976 Isaac Asimov
84 8.08
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 1984 John Varley
85 8.00 The Big Front Yard 1958 Clifford D. Simak
86 8.00 Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death 1973 James Tiptree, Jr.
87 8.00 A Song for Lya 1974 George R. R. Martin
88 8.00 The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath 1943 H. P. Lovecraft
89 8.00 The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar 1845 Edgar Allan Poe
90 8.00 First Contact 1945 Murray Leinster
91 7.94 "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman 1965 Harlan Ellison
92 7.91 The Sentinel 1951 Arthur C. Clarke
93 7.89 Nine Lives 1969 Ursula K. Le Guin
94 7.88 The Fall of the House of Usher 1839 Edgar Allan Poe
95 7.86 Life-Line 1939 Robert A. Heinlein
96 7.86 A Meeting with Medusa 1971 Arthur C. Clarke
97 7.86 The Monkey Treatment 1983 George R. R. Martin
98 7.86 The Day Before the Revolution 1974 Ursula K. Le Guin
99 7.83 That Hell-Bound Train 1958 Robert Bloch
100 7.83 Rescue Party 1946 Arthur C. Clarke
101 7.83 Earthmen Bearing Gifts 1960 Fredric Brown
102 7.83 Air Raid 1977 John Varley
103 7.80 Nightflyers 1980 George R. R. Martin
104 7.75 The Rats in the Walls 1924 H. P. Lovecraft
105 7.67 Liar! 1941 Isaac Asimov
106 7.67 The Green Hills of Earth 1947 Robert A. Heinlein
107 7.62 The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth 1965 Roger Zelazny
108 7.58 Born of Man and Woman 1950 Richard Matheson
109 7.57 Super-Toys Last All Summer Long 1969 Brian W. Aldiss
110 7.57 Shambleau 1933 C. L. Moore
111 7.56 The Fog Horn 1951 Ray Bradbury
112 7.56 The New Accelerator 1901 H. G. Wells
113 7.55 The Roads Must Roll 1940 Robert A. Heinlein
114 7.50 Bears Discover Fire 1990 Terry Bisson
115 7.50 Requiem 1940 Robert A. Heinlein
116 7.50 Grotto of the Dancing Deer 1980 Clifford D. Simak
117 7.50 Third from the Sun 1950 Richard Matheson
118 7.50 Call Him Lord 1966 Gordon R. Dickson
119 7.44 The Deathbird 1973 Harlan Ellison
120 7.43 Dagon 1919 H. P. Lovecraft
121 7.40 Gonna Roll the Bones 1967 Fritz Leiber
122 7.38 The Star 1897 H. G. Wells
123 7.33 Out of All Them Bright Stars 1985 Nancy Kress
124 7.33 Vaster Than Empires and More Slow 1971 Ursula K. Le Guin
125 7.33 Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand 1973 Vonda N. McIntyre
126 7.29 Or All the Seas with Oysters 1958 Avram Davidson
127 7.29 26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss 2008 Kij Johnson
128 7.25 Helen O'Loy 1938 Lester del Rey
129 7.17 The Whimper of Whipped Dogs 1973 Harlan Ellison
130 7.17 Division by Zero 1991 Ted Chiang
131 7.17 Reason 1941 Isaac Asimov
132 7.14 The Father-Thing 1954 Philip K. Dick
133 7.14 Runaround 1942 Isaac Asimov
134 7.12 The Weapon Shop 1942 A. E. van Vogt
135 7.00 Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes 1967 Harlan Ellison
136 7.00 Grandpa 1955 James H. Schmitz
137 7.00 Coming Attraction 1950 Fritz Leiber
138 7.00 The Monsters 1953 Robert Sheckley
139 7.00 Meathouse Man 1976 George R. R. Martin
140 7.00 He Who Shapes 1965 Roger Zelazny
141 6.89 Aye, and Gomorrah ... 1967 Samuel R. Delany
142 6.86 Dinner in Audoghast 1985 Bruce Sterling
143 6.83 Slow Sculpture 1970 Theodore Sturgeon
144 6.83 Strange Playfellow 1940 Isaac Asimov
145 6.57 Good News from the Vatican 1971 Robert Silverberg
146 6.55 Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones 1968 Samuel R. Delany
147 6.33 Fermi and Frost 1985 Frederik Pohl
148 6.33 The Man Who Could Work Miracles 1898 H. G. Wells
149 6.17 The Hole Man 1974 Larry Niven
150 6.17 Blowups Happen 1940 Robert A. Heinlein
151 5.50 Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38° 54' N, Longitude 77° 00' 13" W 1974 Harlan Ellison
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