What is a thriller short story?

The Best New Thriller Short Stories

Thrillers are just what they sound like, they give you that burst of adrenaline by putting their protagonists in life-threatening danger from the get-go.

It’s been argued by many writers that penning a good short story is much harder than writing an entire novel.

With the latter, there’s plenty of space to unpack character, theme, and plot. With a short story, however, every word counts. The best short stories speak volumes within a few slim pages

To that end, there is a smattering of short stories that stand out from the crowd. Admittedly, it is difficult to call them the best short stories because quality is subjective.

But rest assured that those you’ll find recommended here are almost universally considered some of the most important little works of literature ever thanks to some combination of their revolutionary style, timeless storytelling, or influence on nearly all writers to follow.

Some of these are classic tales that have been beloved for decades while others are from current authors who are still breaking literary ground today, but they are truly great short stories one and all.