See more of the story

"There's Something I Want You to Do," by Charles Baxter.

Ten wise stories inspired by virtues and vices.

"Mothers, Tell Your Daughters," by Bonnie Jo Campbell.

The scrappy characters in these 16 stories face hardship and carry on.

"Thirteen Ways of Looking," by Colum McCann.

A novella and three stories about people in harm's way.

"A Manual for Cleaning Women," by Lucia Berlin.

Forty-three darkly funny and wise stories.

"Voices in the Night," by Steven Millhauser.

Sixteen stories by a master at merging the magical and the everyday.

"The State We're In," by Ann Beattie.

Edgy, funny stories set in the writer's home state of Maine.

"The Tsar of Love and Techno," by Anthony Marra.

Nine linked stories follow a wide cast of characters over 70 years in Russia and Chechnya.

"Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes," by Per Petterson.

Moving stories about a Norwegian boy in the 1960s coming to terms with the world.

"Trigger Warning," by Neil Gaiman.

These 24 stories and "short disturbances," as Gaiman calls them, are scary and dark.