In the mood for some stories that are short, sweet (OK, maybe not sweet), and leave you wondering about the very nature of reality? While magical realism can pull us into deeply dark, kaleidoscope-like versions of day-to-day life that change our perspective forever, the truth is that a mini dose of surrealism is sometimes all we can take at once for those times when an existential crisis is not on the calendar. Luckily, the literary world is full of short takes that tell timeless tales and fables using more than a little bit of a creative license. These are the best magical realism short stories you'll be thinking about for a long time.
This darkly enchanting collection from 2018 will transport you to familiar-but-apocalyptic and dystopian futures and alternate realities in order to highlight injustices and tears in the social fabric. It will hurt your heart in the best way. You’ll want to shut your eyes, but don’t. Don’t miss a single beautiful sentence. The stories explore themes of black identity, racism, violence, and consumerism with dark humor and efficient prose that hits hard and strikes deep.
Kelly Link's nine short stories contain fantasy, magical realism, and just a teaspoon of horror. From life-sized animated dolls to ghost-hunting tours to evil twins, this collection is like a cabinet of curiosities Through each story, Link surrounds the reader in the brilliant scaffolding of fictional realities and universes. From the swamps of Florida to the heart of suburbia, the settings in these stories set moody, eerie tones that are impossible to shake off. Link provides grounding at just the right moments with subtle humor, highlighting the fragility and absurdity of the human condition.
In 2017's Fen, Johnson brings us to an uncanny place that exists somewhere between the past and present where the wild always breathes down the necks of the inhabitants. In this surreal setting, humans, animals, and objects all intermingle. Girls fall in love with houses, teenagers can go hungry until they shift into eels, and dead boys come back as foxes. All of these fantastical events occur as residents of the English marshlands are simply living their lives and managing their desires.
In these 10 short stories, Russell uses the vastness and foreboding of the swamps of the Florida Everglades to introduce magic. It's here where wolf-life girls are sent to be reformed under the tutelage of nuns, girls float away on shells, families earn their living wrestling alligators, and characters from one story flow into another like old friends making cameos. This collection is a great way to get to know Russell's atmospheric writing. She's a master of suspense and setting.
This anthology of Indigenous dark fiction features works from more than a dozen authors. The premise hooks you in immediately: many Indigenous people believe that you should never whistle at night. In these stories, whistling mythology is covered in dark tales taken from various native backgrounds that introduce us to hauntings, creatures, bad deeds, revenge, and family legacies.
Do you know the children's story "The Girl with the Green Ribbon" from In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories? Ever wondered what it would look like for her to grow up? Her Body and Other Parties is like the grown-up version of In a Dark, Dark Room. The stories dance between the genre boundaries of science fiction, comedy, tragedy, horror, fantasy, and psychological thriller, exploring relationships, women's bodies, loss of self, and female identity. In classic Machado fashion, the prose is stark, efficient, and magical.
In Samantha Hunt’s first collection of stories, the adored novelist brings the otherworldly to the forefront with elements of literary beauty and magical realism. In this collection of odd stories, themes of magic, technology, and relationships merge as the reader is enveloped in robot love stories, animal resurrections, and bizarre interactions with America's Founding Fathers. As odd as the stories are, Hunt's smart storytelling somehow magnifies the humanness of each character as they endure the strangest of scenarios.
An ode to delusions, Bliss Montage brings us eight unique tales of people who are making their way through madness. As they do, we begin to understand the power of collective delusions that make us actually feel in control of our lives. Themes of love, loneliness, possession, friendship, and home all use magical realism to bring out some pretty powerful self-realizations for those who are ready to recognize them.
Inglenook Lit is an online literary magazine for magic enthusiasts and enchantment seekers
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