I don’t remember the name of the short story, but I remember that it was about a town that abused someone they kept in a dungeon, and through their abuse they stayed unified. The teacher said it was a lesson in utilitarianism.
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Nobody else for Equus?
I remember "To Build a Fire" and another one I can't name about a sniper duel during the Irish Civil War. The ending was wild.
Edit: Was literally called The Sniper feel kinda dumb about that.
There Will Come Soft Rains
Someone already said it, but The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
I was a senior in high school when we read the short story "Rape Fantasies" by Margaret Atwood out loud in class. I was 18 and still not ready for it.
Blood Music absolutely terrified me as a freshman in high school
I'm jealous you got to read Blood Music in high school. Though Chrysalids was also great and turned me into a long time sci-fi fan. Despite the horribly hypocritical ending.
The Bet, by Anton Chekov. That story has given me my existentialism
Top of mind for this subject: Flowers for Algernon.
Of Mice and Men might qualify, but weighs in at 100 pages. I'm not sure what the threshold is for "short."
On my own time in High-school, I read: I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream.
Harrison Bergeron, in like 7th grade
The Chaser by John Collier… that ending … still gives me chills
The one that sticks out for me is On The Sidewalk Bleeding. Wasn't even the most effed up thing we read in 9th grade, just had the most memorable name.
For me the school book short story that grabbed me was The Smallest Dragonboy by Anne McCaffrey. Not super scary, just sticky.
Been looking for this book for a long time, maybe someone here can help? It was in french, no idea if it was ever translated. The whole story is a guy in room alone with his dad, the dad is in a coma and expected to die (I believe the familly decided to unplug him). The guy is bitching to his dad, telling him how much he hates him for being an abusive asshole or something. It was really crude and emotonial. At the end, instead of dying when he's unplugged, the dad wakes up. Maybe it was not a novel, but a part of a book, and maybe the title had the work Duck in it.
And then my dad woke up and savagely beat me with jumper cables