Short Story Battle Royale: Bracket One, Round One

[Shannon]

128 short stories, one winner! Choose your favorite short story in each of the battles below. The winners will advance until we have one winner per bracket. There are four brackets. Those bracket winners will then face off against each other. The short story in each of the battles that gets five votes first wins, that's when voting for that battle will end. You can vote in all, some, or none of the battles, it's up to you. Have fun!

Bracket One, Round One

BATTLE OVER! 1. "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" (3) vs. "In the Tall Grass" (5)

BATTLE OVER! 2. "Suffer the Little Children" (5) vs. "The Reach" (2)

BATTLE OVER! 3. "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands" (5) vs. "Home Delivery" (0)

BATTLE OVER! 4. "The Monkey" (5) vs. "Trucks" (1)

BATTLE OVER! 5. "Never Look Behind You" (3) vs. "A Face in the Crowd" (5)

BATTLE OVER! 6. "The Man in the Black Suit" (5) vs. "The Cursed Expedition" (0)

BATTLE OVER! 7. "The Road Virus Heads North" (5) vs. "Sorry, Right Number" (0)

BATTLE OVER! 8. "Morality" (3) vs. "Before the Play" (5)

BATTLE OVER! 9. "Umney's Last Case" (5) vs. "Mile 81" (2)

BATTLE OVER! 10. "Willa" (2) vs. "Crouch End” (5)

BATTLE OVER! 11. "The Blue Air Compressor" (4) vs. "L. T.'s Theory of Pets" (5)

BATTLE OVER! 12. "The Glass Floor" (3) vs. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" (5)

BATTLE OVER! 13. "Autopsy Room Four" (4) vs. "I Know What You Need" (5)

BATTLE OVER! 14. "Skybar" (0) vs. "The Lawnmower Man" (5)

BATTLE OVER! 15. "Sneakers" (2) vs. "One for the Road" (5)

BATTLE OVER! 16. "Man with a Belly" (2) vs. "The Death of Jack Hamilton" (5)

[Shannon]

My picks:

1. "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band"
2. "Suffer the Little Children"
3. "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands"
4. "The Monkey"
5. "A Face in the Crowd"
6. "The Man in the Black Suit"
7. "The Road Virus Heads North"
8. "Morality"
9. NONE
10. "Willa"
11. NONE
12. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"
13. "Autopsy Room Four"
14. "The Lawnmower Man"
15. "One for the Road"
16. "The Death of Jack Hamilton"

[biomieg]

1. "In the Tall Grass"
2. "The Reach"
3. "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands"
4. "Trucks"
5. "A Face in the Crowd"
6. "The Man in the Black Suit"
7. "The Road Virus Heads North"
8. "Before the Play"
9. "Mile 81"
10. "Crouch End”
11. "L. T.'s Theory of Pets"
12. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"
13. "I Know What You Need"
14. "The Lawnmower Man"
15. "One for the Road"
16. "The Death of Jack Hamilton"


I don't think "Never Look Behind You" and "The Cursed Expedition' are available to the casual reader/collector, are they?

[Jean]

Oops, seems like I have a lot of reading to do NOW. Haven't read: "In the Tall Grass"; "Never Look Behind You"; "A Face in the Crowd"; "The Cursed Expedition"; "Morality"; "Before the Play"; "Mile 81"; "The Blue Air Compressor"; "The Glass Floor"; "Skybar"; "Man with a Belly".


Voted:

2. "Suffer the Little Children"

3. "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands"

4. "The Monkey"

7. "The Road Virus Heads North"

10. "Crouch End”

13. "I Know What You Need"

15. "Sneakers"

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

Stories from "People, Places, and Things", and incomplete items like "Skybar" should not be included.

[divemaster]

My pick = bold

Bracket One, Round One

1. "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" vs. "In the Tall Grass" (no vote: never heard of "In the Tall Grass"; not in any collection I have)

2. "Suffer the Little Children" vs. "The Reach" (obvious choice; I did not care for "The Reach" much at all)

3. "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands" vs. "Home Delivery" (I liked "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands" quite a bit; only have vague memory of "Home Delivery"; will re-read this weekend and see if my vote changes)

4. "The Monkey" vs. "Trucks" (liked "Trucks" but loved "The Monkey")

5. "Never Look Behind You" vs. "A Face in the Crowd" (not familiar with either of these)

6. "The Man in the Black Suit" vs. "The Cursed Expedition" (a cheat on my part; I've never heard of "The Cursed Expedition" but "The Man in the Black Suit" gets 4 stars [my highest rating] so it automatically wins)

7. "The Road Virus Heads North" vs. "Sorry, Right Number" (I liked "The Road Virus Heads North" quite a bit; only have vague memory of "Sorry, Right Number"; will re-read this weekend and see if my vote changes)

8. "Morality" vs. "Before the Play" (sigh, no vote)

9. "Umney's Last Case" vs. "Mile 81" (can re-read "Umney's Last Case" this weekend, but "Mile 81" is not in any collection I have [and I thought I had them all])

10. "Willa" vs. "Crouch End" (Lovecraftian overtones win out!)

11. "The Blue Air Compressor" vs. "L. T.'s Theory of Pets" (a cheat on my part; I've never heard of "The Blue Air Compressor" but "L. T.'s Theory of Pets" gets 4 stars [my highest rating] so it automatically wins)

12. "The Glass Floor" vs. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" (well, "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" is a 3-star story so it might win, but "The Glass Floor" is yet another story not on my bookshelf")

13. "Autopsy Room Four" vs. "I Know What You Need" (clear winner)

14. "Skybar" vs. "The Lawnmower Man" (no vote: never heard of "Skybar"; not in any collection I have, and "The Lawnmower Man" was cute but essentially meh)

15. "Sneakers" vs. "One for the Road" (hmmmm, both of these were 2-star stories; I guess I'll go with "One for the Road")

16. "Man with a Belly" vs. "The Death of Jack Hamilton" (a cheat on my part; I've never heard of "Man with a Belly" but "The Death of Jack Hamilton" gets 4 stars so it automatically wins)


This could be fun, but here's a complaint. I own and have read:

Night Shift
Skeleton Crew
Everything's Eventual
Six Stories
Full Dark, No Stars
Hearts in Atlantis
Just After Sunset
Nightmares and Dreamscapes

...and yet you've pulled more than 10 stories from god knows where to add to the contest. Really?

[Jean]

I have just downloaded tons of King I haven't read before (although I too have all the traditional collections). I can send anyone the .epub or .mobi (I have already converted for Kindle) files.

Shannon: how much time do we have? I want to play (bears always do), but I want to finish The Terror before I read all these stories. It won't take me more than a few days (both Simmons and King, I mean), but maybe other people or animals would like to do some reading too before we go on to the next round?

[mae]

Bracket One, Round One

1. "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" vs. "In the Tall Grass"

2. "Suffer the Little Children" vs. "The Reach"

3. "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands" vs. "Home Delivery"

4. "The Monkey" vs. "Trucks"

5. "Never Look Behind You" vs. "A Face in the Crowd"

6. "The Man in the Black Suit" vs. "The Cursed Expedition"

7. "The Road Virus Heads North" vs. "Sorry, Right Number"

8. "Morality" vs. "Before the Play"

9. "Umney's Last Case" vs. "Mile 81"

10. "Willa" vs. "Crouch End"

11. "The Blue Air Compressor" vs. "L. T.'s Theory of Pets"

12. "The Glass Floor" vs. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"

13. "Autopsy Room Four" vs. "I Know What You Need"

14. "Skybar" vs. "The Lawnmower Man"

15. "Sneakers" vs. "One for the Road"

16. "Man with a Belly" vs. "The Death of Jack Hamilton"

Bolded my votes above. I had always wanted to do this with King's short fiction as part of our sorta-annual Constant Reader Awards but could never figure out the best format. I just hope Nona wins. Hands down the best short story.

[mae]

Maybe this should be moved to the CRA forum and the winner be officially recognized as the Constant Reader Award winner for Best Short Story?

[Brice]

Stories from "People, Places, and Things", and incomplete items like "Skybar" should not be included.

Why not?

[Brice]

1. "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band"

2. "Suffer the Little Children"

3. "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands"

4. "The Monkey"

5. "Never Look Behind You"

6. "The Man in the Black Suit"

7. "Sorry, Right Number"

8. "Morality"

9. "Umney's Last Case"

10."Crouch End”

11. "The Blue Air Compressor"

12. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"

13. "I Know What You Need"

14. "The Lawnmower Man"

15. "One for the Road"

16. "Man with a Belly"

[mae]

There are many uncollected short stories published by King, dive. Check here to see the full list of all of King's short fiction and where (or if) it was collected: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King_short_fiction_bibliography

[mae]

Shannon, I hope you'll be tracking the votes for each story overall. As a stats geek I'd love to see the complete votes each story received at the end.

[divemaster]

There are many uncollected short stories published by King, dive. Check here to see the full list of all of King's short fiction and where (or if) it was collected: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_King_short_fiction_bibliography

I understand that. My concern is accessibility and ease of playing the game / participating in the contest. Pulling a book off my bookshelf is one thing, but clicking around the internet and printing off stories here and there is another.

I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer. This could be a lot of fun! I'm looking forward to further rounds--I just hope more stories are ones in the collections--that's all.

[mae]

I'm sure most members here are hardcore enough to have read most if not all of the uncollected stories.

[Stockerlone]

1. " "In the Tall Grass"

2. "Suffer the Little Children"

3. "Home Delivery"

4. "The Monkey"

5. "Never Look Behind You"

6. "The Man in the Black Suit"

7. "The Road Virus Heads North"

8. "Before the Play"

9. "Umney's Last Case"

10. "Crouch End”

11. "L. T.'s Theory of Pets"

12. "The Glass Floor"

13. "Autopsy Room Four"

14. "The Lawnmower Man"

15.. "One for the Road"

16 "The Death of Jack Hamilton"

[CRinVA]

My Choices are as follows:

Bracket One, Round One

1. "In the Tall Grass"

2. "The Reach"

3. "Home Delivery"

4. "Trucks"

5. ???

6. "The Man in the Black Suit"

7. "The Road Virus Heads North"

8. "Before the Play"

9. "Mile 81"

10. "Willa"

11. "The Blue Air Compressor"

12. "The Glass Floor"

13. "I Know What You Need"

14. ?????

15. "One for the Road"

16. "The Death of Jack Hamilton"

[Brice]

Bob, on #s 5 and 14 is the issue that you haven't read them or can't pick?

[Shannon]

I only found 129 short stories by King. So, in order to have an even bracket, it was either going to be 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 stories battling it out. The battles end when one of the stories has five votes. I will count them up now and see if any have won so far.

[mae]

What was the 129th that you left out? The Furnace?

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

Stories from "People, Places, and Things", and incomplete items like "Skybar" should not be included.

Why not?

Skybar is not a story. it's only a paragraph.

[Shannon]

Hmmm ... I don't remember. I took out all the poems and novellas ... But it's all good. If we have some unknown or lost or non-stories, they just won't advance, lol.

Also, starting Bracket Two soon, I figure we can have multiple brackets going at the same time, no worries.

Updated results at the top.

[CRinVA]

Bob, on #s 5 and 14 is the issue that you haven't read them or can't pick?

havent read one or the other

even ones that could go either way as long as i read them i made a choice.

[mae]

Some short stories are really novellas or technically novelettes. No biggie.

[Jean]

Have just read more stories, can vote on these:

11. "The Blue Air Compressor"
12. "The Glass Floor"

[Stebbins]

11. "L. T.'s Theory of Pets"

12.

13. "I Know What You Need"

[stkmw02]

Here are my picks of those still battling. ;)

1. "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band"

5. "Never Look Behind You"

8. "Before the Play"

9. "Umney's Last Case"

11. "L. T.'s Theory of Pets"

12. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"

13. "I Know What You Need"

[Shannon]

Come on people, surely there is someone out there who hasn't voted yet!

[Jean]

Added:

9. "Umney's Last Case"

[Jean]

Added:

Before the Play

[Jean]

in a half-hour, I'll be through with In the Tall Grass, and voting

[Jean]

added:

1. In the Tall Grass

[Jimimck]

5. "Never Look Behind You" (3) vs. "A Face in the Crowd" (3) - My vote is for A Face in the Crowd

I'm assuming you don't need votes for ones already decided....

[Coulrophobia]

My vote is for A Face in the Crowd

[Stebbins]

"A Face in the Crowd"

[Merlin1958]

1. You know they have a helluva band
2. Trucks
3. The Road Virus heads North


How could you move on without me? I know I said I was not gonna participate, but since when did you start listening to me? LOL J/K

[Shannon]

And Bracket One, Round One is finally over! The final battle results are as follows:

1. "In the Tall Grass" (5) vs. "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band" (3)
2. "Suffer the Little Children" (5) vs. "The Reach" (2)
3. "The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands" (5) vs. "Home Delivery" (0)
4. "The Monkey" (5) vs. "Trucks" (1)
5. "A Face in the Crowd" (5) vs. "Never Look Behind You" (3)
6. "The Man in the Black Suit" (5) vs. "The Cursed Expedition" (0)
7. "The Road Virus Heads North" (5) vs. "Sorry, Right Number" (0)
8. "Before the Play" (5) vs. "Morality" (3)
9. "Umney's Last Case" (5) vs. "Mile 81" (2)
10. "Crouch End” (5) vs. "Willa" (2)
11. "L. T.'s Theory of Pets" (5) vs. "The Blue Air Compressor" (4)
12. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" (5) vs. "The Glass Floor" (3)
13. "I Know What You Need" (5) vs. "Autopsy Room Four" (4)
14. "The Lawnmower Man" (5) vs. "Skybar" (0)
15. "One for the Road" (5) vs. "Sneakers" (2)
16. "The Death of Jack Hamilton" (5) vs. "Man with a Belly" (2)

Bracket One, Round Two will begin in another thread right now.