A possible short fiction tournament

[mae]

We had a mention of a possible poll dealing with King's short fiction before in that long thread at the beginning, when all the details were being hammered out.

So seeing how well the Constant Reader Awards are being accepted, I thought a similar contest for King's short writings could also be held.

Now, I'm sure Aaron could work up the overall scheme as he's so brilliantly done with the books. I just want to lay the groundwork for him. It's the least I can do.

If he says it's doable, and if the members want to participate, this should be another fun addition to the CRAs.

So, I'm thinking we obviously should only include collected pieces, contained within King's eight collections: Night Shift (1978), Different Seasons (1982), Skeleton Crew (1985), Four Past Midnight (1990), Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993), Hearts in Atlantis (1999), Everything's Eventual (2002), Just After Sunset (2008).

These contain a total of 105 short stories, novellas, and poems. I'm not including the single non-fiction piece "Head Down" from Nightmares & Dreamscapes, which I think is a fair thing to do.

How this could be structured, I don't really know. I'm hoping Aaron can come up with another awesome idea for how to manage this.

But here's a chronological list, in order of publication, hidden in the spoiler, so it doesn't take up too much space needlessly:


Jerusalem's Lot
Graveyard Shift
Night Surf
I Am the Doorway
The Mangler
The Boogeyman
Gray Matter
Battleground
Trucks
Sometimes They Come Back
Strawberry Spring
The Ledge
The Lawnmower Man
Quitters, Inc.
I Know What You Need
Children of the Corn
The Last Rung on the Ladder
The Man Who Loved Flowers
One for the Road
The Woman in the Room
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
Apt Pupil
The Body
The Breathing Method
The Mist
Here There Be Tygers
The Monkey
Cain Rose Up
Mrs. Todd's Shortcut
The Jaunt
The Wedding Gig
Paranoid: A Chant
The Raft
Word Processor of the Gods
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands
Beachworld
The Reaper's Image
Nona
For Owen
Survivor Type
Uncle Otto's Truck
Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1)
Big Wheels: A Tale of The Laundry Game (Milkman #2)
Gramma
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet
The Reach
The Langoliers
Secret Window, Secret Garden
The Library Policeman
The Sun Dog
Dolan's Cadillac
The End of the Whole Mess
Suffer the Little Children
The Night Flier
Popsy
It Grows On You
Chattery Teeth
Dedication
The Moving Finger
Sneakers
You Know They Got a Hell of a Band
Home Delivery
Rainy Season
My Pretty Pony
Sorry, Right Number
The Ten O'Clock People
Crouch End
The House on Maple Street
The Fifth Quarter
The Doctor's Case
Umney's Last Case
Brooklyn August
The Beggar and the Diamond
Low Men in Yellow Coats
Hearts in Atlantis
Blind Willie
Why We're in Vietnam
Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling
Autopsy Room Four
The Man in the Black Suit
All That You Love Will Be Carried Away
The Death of Jack Hamilton
In the Deathroom
The Little Sisters of Eluria
Everything's Eventual
L. T.'s Theory of Pets
The Road Virus Heads North
Lunch at the Gotham Café
That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French
1408
Riding the Bullet
Luckey Quarter
Willa
The Gingerbread Girl
Harvey’s Dream
Rest Stop
Stationary Bike
Graduation Afternoon
The Things They Left Behind
N.
The Cat from Hell
The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates
Mute
Ayana
A Very Tight Place

[CRinVA]

I think its hard to compare the novellas from the shorter works! And about Head Down - I personally loved that story - as true as it was! Of course I love baseball! :-)

I really think that two categories are needed.

And then for fun a third with all the "Uncollected" sutff!

[mae]

This could certainly be split into several categories: Best Short Story, Best Novella, Best Poem. I think doing this for all the uncollected stuff is not really fair, as most of that stuff is really hard to come by for most folks.

[Aaron]

I like the idea, but I don't think it would work to do it in the same style that we are doing the main competition. There are just too many stories, and people often cant remember the full content of the stories if they read them a while back. What I think we can do is two different awards for Best Novella and Best Short Story, and set them up on the nomination system that I am going to use for the other lesser categories. That way we know the ones that make it through the nomination system are well-known enough that they will get some votes and be viable contenders. Great idea, pablo.