Short Story Battle Royale: Bracket One, Round Three (8 stories)

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 ten 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 Three

BATTLE OVER! 1. "Suffer the Little Children" (5) vs. "The Monkey" (8)

BATTLE OVER! 2. "The Man in the Black Suit" (5) vs. "The Road Virus Heads North" (9)

BATTLE OVER! 3. "Crouch End” (6) vs. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" (7)

BATTLE OVER! 4. "The Lawnmower Man" (10) vs. "One for the Road" (1)

My picks:

1. "The Monkey"
2. "The Road Virus Heads North"
3. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"
4. "The Lawnmower Man"

My picks:

1. "The Monkey"
2. "The Road Virus Heads North"
3. "Crouch End"
4. "The Lawnmower Man"

1. "Suffer the Little Children"

2. "The Road Virus Heads North"

3. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"

4. "The Lawnmower Man"

1. "The Monkey"
2. "The Road Virus Heads North"
3. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"
4. "The Lawnmower Man"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shannon

Bracket One, Round Three

1. "Suffer the Little Children" (1) vs. "The Monkey" (3)

2. "The Man in the Black Suit" (0) vs. "The Road Virus Heads North" (4)

3. "Crouch End” (1) vs. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" (3)

4. "The Lawnmower Man" (4) vs. "One for the Road" (0)

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Votes bolded.

1. "The Monkey"
2. "The Man in the Black Suit"
3. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"
4. "The Lawnmower Man"

1. "Suffer the Little Children"

2. "The Road Virus Heads North"

3. "Crouch End”

4. "The Lawnmower Man"

Bracket One, Round Three

1. "Suffer the Little Children" vs. "The Monkey"

2. "The Man in the Black Suit" vs. "The Road Virus Heads North"

3. "Crouch End" vs. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"

4. "The Lawnmower Man" vs. "One for the Road"

some more Crouch End votes, please, please!!!

1.. "The Monkey" (5)

2. " "The Road Virus Heads North" (5)

3. "Crouch End”

4. . "One for the Road" (0)

Why all the Road Virus love, especially against a great story that actually won an award?

Well, from my point of view (you know how little bears care about what won what) the Road Virus is an entertaining, creepy story full of vitality and morbidity at the same time; while The Man, although interesting, reads like an exercise in fine writing.

1.

2. "The Road Virus Heads North"

3.

4. "The Lawnmower Man"

1. "The Monkey"
2. "The Road Virus Heads North"
3. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut"
4. "The Lawnmower Man"

Bump. We need votes. All those that wanted to raise the votes to ten, please go out and find people to vote, thanks!

1. "Suffer the Little Children" (3) vs. "The Monkey" (7) don't remember either of these so no vote

2. "The Man in the Black Suit" (3) vs. "The Road Virus Heads North" (8)

3. "Crouch End” (4) vs. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" (6) one of my very favorites of his short stories ever.

Suffer the Little Chilren
The Man in the Black Suit
Crouch End

1. "The Monkey" (7)

2. "The Man in the Black Suit"

3. "Crouch End” (5)

Results updated.

Bracket One, Round Three is over! Seeing as how the "ten votes needed to win" thing didn't work, we are returning to the five vote system after this. Below are the winners:

1. "The Monkey" (8) vs. "Suffer the Little Children" (5)
2. "The Road Virus Heads North" (9) vs. "The Man in the Black Suit" (5)
3. "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" (7) vs. "Crouch End” (6)
4. "The Lawnmower Man" (10) vs. "One for the Road" (1)

Bracket One, Round Four will begin shortly. With only five votes needed to win.