31 Days of Stories 2026, Day 28: The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
The Things They Carried is described on its title page as "A work of fiction by Tim O'Brien."
31 Days of Stories 2026, Day 27: “Bride” by Julia Elliott
Elliott's story does not contain explicit references to The Name of the Rose but its subject and approach lend itself to the interpretation.
31 Days of Stories 2026, Day 26: “Children of the Corn” by Stephen King
The children of Gatlin are enthralled by a violent version of religion based on sacrifice and bloodshed.
31 Days of Stories 2026, Day 25: “Novel Suggestions for Social Occasions” by Ji Hong Sayo
Sayo's chosen mode is satire, here doing double duty, parodying both Game of Thrones–style high fantasy and Martha Stewart–type rules for entertaining.
31 Days of Stories 2026, Day 24: “Big Cat” by Louise Erdrich
Erdrich situates one fracture in her central characters' relationship in the wife's snoring.
31 Days of Stories 2026, Day 23: “What We Do When No One Is Watching” by Dania Idriss
While the civil war does not play a central role in Idriss's story, it is constantly hovering in the background.
31 Days of Stories 2026, Day 22: “Seasons of Glass and Iron” by Amal El-Mohtar
Both Tabitha's and Amira's stories are situated in the realm of fantasy and fairy tale.
31 Days of Stories 2026, Day 21: “The Qilin” by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki; Bryan Karetnyk, trans.
Unlike much of Tanizaki's fiction, "The Qilin" does not take place in Japan, but in China.
31 Days of Stories 2026, Day 20: “Schalken the Painter” by Sheridan Le Fanu
The story anticipates Stoker's novel and an entire library of supernatural fiction that follows it.
31 Days of Stories 2026, Day 19: Stories by Helen Garner
This is perhaps Garner's secret weapon as a fiction writer: her resolute refusal to explain.