There are so many great short stories being published these days that it’s hard to keep track of them all. So many deserve to be read and savored. Maybe you’ve read some of the five below that I’ve selected as my favorites of 2025. If not, I hope you’ll give each of them a read. And if you’ve read any of them, maybe give them another read.
All of these stories were published during the 2025 calendar year in online literary magazines and are publicly accessible at the time of this writing. I present them here unranked and in no particular order.
- “Ghost Weather,” by Theresa Boyar, published in Prime Number Magazine, Issue 277 (a publication of Press 53). This story won first prize in Prime Number‘s short story competition and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
- “Your Life in Parties,” by Amber Sparks, published in Short Story, Long.
- “The Ghost of Camp Hero,” by Shelby Raebeck, published in New Pop Lit.
- “His Body,” by Amy DeBellis, published in X-R-A-Y Literary Magazine.
- “Didn’t We Realize We Were Drowning?” by Linda Wastila, published in Fractured Lit and the winner of Fractured‘s 2025 Anthology Prize.
P.S. – Since most content published by The New Yorker exists behind a paywall, I did not include another favorite of 2025, “The Chartreuse,” by Mona Awad, but today it appears to be accessible, so give it a try if you want to read it, too.
P.P.S. – As I was wrapping up this edition of Friday Five, I learned that Tyler Dempsey, a writer and podcaster I admire, had just finished his annual “Best of the Bests” compilation of short stories. Be sure to check out his more comprehensive list for more excellent reading.
Image via Pexels.
Andrew Careaga 