Can you recommend some trick ending modern short stories?

Well, first of all, it's unexpected. The ending catches you off - guard, like a sudden twist in a rollercoaster. For example, in 'The Necklace', Mathilde Loisel spends years working to pay off a replacement for a lost necklace, only to find out at the end that the original necklace was fake. It also often challenges the reader's assumptions. You might think you know where the story is going based on the initial setup, but then the ending completely flips that. Another characteristic is that it can make you re - evaluate the whole story. Once you reach the trick ending, you start to think back on all the details in a new light, realizing that there were hints all along that you might have missed.

Sure. 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry is a great one. A young couple, Jim and Della, are very poor but deeply in love. Della sells her long hair to buy a chain for Jim's precious watch, while Jim sells his watch to buy combs for Della's hair. In the end, they realize their sacrifices for each other, which shows their pure love and is a very heartwarming happy ending.

There is also 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' by Ambrose Bierce. A Confederate sympathizer is about to be hanged at Owl Creek Bridge. As he is falling, he imagines escaping and making his way back home. But then, suddenly, we find out that his entire escape was just a brief hallucination in the moment before his death, which is a very surprising and somewhat cruel ending.

Sure. 'A Christmas Memory' by Truman Capote is a wonderful modern Christmas short story. It beautifully depicts the simple joys of Christmas in the South. Another one is 'The Gift of the Magi' which shows the selfless love of a couple at Christmas time.

There is 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' by Flannery O'Connor. This story uses elements of satire to expose the flaws in human nature and religious hypocrisy. The characters' actions and the situations they find themselves in are often used to satirize the self - righteousness and lack of true goodness in people. The story is a great example of how modern satire can be used to dig deep into the human psyche.

One of the best modern short stories is 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson. It's a chilling tale that exposes the dark side of human nature within a small community. The story builds tension gradually until the shocking end.

Sure. 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman can be considered in a sense. It has an eerie atmosphere with the woman's descent into madness in the room with the yellow wallpaper. Another one is 'The Tell - Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe. It's a short and chilling tale of a man's guilt over a murder he committed.

Well, 'Hills Like White Elephants' by Ernest Hemingway is quite renowned. It's a brief yet powerful story that mainly consists of a conversation between a man and a woman at a train station, subtly dealing with the topic of abortion. Also, 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry is a classic modern short story. It shows the selfless love of a young couple who sacrifice their most precious possessions for each other.

Sure. 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson is a great one. It seems like an ordinary small - town event at first, but it takes a very dark and unexpected turn, which is both funny in a dark humor way and very thought - provoking. Another is 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find' by Flannery O'Connor. The characters' interactions are full of absurdity.

Definitely. H.P. Lovecraft has some that could be considered modern in a sense. 'The Call of Cthulhu' is a well - known one. It involves an ancient and powerful cosmic entity that drives people to madness. 'The Outsider' is another, where the protagonist discovers a horrifying truth about himself. And Clive Barker's 'In the Hills, the Cities' is a strange and disturbing short horror story about two men who witness an impossible and terrifying sight.