Roald Dahl wrote some dark short stories. 'Lamb to the Slaughter' is a great example of his ability to create darkly humorous and suspenseful stories. Flannery O'Connor is known for her Southern Gothic style in stories like 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find'. And Charlotte Perkins Gilman with 'The Yellow Wallpaper' which is a powerful exploration of a woman's mental state in a repressive environment.
Edgar Allan Poe is a very well - known author of dark short stories. His works like 'The Fall of the House of Usher' and 'The Black Cat' are filled with mystery, horror, and psychological turmoil. Shirley Jackson is also famous for her dark stories such as 'The Lottery'. Another one is H.P. Lovecraft, his stories often involve cosmic horror and the unknown, like 'The Call of Cthulhu'.
Nathaniel Hawthorne is a well - known author of dark short stories. His 'Young Goodman Brown' is a classic. Richard Connell, who wrote 'The Most Dangerous Game', also contributed to the genre. And Guy de Maupassant, some of his short stories have dark undertones, for example, 'The Necklace' which shows the tragic consequences of vanity in a somewhat dark and ironic way.