What makes a good plot twist in short stories?

The element of surprise. When you read a story and suddenly something completely unexpected happens, it catches your attention. For example, in 'The Necklace' by Guy de Maupassant. A woman borrows what she thinks is an expensive necklace, loses it, and spends years in poverty trying to replace it. Only to find out at the end that the original necklace was a fake. This sudden revelation makes the story very appealing.

They often play with our emotions. We might be feeling sympathy for a character, and then the plot twist changes everything. It makes us re - evaluate how we felt about the whole story. In a good scary plot twist story, the author builds up a certain mood and then shatters it with the twist, like in 'The Monkey's Paw' where the wishes turn out horribly wrong.

A sudden change in the setting. If a story is set in a peaceful town and suddenly there's a portal to another dimension that opens up, it's a great plot twist. It challenges the characters and forces them to adapt quickly, which in turn creates new conflicts and opportunities for the story to develop.

Surprise. The ending should catch the reader off - guard. For example, in 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson, the reader initially thinks the lottery is a positive thing, but then it turns out to be a brutal stoning ritual. It's completely unexpected.

The unexpectedness. In a good plot twist story, like when an online game streamer who everyone thought was just an amateur suddenly turns out to be a world - class pro in disguise. It catches you off guard.

One idea could be that the character who seems to be the hero is actually the villain all along. For example, in a story about a detective solving a crime, it turns out that the detective was the one who set up the crime in the first place to gain fame.

It could be unexpected plot turns or surprise endings. Something that catches the reader off guard and changes the whole perspective.

Good use of atmosphere is crucial. Dark and gloomy settings, strange noises, or a sense of unease can enhance the impact of the plot twist. In a story set in an old, creaky house, the reader is already on edge. When the plot twist comes, like the discovery that the friendly neighbor who helped the main character move in is actually a serial killer who has been using the house to hide his victims, the atmosphere makes it even scarier.

Another one is 'The Necklace' by Guy de Maupassant. A woman borrows what she thinks is an expensive necklace for a ball. She loses it and spends years in poverty trying to replace it. In the end, she discovers the original necklace was a fake. It shows how one small misjudgment can have a huge impact on a life, and the plot twist is both shocking and thought - provoking.

For a short story with a twist to be memorable, it often needs a well-built setup that lulls the reader into a false sense of security before delivering the shock. Also, the twist has to be logical within the context of the story, not just random.