best twist ending short story

The element of surprise. When a reader is following a story and suddenly gets hit with an unexpected ending, it's like a jolt of electricity. It makes the story memorable. For example, in 'The Necklace' by Guy de Maupassant. A woman borrows a diamond necklace for a ball, loses it, and spends years in poverty to replace it. At the end, she discovers the original necklace was fake. That shock of realization makes the whole story stick in your mind.

Well, start by setting up expectations and then surprising the reader. Maybe introduce a character or event that seems insignificant at first but turns out to be crucial at the end.

To write such a story, think outside the box for the twist. Build suspense throughout and keep the reader engaged. The twist should be something they don't see coming but makes sense in retrospect. And, don't rush the ending; let it unfold naturally.

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.

Another one is 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' by Ambrose Bierce. The story seems to be about a man who is about to be hanged on a bridge during the Civil War. As he is falling, he imagines escaping and making his way back home. The twist comes at the end when it is revealed that all of his escape was just a hallucination in the split second before his death. It gives a shock to the reader who has been following his supposed escape journey.

One great short story with a twist ending is 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry. In this story, a young couple is very poor. The wife cuts and sells her long, beautiful hair to buy a chain for her husband's pocket watch. Meanwhile, the husband sells his watch to buy combs for his wife's hair. It's a touching and unexpected twist on their selfless love.

The element of surprise. When a short story has a twist ending, it catches the reader off - guard. For example, in 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson, the reader doesn't expect the brutal stoning at the end. It makes the story memorable.

One characteristic is the element of surprise. For example, in 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson, the readers are led to believe it's a normal small - town lottery until the very end when it's revealed that the 'winner' will be stoned to death. Another characteristic is that they often make the reader re - evaluate the whole story. In a story with a twist ending, the events leading up to the end suddenly take on a different meaning. Also, they tend to be concise. Since they need to hold the reader's attention until the big reveal, they usually don't have a lot of unnecessary fluff.

One characteristic is misdirection. The story often leads the reader to expect one thing and then suddenly changes direction. For example, in a mystery story, all the clues might point to one suspect, but in the end, it's someone completely different.

Another great one is 'The Sixth Sense'. Although it's a movie adaptation, the novel also has a mind - blowing twist. The boy who can see dead people - the big reveal at the end that the psychologist was dead all along was truly unexpected and changed the entire way you view the story.