I've always loved short stories, ever since I was awfully young. Naturally, when I used to be a kid the short stories that I read were typically fantasy. It appears that my tastes have changed a lot over time, and there are numerous things that I enjoy now that I would not have liked much even as a young adult.

Even so, fantasy and science fiction stories still have a special place in my heart. When I used to be a kid, naturally, my favourite thing was to be read short stories by my ma or pa. They, like me, had been raised on stories of the wonderful, and so they knew just what short stories would hold my interest. They also loved to read aloud, and I suspect that it gave them a massive amount of pleasure to see me so mesmerised by the stories that they themselves had grown up on. Naturally, now that I'm older, I don't have any one to read to me. You'll find the majority of the most renowned or well-liked stories in audio book form, but with short stories it is a touch more hit or miss. A large amount of the best stories out there haven't ever been recorded. Still, you'd be shocked at the amount of things that you'll be able to find if you're prepared to actually try a search for them. There are quite a large number of gems out there just waiting to be found. If you're a genuine short story fan, the number 1 place to read them is in new fiction mags. There are actually thousands of amazing writers out there, each one of them pumping out dazzling stories for your reading pleasure. Few of them ever get well known, so if you actually need to keep abreast of the times, you have to read some short story collections and regulars. They're quite cheap, and will give you a smart idea of what is happening in the world of writing right now.