I vividly remember my first encounter with the short story form: Stephen King’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes, a copy of which I found laying around the house when I was in my early teens. I remember thinking it was odd that it was just there, because I was raised in a deeply Pentecostal household and my church elders were already side-eyeing me reading things like Little Women and Middlemarch, both of which I had to justify as being “classics” and not the bawdy “pocketbooks” that the elders thought they were. I think one of my cousins owned N&D and had accidentally left it at ours, and in the nature of homes where many cousins congregate, one day after I finished with it the book disappeared, too, quietly making its way back into the ether from whence it came. I hope whoever picked it up afterwards enjoyed the reading experience, because I certainly did. From Nightmares and Dreamscapes, my younger self particularly enjoyed Chattery Teeth and The Moving Finger. This collection truly sparked my enjoyment of early King — and I specify early King here for no other reason than I haven’t been able to keep up with his prolific writing, and the last one I read was 11/22/63, which came out in 2011! Many years later, I’m now very slowly building up my own Stephen King collection — I’m partial to the very well-read vintage mass market paperbacks from Signet that you can reliably find at the very back of used bookstores, spines creased and pages dog-eared. Upon a reread of Nightmares and Dreamscapes in my late twenties, I found myself more drawn to Popsy and the Night Flier (this absolutely tracks, what with my enjoyment of vampires and vampire novels).
In the winter of this year, I got back into reading The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964, which, to my delight, introduced me to works by folks like Heinlein (The Roads Must Roll, which I thoroughly enjoyed although I believe Mr. Heinlein and myself disagree on unions, as I am vehemently pro-union), Merril (That Only A Mother), Matheson (Born of Man and Woman), Clarke (The Nine Billion Names of God, an absolute favourite), and Padgett (Mimsy Were the Borogoves). I have some critiques (not enough women and minorities, both in terms of writers and characters), but reading sci-fi in this curated form proved very enjoyable and educational, and allowed me to learn more about the foundations and frameworks of this genre that I adore. I have since purchased The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume Two from a seller on Facebook Marketplace, and am very excited to crack into its pages when time comes.
In the spirit of learning foundations and frameworks specifically around the short story, I turned towards my husband’s copy of The Hudson Book of Fiction: 30 Stories Worth Reading, which he read in college. I decided to combine my desire to read more widely and exploratively with my desire to not live my entire time on the social internet. I now begin my days with a short story, a cup of coffee, and a little journal (which I made — my first bookbinding project!) .
This has been a calming ritual to engage in, and I am able to face my workday (and the news apps) with more fortitude than if I opened the news apps and doomscrolled upon waking up, first thing in the morning.
Throughout the rest of 2025, I have decided that I will be reading from short story collections as part of my morning rituals. As of the moment, my line-up includes the aforementioned Hudson Book of Fiction, SciFi Hall of Fame Volume 2, The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Short Fiction, and An Anthology of Canadian Literature in English (from my own uni days when I took a class on Canadian literature from Prof. Brown, which I adored!). Between these four books, I think I’m all set for at least summer and fall.
We’ll see what happens as my reading progresses. I’ll just go with what my gut decides is right in the moment — It is the first thing I do when I wake up, after all.
Cheers,
Dani
Dani Magsumbol 