Free Feminist Thriller Short Stories We Recommend

Written by Sofia Schachter

Sometimes we don’t have the time or energy to read a full book, but we still want to experience the excitement that comes from a thrilling plot. During these times, short stories are just the thing! Below are a few of our recommended feminist thriller short stories, all of which can be found online for free…check them out and let us know what you think!

Sneak preview:

• The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado

• The Wrong Girl by Angela Slatter

• Dead Girls Have No Names by Claire Wrenwood

• Bloodchild by Octavia Butler

• Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates

• You’ll Understand When You’re A Mom Someday by Isabel J. Kim

• The Wife’s Story by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado

“If you are reading this story out loud, force a listener to reveal a secret, then open the nearest window to the street and scream it as loudly as you are able.”

Carmen Maria Machado’s brilliant writing blends beautifully with the metaphorical nature of her protagonist’s green ribbon. The author inserts her own voice into the story, navigating the reader through their experience while increasing the tension and horror they feel. A terrorizing depiction of a woman’s role in her family, this story is not to be missed.

The Wrong Girl by Angela Slatter

“Didn’t I tell you that one day you’d pick the wrong girl?”

A seemingly normal story of friendship and young love quickly turns thrilling as the main character grapples with her relationship with her sister and best friend. Connecting with Slatter’s various characters is surprisingly effortless, making it all the more jarring when the reader discovers that not all is what it seems.

Dead Girls Have No Names by Claire Wrenwood

“Mother keeps us in a chest freezer. ‘For preservation,’ she says, and perhaps this is true.”

In an interview with Nibedita Sen, Wrenwood says, “I was angry about how existing in a female-identified body in this world brings with it such an ever-present calculus around negotiating danger.” She also discusses her inspiration from Frankenstein, intended themes of motherhood, and her uniquely poetic writing style.

Bloodchild by Octavia Butler

“The sound he made...I had never heard such sounds come from anything human.”

From one of the most famous science fiction authors comes an award-winning story exploring alienation, parasites, pregnancy, gender roles, race, and more. Like many of Butler’s works, this one should be read by all, even if you aren’t a science fiction thriller fan, and if you enjoy it, we recommend checking out her short story collection with Bloodchild as its title piece.

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates

“She thought for the first time in her life that it was nothing that was hers, that belonged to her, but just a pounding, living thing inside this body that wasn't really hers either.”

A young girl finds herself in a terrifyingly recognizable situation when two strange men appear at her house while she’s home alone. Joyce Carol Oates brilliantly introduces the characters in a way that flawlessly bridges the reader’s connection with the narrative, and then breaks their hearts and spirits by the end of the short story. It’s a slightly longer read, but fully worth it.

You’ll Understand When You’re A Mom Someday by Isabel J. Kim

“Annalise is dead. Something else moves her skin.”

From the very first sentence of Isabel J. Kim’s story, the reader is hooked. A gorgeously horrifying perspective on pregnancy and postpartum depression, Kim explores an important feminist issue from a speculative fiction angle. The beauty of the words conflicts with the tears of the reader in a way that I personally have never experienced from any other author.

The Wife’s Story by Ursula K. Le Guin

“It’s the moon’s fault, and the blood.”

As the shortest of this blog’s recommendations (only three pages long!) there is little that can be written about it without spoiling this story’s infamous twist ending. Beginning as a love story, the reader quickly comes to the realization that something abnormal is going on with the narrator and other characters…

Bonus collections we recommend: Ghost Stories by Tannanarive Due, Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, and The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez.