Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer

The idea of hint fiction is that by keeping a story at 25 words or less a writer can suggest a larger, complex story in the space of only a few lines. It's an intriguing concept which, if this collection is any indication, is tricky to pull off. Many of the stories either feel like great lines, either as something brilliant to open with or a nice little bit of characterization or plot twist within a novel. I think the collection is best seen as a serious of experiments, with the determination of success or failure left to each individual reader. That not all of these experiments are succesful is understandable given the challenges of hinting at so much by so little.

Here's an example of Hint Fiction, the very first story in the book, a story by Joe R. Lansdale called “The Return”: “They buried him deep. Again.”



And that's it. The whole story. Isn't that marvelous? The stories in this book flash like a lightning bolt across the sky of your head when you read them. Sometimes there's a little thunder. And rain.



Okay, one more. “The Lover's Regret” by Tess Gerritsen: “They are now grown up, the children I abandoned to be with you. They hate me. But not nearly as much as I hate you.”