Help me find some WTF stories

[whdean]

I have a special place in my heart for WTF stories. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn’t have a WTF category—nor does anyone else.

What is a WTF story, you ask? Well, it’s like a story with a plot twist, but the twist goes off into a place you just couldn’t see coming. The classic WTF story is Jorge Luis Borges’ “The Aleph.” The film “Donnie Darko” might be a more familiar example. Sure, the film doesn’t quite affect the 40 year old the way it does the 18 year old, but still, it’s an excellent example of a WTF story.

What a WTF story is not. “Zany” stories filled with crazy people doing incomprehensible things aren’t usually WFT stories. Nor are most po-mo stories. Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five is borderline, but I’ll give it WTF classification.

If you’ve read a WTF story, post it here.

[Pru Freda]

Off tho top of my head - though I'll give it more thought - "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card.

[mlhearing]

Ooh, I love these too--and I want to write some of them. Do you have any WTF reader friends out there anywhere?

I think O'Connor's "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" qualifies (maybe).

[whdean]

Feb 23, 2015 7:39:13 GMT -5 mlhearing said:

Ooh, I love these too--and I want to write some of them. Do you have any WTF reader friends out there anywhere?

I think O'Connor's "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" qualifies (maybe).

I think I read that one a long time ago, but I can't remember. So thanks for the reminder, I'll have to find it again.

I posted the same thread over at the KB's Book Corner to see what I could dredge up there. Someone mentioned "Axolotl" by Julio Cortazar's Blow-up and Other Stories. Since I've never heard of him, I'm going to look into it.

Someone else mention Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov. I'm looking into this one too.

ETA: I had "see what I could dread [read dredge] up there" in the original. Talk about Freudian slips.

[Deleted]

Bunny Modern by David Bowman

I adore this book full of delightful WTFery.



I am still disappointed their clothing line does not actually exist.

[Alan Petersen]

Fight Club (both the movie and book) had WTF twists for me.

[whdean]

Keep them coming. I wish I could think of more examples, because I know I've read more than this.