A Rose for Emily
| First published | September 1931 |
|---|---|
| Type | Short Fiction |
| Length | Short Story |
Synopsis
Looking back from 1930, the townsfolk of Jefferson, Mississippi, recollect glimpses of the life of Emily Grierson, an elderly woman from the antebellum Southern aristocracy. After the war, she and her father continued to live as if in the past; he didn't let her marry. After her father's death, she became romantic with a Northerner newly come to town, but he said he was not the marrying type and eventually disappeared. The rest of the story chronicles Emily's archaic, aristocratic, and increasingly reclusive behavior; the full extent of her eccentricity only becomes clear after her death.
Notes
This gothic story has nothing supernatural in it, but has appeared in so many genre anthologies that we want to index its appearance for the purposes of this database. First published in The Forum, April 30, 1930.
External Links
Publications (73)
| Date | Publication | Publisher | Type | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1931 | Creeps by Night: Chills and Thrills | John Day | Anthology | 15 |
| July 1932 | Modern Tales of Horror | Gollancz | Anthology | 13 |
| 1939 | The Bedside Book of Famous American Stories | Random House | Anthology | 1122 |
| January 1943 | The World's Great Mystery Stories | World Publishing Co. | Anthology | 15 |
| 1944 | Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural | Modern Library | Anthology | 231 |
| January 1944 | Creeps by Night: Chills and Thrills | Forum Books / World Publishing Co. | Anthology | 15 |
| 1946 | Shocking Tales | Current Books / A. A. Wyn | Anthology | 227 |
| 1947 | The Golden Argosy: A Collection of the Most Celebrated Short Stories in the English Language | The Dial Press | Anthology | 167 |
| 1947 | Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural | Hammond, Hammond & Co. | Anthology | 194 |
| 1947 | Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural | Modern Library | Anthology | 231 |
| 1955 | The Golden Argosy: A Collection of the Most Celebrated Short Stories in the English Language | The Dial Press | Anthology | 167 |
| 1956 | The Golden Argosy | Bantam Books | Anthology | |
| 1957 | Best Horror Stories | Faber and Faber | Anthology | 287 |
| 1957 | Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural | Hammond, Hammond & Co. | Anthology | 194 |
| July 1958 | The Art of Modern Fiction: Alternate Edition | Rinehart | Anthology | 214 |
| 1961 | Creeps by Night | Belmont Books | Anthology | 9 |
| 1961 | Spine Chillers: An Anthology of Mystery and Horror | Elek Books | Anthology | 445 |
| 1962 | Best Horror Stories | Faber and Faber | Anthology | 287 |
| 1962 | The Third Pan Book of Horror Stories | Pan Books | Anthology | 119 |
| 1966 | The Third Pan Book of Horror Stories | Pan Books | Anthology | 119 |
| February 1966 | Creeps by Night | Four Square Books | Anthology | 9 |
| June 1966 | The Best Short Stories of the Modern Age | Fawcett Premier | Anthology | 217 |
| January 1968 | Breakdown and Other Thrillers | Four Square Books | Anthology | 76 |
| 1969 | The Third Pan Book of Horror Stories | Pan Books | Anthology | 119 |
| 1970 | The Impact of Fiction: An Anthology of Short Stories | Cummings Publishing Company | Anthology | 63 |
| 1971 | Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural | Hammond, Hammond & Co. | Anthology | 194 |
| 1972 | The Lucifer Society: Macabre Tales by Great Modern Writers | Taplinger | Anthology | 160 |
| 1972 | Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural | Hammond, Hammond & Co. | Anthology | 194 |
| June 1972 | The Lucifer Society: Macabre Tales by Great Modern Writers | W. H. Allen | Anthology | 159 |
| August 1973 | The Lucifer Society: Macabre Tales by Great Modern Writers | Signet / New American Library | Anthology | 163 |
| November 1974 | Detours Into the Macabre | Pan Books | Anthology | 159 |
| 1977 | Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural | Book Club Associates | Anthology | 194 |
| September 1977 | The Best Horror Stories | Hamlyn | Anthology | 479 |
| 1978 | Fireside Reader | Reader's Digest | Anthology | 342 |
| 1978 | The Third Pan Book of Horror Stories | Pan Books | Anthology | 119 |
| May 1981 | The Arbor House Treasury of Horror and the Supernatural | Priam Books / Arbor House | Anthology | 228 |
| May 1981 | The Arbor House Treasury of Horror and the Supernatural | Arbor House | Anthology | 228 |
| June 1981 | The Evil Image: Two Centuries of Gothic Short Fiction and Poetry | NAL Meridian | Anthology | 419 |
| September 1981 | 65 Great Tales of Horror | Octopus Books | Anthology | 253 |
| 1982 | 65 Great Tales of Horror | Octopus Books | Anthology | 253 |
| 1982 | Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural | Hutchinson | Anthology | 194 |
| 1984 | The Best Horror Stories | Hamlyn | Anthology | 479 |
| 1985 | Great Tales of Horror & the Supernatural | Galahad Books | Anthology | 228 |
| 1985 | Great Tales of Horror & the Supernatural | Castle Books | Anthology | 228 |
| October 1987 | The Dark Descent | Tor | Anthology | 472 |
| 1988 | Fiction 100: An Anthology of Short Stories | Macmillan | Anthology | 443 |
| June 1988 | Great Tales of Horror & the Supernatural | Galahad Books | Anthology | 228 |
| August 1988 | The Dark Descent | Tor / BOMC | Anthology | 472 |
| 1989 | Fictions: Second Edition | Harcourt Brace Jovanovich | Anthology | 354 |
| April 1990 | The Best Horror Stories (abridged) | Mallard Press | Anthology | 279 |
| September 1990 | The Best Horror Stories (abridged) | Ivy Leaf | Anthology | 279 |
| November 1990 | The Medusa in the Shield | Grafton | Anthology | 205 |
| November 1990 | The Medusa in the Shield | Grafton | Anthology | 205 |
| 1991 | The Medusa in the Shield | Grafton | Anthology | 337 |
| October 1991 | Classic Tales of Horror and the Supernatural | Quill / William Morrow | Anthology | 228 |
| November 1991 | The Medusa in the Shield | Tor | Anthology | 276 |
| November 1991 | The Giant Book of Horror Stories | Magpie Books | Anthology | 228 |
| March 1992 | The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales | Oxford University Press | Anthology | 322 |
| April 1993 | Masters of the Macabre: The Best of the 20th Century | Robert Hale | Anthology | 160 |
| July 1993 | The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales | Oxford University Press | Anthology | |
| August 1993 | The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales | Oxford University Press | Anthology | 322 |
| 1994 | Great Tales of Horror & the Supernatural | Galahad Books | Anthology | 228 |
| 1994 | Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural | Modern Library | Anthology | 223 |
| October 1994 | Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural | Modern Library | Anthology | 223 |
| 1996 | Favourite Scary Stories from Graveside Al | Viking Canada | Anthology | 1 |
| December 1996 | American Gothic Tales | Plume / Penguin | Anthology | 182 |
| 1997 | American Gothic Tales | Plume / Penguin / BCE | Anthology | 182 |
| February 1997 | The Dark Descent | Tor | Anthology | 472 |
| 2001 | The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales | Oxford University Press | Anthology | |
| December 2002 | Ideomancer, December 2002 | Decadent Moon | MAGAZINE | [19]|19 |
| 2009 | The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales | Oxford University Press | Anthology | 322 |
| 2011 | The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction | Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press | Anthology | 314 |
| January 2026 | PseudoPod, 2 January 2026 | Escape Artists, Inc. | MAGAZINE |