These 2025 Short Story Collections Have Some Brilliant Book Covers

This cover for a collection of stories about Guatemala from folks who call it home and those who have moved from the country but remain tied to it could not be any more appropriate. It’s vibrant–a word so many reviews of this collection have called the stories–and it’s eye-catching.

In a roundup I did last year, I mentioned having found a cover designer whose work I could not get enough of. Well, she’s back. Steidle’s appearance on this particular won’t be limited to this fun and unique pink cover with an alligator.

When you see a pink floral cover, perhaps the last thing you’d anticipate is seeing an alligator beneath, but that discordance works perfectly here. The fonts for both the title and author’s name are also great, as they marry readability with just enough flair that they look well designed. For a surreal collection of short stories that rework fairy tales and infuse horror within them, there could be no better cover.

Sometimes the beauty of a book cover design is in its simplicity. That’s what’s happening here, as we’re presented a beautiful home on the cover and it’s one we know has some history. This isn’t a cookie cutter home in a subdivision but something more historic. The roots beneath the front door are the clever way of telling readers this is a collection of short stories about the inhabitants of one home throughout its history.

The color palate here is neutral, but that’s what makes some of the other elements, like the designed title font and the semi-circles made of black dots in the sky, create a harmonious and inviting image.

When you think of oil rigs, you likely don’t think of them as clean or as blue or in a close-up view like one is presented for the cover of Wahhaj’s latest. But perhaps that is why it stands out so sharply against the sunset sky in the background. The cover for this collection is stunning and striking at once, and it captures the tensions present throughout the stories in the book. Curious about (fictional, though likely not too fictional) life in oil-rich Katy, Texas, and the inhabitants of a city whose wealth and development contributes directly to the global climate crisis? Look no further.

A “peculiar” collection of stories should have an equally “peculiar” book cover and Mahon nails it with this one. Where one might expect there to be some kind of food image to go along with the title, there isn’t. In fact, there isn’t even really an image here of a creature after its typical prey–you’d expect the cat to be chasing a mouse or something else but instead, she sits watching the snail slide on by. The oil painting gives a sense of this being Serious Literature but the title and image suggest perhaps that read would be too . . . serious.

One of the hallmarks of Steidle’s designs is the clever use of title placement. For Moore’s collection of stories set in the American South, the title makes its way around all four sides of the book cover. It doesn’t feel confusing nor make the title difficult to read. The peach color pops against the deep green floral, and it’s that deep green that makes our gorgeous dark skinned character pop. I especially love the look on her face and her eyes and hands looking upward, asking you to open the book and read.

If you look at this one too quickly, as I did when I first saw it, you might think that it is a nice cover but it’s nothing especially, well, special. But then when you slow down with it, you notice that it is doing something quite special with its floral buds. What a perfect cover for a collection of stories about odd bodies, about outsiders, and about the strangeness of being alive all together.

Here’s an international edition of the same book cover, which is good but maybe doesn’t quite lean into the ODD part as much.

There’s a theme in a lot of the short story collections being highlighted here, and perhaps it’s because that theme of absurdity is being well-reflected in cover design. For this particular cover, there’s so much going on in terms of a Statue of Liberty sinking beneath the water upon which it stands. But that in contrast with the soft shapes within which that image is placed really makes you pause and think about the dynamics of such contrast. The cool color palate really pops, especially with the bright red flame about to see itself extinguished. (Plus what do we make of the title referencing Atlantis with the image of a disappearing America?).

Weird? Yes.

Sci-Fi? Yes.

Fantasy? Yes.

Horror? Yes.

This collage-style, vintage-vibe cover collects them all. And yes, it’s the second Math Monahan cover in this particular roundup.

When I think of sinkholes and voids, it’s not a melted popsicle of colors. I also don’t think of upside down mountains, nor fonts that look as though they’re dancing. I don’t think of a neat semi-circle helping balance out an image, nor do I think of straight lines holding it all together.

There is a LOT going on in this cover and yet, it is harmonious.

This is an unapologetically Black and queer collection of short stories, and for that, there could be no better cover. There’s a sense of wildness here that makes this cover burst with energy, even though our cover character–half person, half wolf–is stationary and exudes a sense of ease and relaxedness. Perhaps it’s the melty title? Maybe it’s the 70s-inspired colors going on? The whole package is unique and wildly appealing.

Chou’s latest release tells a series of stories about storytelling, and frankly, the eerie, shadowy, and yet vibrantly neon cover could not better capture the possibility that exists in telling and hearing stories. The cover speaks of possibility and does so while feeling just a little bit unsettled.

This cover is by Aleia Murawski, who also did the outstanding cover for Chou’s novel Disorientation…and maybe that’s the perfect word here, too. This cover is just disorienting enough to beg you as a reader to want to know more.