What Makes a Great Story?

Have you ever read or heard a truly engaging story? Have you tuned into some television show you couldn't stop watching? What makes the roller coaster ride of a story so thrilling to us?

Well, every great story begins with a prologue that sets the stage and the characters into motion. In order for us to truly be sucked in, the narrator must build a backstory, sometimes with exposition, that connects the audience emotionally to the characters and establishes the themes. Each additional word then slowly thickens the plot and revs the action up until it peaks at some climax; on the way down, the reader or listener fully experiences every jarring twist and red herring the storyline has to offer. Unfortunately, some tales crash and burn, perhaps by leaving the audience in a suspended state of disbelief. But the stories that manage to captivate our attention and make it past the lake of "unresolved subplots" to their final destinations can be a rewarding and entertaining ride!
 
What's your all-time favorite story? Personally, I'd have to go with the Princess Bride How can you go wrong with comedy and adventure, mystical forests, jolly giants, and shrieking eels, not to mention badly written true love?
 
comic via incidentalcomics