This is a compiled list of some of my favorite pieces of short horror fiction, ranging from classics to modern-day horror, and includes links to where the full story can be read for free. Please be aware that any of these stories may contain subject matter you find disturbing, offensive, or otherwise distressing. Exercise caution when reading. Image art is from Scarecrow: Year One.
PSYCHOLOGICAL: tense, dread-inducing horror that preys upon the human psyche and aims to frighten on a mental or emotional level.
“The Frolic” by Thomas Ligotti, 1989
“Button, Button” by Richard Matheson, 1970
“89.1 FM” by Jimmy Juliano, 2015
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1892
“Death at 421 Stockholm Street“ by C.K. Walker, 2016
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1973
“An Empty Prison” by Matt Dymerski, 2018
“A Suspicious Gift” by Algernon Blackwood, 1906
CURSED: stories concerning characters afflicted with a curse, either by procuring a plagued object or as punishment for their own nefarious actions.
“How Spoilers Bleed” by Clive Barker, 1991
“A Warning to the Curious” by M.R. James, 1925
“each thing i show you is a piece of my death” by Stephen J. Barringer and Gemma Files, 2010
“The Road Virus Heads North” by Stephen King, 1999
“Ring Once for Death” by Robert Arthur, 1954
“The Mary Hillenbrand Cassette“ by Jimmy Juliano, 2016
“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, 1902
MONSTERS: tales of ghouls, creeps, and everything in between.
“The Curse of Yig” by H.P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop, 1929
“The Oddkids” by S.M. Piper, 2015
“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” by Richard Matheson
“The Graveyard Rats” by Henry Kuttner, 1936
“Tall Man” by C.K. Walker, 2016
“The Quest for Blank Claveringi“ by Patricia Highsmith, 1967
“The Showers” by Dylan Sindelar, 2012
CLASSICS: terrifying fiction written by innovators of literary horror.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843
“The Interlopers” by Saki, 1919
“The Statement of Randolph Carter“ by H.P. Lovecraft, 1920
“The Damned Thing” by Ambrose Pierce, 1893
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving, 1820
“August Heat” by W.F. Harvey, 1910
“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843
SUPERNATURAL: stories varying from spooky to sober, featuring lurking specters, wandering souls, and those haunted by ghosts and grief.
“Nora’s Visitor” by Russell R. James, 2011
“The Pale Man” by Julius Long, 1934
“A Collapse of Horses” by Brian Evenson, 2013
“The Jigsaw Puzzle” by J.B. Stamper, 1977
“The Mayor Will Make A Brief Statement and then Take Questions” by David Nickle, 2013
“The Night Wire” by H.F. Arnold, 1926
“Postcards from Natalie” by Carrie Laben, 2016
UNSETTLING: fiction that explores particularly disturbing topics, such as mutilation, violence, and body horror. Not recommended for readers who may be offended or upset by graphic content.
“Survivor Type” by Stephen King, 1982
“I’m On My Deathbed So I’m Coming Clean…” by M.J. Pack, 2018
“In the Hills, the Cities” by Clive Barker, 1984
“The New Fish” by T.W. Grim, 2013
“The Screwfly Solution” by Racoona Sheldon, 1977
“In the Darkness of the Fields” by Ho_Jun, 2015
“The October Game” by Ray Bradbury, 1948
“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison, 1967
HAPPY READING, HORROR FANS!
I’ve been doing some reading and have more stories to add:
PSYCHOLOGICAL:
“Paradise Pine” by C.K. Walker, 2016
“Suffer the Little Children” by Stephen King, 1972
“Rocking Horse Creek” by C.K. Walker, 2016
“The Ledge” by Stephen King, 1978
“Ted the Caver” by Ted, 2001
“The Fly-paper” by Elizabeth Taylor, 1969
CURSED:
“The Reaper’s Image” by Stephen King, 1969
“Correspondence” by Bloodstains, 2011
“Casting the Runes” by M.R. James, 1911
“The Dionaea House” by Eric Heisserer, 2004
“1408″ by Stephen King, 1999
“Stinson Beach” by Walter Smith, 2011
MONSTERS:
“The Crawlers” by Jimmy Juliano, 2014
“Pickman’s Model” by H.P. Lovecraft, 1927
“Dollhouse” by C.K. Walker, 2016
“I Love My Grandparents’ Fireplace” by Rona Vaselaar, 2016
“Click-clack the Rattlebag“ by Neil Gaiman, 2015
CLASSICS:
“Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” by M.R. James, 1904
“The Voice in the Night” by William Hope Hodgson, 1907
“The Cask of Amontillado“ by Edgar Allan Poe, 1847
“A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury, 1952
“Cool Air” by H.P. Lovecraft, 1928
SUPERNATURAL:
“It Was a Different Time” by Cymoril Melnibone, 2018
“The Testament of Magdalen Blair” by Aleister Crowley, 1929
“Instructions for the Babysitter” by CR Jones, 2018
“The Hand” by Guy de Maupassant, 1880
“63 Years Ago” by Jake Healey, 2016
UNSETTLING:
“Window” by Bob Leman, 1980
“No Matter Which Way We Turned” by Brian Evenson, 2016
“The M Show Fan Club” by lenalona, 2013
“The Dune” by Stephen King, 2011
“Jacqueline Ess: Her Will And Testament“ by Clive Barker, 1984
“The Judge” by Rona Vaselaar, 2015
ENJOY!
Here’s some more stories I’ve enjoyed, bringing the list total to 125 scary tales:
PSYCHOLOGICAL:
“Nightcrawlers” by Robert R. Mccammon, 1984
“Burn” by C.K. Walker, 2016
“Examination Day” by Henry Slesar, 1958
“Miriam” by Truman Capote, 1945
“To See the Invisible Man” by Robert Silverberg, 1979
“A Conversation with a Stranger on the Bus” by C.M., 2019
“The Man Who Loved Flowers” by Stephen King, 1977
“Paleontologists Were We” by C.K. Walker, 2016
CURSED:
“The Hourglass Tattoo” by The Dead Canary, 2019
“I Uncovered the Disturbing Truth Behind a Haunted Film…” by Joel Farrelly, 2015
“Moomaw’s Curses” by Pippinacious, 2017
“A Curse is Killing My Friends and I’m Next” by Zamil Akhtar, 2017
“The Cat From Hell” by Stephen King, 1977
“I’ve Been Getting Strange Letters from the St. Louis Prison” by Andrew Harmon, 2015
“The Ash-tree” by M.R. James, 1904
MONSTERS:
“The Midnight Meat Train” by Clive Barker, 1984
“Recluse” by Jimmy Juliano, 2016
“The Raft” by Stephen King, 1982
“Mr. Widemouth” by perfectcircle35, 2010
“The Beast of Averoigne” by Clark Ashton Smith, 1932
“Graveyard Shift” by Stephen King, 1970
“The Puppet in the Tree” by Dopabeane, 2018
“The Autopsy” by Michael Shea, 1980
CLASSICS:
“The Triumph of Night” by Edith Wharton, 1914
“Specialty of the House” by Stanley Ellin, 1956
“The Oval Portrait” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1842
“The Mezzotint” by M.R. James, 1904
“The Occupant of the Room” by Algernon Blackwood, 1917
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, 1966
“The Waxwork” by A.M. Burrage, 1931
“The Terrible Old Man” by H.P. Lovecraft, 1920
SUPERNATURAL:
“The Stillwood King” by Kris Straub, 2008
“She’s Gotten One Step Closer Every Night…” by Nick Botic, 2018
“Beauty” by Robert R. Mccammon, 1990
“My Girlfriend Talks in Her Sleep…” by Ryan Matthews, 2018
“The Everlasting Club” by Arthur Gray, 1910
“Char” by C.K. Walker, 2016
“The River Styx Runs Upstream” by Dan Simmons, 1981
“Lemon Blossom Girl” by Kris Straub, 2008
“How to Summon the Butter Street Hitchhiker” by Chris Hicks, 2018
UNSETTLING:
“Soft” by F. Paul Wilson, 1984
“The Taxidermied Child” by Tobias Wade, 2019
“It’s a Good Life” by Jerome Bixby, 1953
“Magnum Opus” by C.K. Walker, 2016
“Something Passed By” by Robert R. McCammon, 1990
“The Stretching Party” by Nick Botic, 2018
“Incident On and Off a Mountain Road” by Joe R. Lansdale, 1991
“Other People” by Neil Gaiman, 2001
HAVE FUN!
