Spooky short stories
September 26, 2024 12:30 AM Subscribe
Help me find the best spooky autumn-themed short stories that are short enough to be read aloud in one sitting.
Every autumn we do this thing where we go into a swamp overnight to catch autumn vibes and read spooky viby stories to each other. Previously we've had great success with Neil Gaimans October in a Chair and some folk tales like Yallary Brown. Please recommend me other stories to read that aren't gory but rather folk-spooky.
Every autumn we do this thing where we go into a swamp overnight to catch autumn vibes and read spooky viby stories to each other. Previously we've had great success with Neil Gaimans October in a Chair and some folk tales like Yallary Brown. Please recommend me other stories to read that aren't gory but rather folk-spooky.
Hard to beat The Telltale Heart.
posted by MetaFilter World Peace at 3:25 AM on September 26 [2 favorites]
posted by MetaFilter World Peace at 3:25 AM on September 26 [2 favorites]
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson
posted by Marky at 4:35 AM on September 26 [3 favorites]
posted by Marky at 4:35 AM on September 26 [3 favorites]
Seconding M.R. James. Perhaps The Tractate Middoth, which starts "Towards the end of an autumn afternoon..." and ends with spiders.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:15 AM on September 26 [3 favorites]
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:15 AM on September 26 [3 favorites]
These two from Stephen King are wonderfully spooky, and not at all gory or gross as you might expect from King:
- "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" from the collection Skeleton Crew
- "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French" from the collection Everything's Eventual but also available online
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce is one of my favorites, too.
And this is a slightly sideways answer, but there's an anthology called Tiny Nightmares that's nothing but very short-to-very very short horror stories, many of which fit the folk-spooky requirement.
posted by rhiannonstone at 1:50 PM on September 26 [1 favorite]
- "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut" from the collection Skeleton Crew
- "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French" from the collection Everything's Eventual but also available online
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce is one of my favorites, too.
And this is a slightly sideways answer, but there's an anthology called Tiny Nightmares that's nothing but very short-to-very very short horror stories, many of which fit the folk-spooky requirement.
posted by rhiannonstone at 1:50 PM on September 26 [1 favorite]
Mod note: Oooh, we're excited to see what members suggest, so we've added this post to the sidebar and Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:32 AM on September 27
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:32 AM on September 27
Here’s the Project Gutenberg bookshelf for horror.
Scroll a bit for collections from M.R. James, Algernon Blackwood, plus some anthologies.
posted by notyou at 7:31 AM on September 27
Scroll a bit for collections from M.R. James, Algernon Blackwood, plus some anthologies.
posted by notyou at 7:31 AM on September 27
And here are several horror stories from Gutenberg I collected and reformatted on my dopey website.
Ambrose Bierce’s That Damned Thing is a good one. Kinda long, though.
posted by notyou at 7:45 AM on September 27
Ambrose Bierce’s That Damned Thing is a good one. Kinda long, though.
posted by notyou at 7:45 AM on September 27
When I was young I loved the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. I believe it's a compilation of folk-style tales, and I don't remember it as being too gory (as I wouldn't have enjoyed that). Don't know how it holds up now, but it might be worth a look?
posted by departure lounge at 8:26 AM on September 28
posted by departure lounge at 8:26 AM on September 28
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posted by Balthamos at 2:32 AM on September 26 [6 favorites]