5 Scary Short Stories

When you need something short and sweet. This is one of our favorite short stories of horror and suspense.

The Landlady
Roald Dahl

Nothing sent as much of a shiver as a child than reading Roald Dahls “The witches”. In “The Landlady”, we meet 17 year old Billy. He travels alone from London to Bath and stops at a small bed and breakfast. The hostess is a kind, older woman that gives him te and small talk. Little by little one can sense that the fact no one else is around, might have a more sinister explanation than at first thought.

The Lottery
Shirley Jackson

This is one of the short stories one doesn’t get the horror until we are at the end of the road. A small town have their annual lotteries and discussed among them who should start. But what is the lottery about?

The Grownup
Gillian Flynn

The writer behind “Gone Girl” and “Sharp Objects” published a short storiy that follows the same pattern were we simply cannot trust the narrator. Put it together with a haunted house, a demon child and a classical family drama, and we got ourselves a horror story.

The Turn of the Screw
Henry James

The story set in the gothic landscape on the country side in England. The story is told by a young guvernass that is employed to take care of the young niece and nephew to the absent master of the house. But their behaviour starts to spook her. Are they just pranksters or is there something more sinister that haunts them?

Children of the Corn
Stephen King

The king of horror of course has a couple of short stories that fill fill the horror appetite. And this is one of the more iconic ones. A couple is driving through some fields in Nebraska. The tension is built up the pricking in the neck will never tempt you on a road trip through deserted fields for a long time.