“Frontier Death Song” by Laird Barron (2012)ĭid you honestly think this list wouldn’t contain at least one Laird Barron story? Puh-leaze.ġ0. There’s no way this wouldn’t be included on the list. Barringer and Gemma Files (2010)Įasily one of the best stories I’ve ever read. “each thing i show you is a piece of my death” by Stephen J. My first George Saunders story but definitely not my last. Prisoners being experimented on by shady government officials. A hell of a blend of horror and science fiction. “Escape from Spiderhead” by George Saunders (2010) One of its several definitions went something like, “a youth, particularly a homosexual one, kept by a tramp.” So there’d been a time and place in which tramps commonly kept boys for sexual purposes-so commonly that there was a word for it? I immediately wanted to set a story there, and to tell it from the point of view of a gunsel.įrom there I jumped to Hansel and Gretel simply because “gunsel” sounded similar to “Hansel.” Most of the energy of a short story comes from the challenge of fitting two disparate things together, and the idea of cramming a gunsel into the structure of “Hansel and Gretel” certainly gave off sparks for me.ġ3. What drew me to “Hansel and Gretel” was a Yiddish word, “gunsel,” that I happened upon in the dictionary. From the author in a Nightmare Magazine interview: Prepare yourself for the most fucked-up reimagining of “Hansel and Gretel” you’ve ever read. I dare you to read this without letting it consume you with dread. Joe Hill and Paul Tremblay recently described this as “The Ultimate Halloween Story” and it’s hard to disagree with them. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates (1966) Sharing the same morbid dark humor as Re-Animator, this short story deals with life after death, mad scientists, and vengeful wives. You may be surprised to learn that he also wrote his share of adult horror stories, and “William and Mary” might be one of his best. Most people recognize Roald Dahl’s name from the many fantastical children’s books he penned throughout the second half of the twentieth century. I love all of her work, but this one here takes the cake. With an ending that’ll leave you feeling haunted years after reading it, Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is pretty much perfect. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor (1953) “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson (1948)Ī classic! Even if you haven’t read it, you probably already know the twist.
I love the story so much I even reprinted it in my anthology, Lost Signals, but you can read it for free over on Wikisource.ġ8. “The Night Wire” deals with two graveyard-shift radio operators and a strange, unknown town in the process of being swallowed by fog. Try googling the author, you’re not going to find much information about him. Arnold except for the fact that he wrote what is considered one of the most famous stories ever to be published in Weird Tales. Go insane with its tortured narrator and read it here.ġ9. This is probably one of the most reprinted horror stories of all time, and for good reason. “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892) And hey, maybe buy a couple of the books linked below each entry. You have no excuse not to take a look at every single one of these. They’re sure to send a shiver down your spine - just don't blame me when you have trouble sleeping tonight (or ever again).It’s Halloween, so let’s celebrate by reading some spooky stories available online for free. Here are just a few of the most chilling, hair-raising stories that you can read online, from your very own phone, computer, or haunted looking glass. The works listed below range from classic horror stories that have haunted multiple generations to new, supremely uncanny creations written expressly for the internet. You’ll find tales of creepy dolls and unsettling wigs, of doppelgängers and and bodies found in bogs. Some of the finest horror authors around have their terrifying short stories available online for your reading pleasure, should you dare to delve in. These aren’t just creepypasta tales from the depths of Reddit, either.
But why limit that feeling to one measly month out of the calendar year? Why can’t everyone enjoy constant scares year-round? After all, the night is dark and full of terrors, and the internet is vast and full of horror stories - horror stories that you can read online, for free, right now. Look, everyone loves Halloween, what with all the pumpkins and the ghosties and the sheer terror lying in wait around ever corner.