6 Spooky Short Stories For Hallowe'en
photo by nona limmen
‘Tis the season for scary stories!
The nights are drawing in. On evening walks bats whirl under the streetlamps like wind-whipped leaves and I scurry past “haunted” spots like the Hodler’s Bush. Carved pumpkins line the window sill and I find myself reaching for dark folktales and gothic playlists. Sometimes I wish spooky season would last just a wee bit longer…
As I research and write my next short story collection, Fireside Magic, I’ve been looking to horror fiction and films for inspiration. Anything relating to witches, magic or the supernatural is on my list, and it seems like an uncanny fate that I’m writing this darker sequel to Fireside Fairy Tales during the chilly, black nights of October.
Fireside Magic takes inspiration from Scottish folk belief, witchcraft, and Celtic mythology. Although all the stories (so far) have a contemporary setting, I’ve been delving into records of the Scottish Witch Trials and King James VI’s compendium of the black arts Daemonologie.
The overlap between fairy belief and witchcraft is fascinating, and you can see where the church attempted to demonise Scotland’s ancient beliefs in druidism and nature worship. They never wholly succeeded. To this day there are ‘fairy stones’ in fields which farmer’s plough around rather than dig up. Many modern Hallowe’en customs in Scotland such as carving neeps (turnips) into lanterns, dookin’ for apples and guising (dressing in disguise) are rooted in Celtic ritual and born of a need to banish bad spirits.
Anyway, I’m digressing! Despite the witchy theme of Fireside Magic and my penchant for the Gothic, I don’t read a lot of out-and-out horror stories. Therefore, this Hallowe’en I’ve been on the hunt for truly terrifying tales. I’ve shared six of my favourite horror short stories below, which you can read for free.
Some of these are more creepy than scary, but each one has a chilling element that’s perfect for Hallowe’en and spooky season in general. I’ve paired them with the beguiling and Gothic photographs of Nona Limmen, one of my favourite artists. Her work is haunting, witchy and wildly feminine - perfect for Hallowe’en (or any time of the year!).
Grab an autumnal beverage of your choice, dim the lights, curl up and prepare to feel shivers run down your spine!
photo by @nonalimmen
Sredni Vashtar went forth,
His thoughts were red thoughts and his teeth were white.
His enemies called for peace, but he brought them death.
Sredni Vashtar the Beautiful.
Not only my favourite scary story on this list but my favourite short story full stop. A sickly boy, a ferret-god, the dark pagan overtones and the feral kinship between children and animals exacting revenge on the conservative, respectable adult world is dark, delicious perfection!
photo by @nonalimmen
An interactive horror comic that feels like one of those old, creepy fairy tales that lure you away from the safety of the path and into the depths of the dark forest.
photo by nonalimmen
A charlatan medium accidentally conjures something truly supernatural. The building tension in this story had me on tenterhooks, and the descriptions of demonic possession are beautiful, visceral and eerie. (Maybe it’s just me but demonic possession really gets under my skin…)
You can read more of Donyae Coles’ horror fiction for free at her website. I love her haunting, poetic style and can’t wait to delve into more of her stories while the nights are dark and long.
photo by nona limmen
Beautiful? Grim? Tender? Horrifying?
Cillian falls in love with a two-thousand-year-old bog girl, the love of his life! Until she wakes up…
The language in this story reeled me into a swampy, dark place of desiccated flesh and the dire mismatch between dreams and reality.
It took me a while to realise that Karen Russell is the author who wrote St Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised By Wolves, which I loved as a teenager desperate for more Angela Carter type stories!
photo by nonalimmen
Robert Holdstock is one of my favourite fantasy authors, best known for the Mythago Wood Cycle. He also wrote lots of short stories, most of which have that eerie, British folk atmosphere. I still vividly remember his creepy take on selkies in ‘The Silvering’ but couldn’t find it online to link to.
Scarrowfell is just as good, dripping in Celtic lore, its uncanny atmosphere and heavy folk symbolism reminded me of the cult classic film The Wicker Man.
photo by nona limmen
I had to include another dark fairy tale from Emily Carroll because I find her blending of art and words so hypnotic. I love how this short story plays with Prince Charming and instead of a princess, we have a creepy, sea-dwelling maiden (if you read folklore you know that water deities are rarely good news).
This short story is subtitled ‘a romance’ but do not be fooled, the end is quite disturbing. You’ve been warned!
photo by nona limmen
May I include my own free spooky short story as a bonus?
We’re coming full circle a wee bit, as this one’s inspired by that half-wild, fey quality children often possess, which easily links them to the supernatural. And I can never resist calling upon Scottish folklore to lace a story with darkness.
In this campfire tale, the fairy world has its eye on young Mary, who questions whether she belongs with Granny and her nomadic family, or the beguiling Hollowman who is always hunger for another story...
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Well, which Hallowe’en short story did you find the scariest?
I’ll admit that I’m a total wimp. I can’t watch horror films and couldn’t work up the courage to browse r/nosleep. Yet for some reason, ghost stories and tales of the supernatural are catnip to me, even if that means I’ll be afraid to go to the bathroom at night for weeks. I remember reading Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde at home, in broad daylight, with my mum ironing in the background and being utterly terrified.
What was the last story you had to read with the light on?
p.s. There’s a story that didn’t make the official list – The Ash of Memory, The Dust of Desire by Poppy Z. Brite. It made me feel queasy and sad. The writing is masterful, the conclusion gory. Explicit, adult and unsettling, it’s haunted a dark corner of my brain since reading it and for that reason, I feel I should include it because it’s the most chilling horror story I’ve read this Hallowe’en.