Seven Spooky Short Stories from Yesteryear
As the nights draw in and the mist begins to fall, you might be inclined to stay at home and curl up with a good story. And what would be a more fitting choice than a spooky tale?
Of course, there are many novels to choose from, but short stories have a lot to offer too — they are ideal for reading aloud by candlelight to a group of friends, and they fit so well into that period just before you switch off the light and settle into bed.
So, throw another log on the fire and pour a warming drink or pull the bedclothes about you and enjoy a spine-chilling short story or two (or seven!) from the past masters of the genre. With examples from Poe to Edith Wharton via Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this selection spans the Golden Age of creepy short fiction.
- “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. Published in 1843.
Poe was an American writer who penned many tales of mystery and the macabre. “The Tell-Tale Heart” is one of his shortest. In this gothic horror story, the narrator lives with an old man who he believes plagues him with an “evil eye”. What will the narrator do to rid himself of the nervous torment he suffers?
- “The Signalman” by Charles Dickens. Published in 1866.
Dickens wrote several supernatural short stories for magazines. “The Signalman” is considered one of his best. In it, a railway signalman is disturbed by a strange figure who appears on the tracks near his signal box and seems to be sending him a warning. When a visitor strikes up an acquaintance with the haunted signalman, his tale unfolds and comes to a horrifying conclusion.
- “The Boarded Window” by Ambrose Bierce. Published in 1891.
Bierce was an American writer who wrote more than fifty supernatural and disquieting short stories. “The Boarded Window” is a story imbued with horror with a twist in the tale.
A frontiersman called Murlock lived the life of a recluse following his wife’s death. Eventually Murlock dies too, but his log cabin remains empty with its sole window boarded up. The local children believe the place is haunted. But what happened in this lonely spot?
- “Playing with Fire” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Published in 1900.
The Scottish author Arthur Conan Doyle needs no introduction, but how many know of his tales of the supernatural?
Conan Doyle was, in fact, deeply interested in psychical research and spiritualism and attended many séances. In “Playing with Fire”, he showcases his knowledge of the séance process. A group gathers to speak to the spirits, but their circle conjures up something wholly unexpected.
- “Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” by M. R. James. Published in 1904.
Acknowledged by most as one of the finest supernatural fiction writers, the English author Montague Rhodes James wrote many short stories, which he would read to gatherings of undergraduates and friends in his study at Cambridge.
“Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad” is a perennial favourite. In it, Professor Parkins leaves his college to spend a few days at the coast to catch up with some work and play golf. While investigating the site of an old Templar church, he finds a whistle inscribed with a Latin phrase, which he translates as “Who is this who is coming?” Parkins blows the whistle with terrifying consequences.
- “The Kit Bag” by Algernon Blackwood. Published in 1908.
Algernon Blackwood was a prolific short story writer who also narrated his stories on British radio and early television.
In “The Kit Bag”, Johnson, a young private secretary to a lawyer, is pleased that a particularly unpleasant murder case has concluded. He looks forward to going away for a well-earned rest and borrows a kitbag from his employer to take on a skiing holiday. It is a stout canvas bag and just what he needs to carry all his skiing kit, so why does Johnson feel so uneasy about it?
- “The Eyes” by Edith Wharton. Published in 1910.
Despite being unable to sleep in the same room as a book containing ghost stories in her youth, this Pulitzer Prize-winning author developed a penchant for supernatural fiction in adult life. She wrote several short stories in that genre for magazines — although the tales often work on more than one level.
“The Eyes” is one such story. In it, a group of men tell each other ghost stories around the fire in the oak-walled library of their host, Andrew Culwin. When Culwin himself is asked to contribute, he tells a chilling tale.
So go on. Click on a title and give one of these shorts a try.