I wanted to do something a little different from my usual Thursday Book Thoughts. In honor of spooky season, I want to share some of my favorite creepy short stories! Rather than a book, short stories are typically quick to read, but are still quick to pack a punch.

Now, one of the creepiest (and arguably grossest) stories is called I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison. This story follows 5 humans who are stuck in a torturous existence. Their torturer, AM (basically an evil computer type of dude), has them trapped in a never-ending existence. It’s creepy and disturbing. The story is told by Ted (one of the humans), and his inner monologue.

Ellison does a beautiful job creating gore and horror and twisting it into the future. I felt it serves as a warning for technologies impact on humanity. It’s kind of on the same line of if you’re scared of Robots taking over one day… this is probably going to give you the chills. While I won’t spoil the ending, it is worth the read if you can stomach some of the grotesque images your mind might create.

The next short story is a classic that I’m assuming many people have read or at least heard of. It is the tried and true, The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe. It was one of the first things I had ever read by Poe, and one I will continue to reread every year. Dear Fortunato has trusted his friend (and his drinks) too much on a night of festivities. He finds himself coughing, drinking, and walking down a long, damp vault to drink more wine. If you haven’t read the story before, you’d think his friend is caring as he’s constantly asking Fortunato if he’d like to go back for the sake of his cough.

Hate to break it to you: he’s not that good of a friend.

Fortunato’s fate is sealed indefinitely by the sound of a jingle.

The final one I’ve recently been spooked by is called The Waxwork by A.M. Burrage. The basic concept is wax figures in the night.

Picture yourself sitting in a room, a dim light, and freaky infamous, murderous wax figures. A big no thank you from me, but continuing on… this is the situation of the main character Mr. Hewson.

I got chills as I read this one. It’s not very long, but it is perfect if you’re looking for a spine tingling read.

I’d love to hear some of your favorite creepy, haunting, spine-tingling, fall stories! Happy Spooky Season!

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