Horror Fiction Short Stories

We each inhabit many worlds, often at the same time. From worlds on the inside to the world on a cosmic scale. Worlds imposed on us, and worlds of our own making. In time, though, all worlds will end. With Skidding Into Oblivion, his fifth collection, award-winning author Brian Hodge brings together his most concentrated assortment yet. It includes all of the best picks and awards finalists. All stories have one thing in common: It’s the end of the world as we know it, and we don’t feel fine at all.

This newly discovered story by literary legend Sylvia Plath stands on its own and is remarkable for its symbolic, allegorical approach to a young woman’s rebellion against convention and forceful taking of control of her own life.

A man determined to kill a clown. A child's eleventh birthday heralds the arrival of a bizarre new entourage. A suicidal performer just can't seem to die. All of these weird marvels and more can be found at the Nightmare Carnival!

The Road Virus Heads North tracks an author who buys a creepy painting at a yard sale which was painted by a metal-head neighbor just before he committed suicide.

Fans of cosmic horror will have much to sup on in these eight tales. The supernatural intrudes upon a wedding; a pier becomes the site of tragedy; a collapsed building is only the start of the nightmare for those trapped in the ruins; a scientist makes the discovery of a lifetime, only to find out that what he’s unearthed has dire consequences not only for himself, but for all of mankind.

Detectives Milton and Blackwood are tired of “the weird stuff”, but at the old pumpkin farm they discover that the weird stuff isn’t done with them…. Thomas, realizing too late that today is his girlfriend’s birthday, is about to be helped out of his predicament by a precocious little girl with a terrible secret.… Danny Miller is a tiny kid that doesn’t take kindly to bullies. When things take a sudden turn for the deadly, nothing will stop him from getting his revenge. Lucky for him, he’s got a friend like Billy…

Dark Ride is a collection of short fiction by one of the brightest writers in the genres of horror and dark fantasy. These stories range from the horrific to the surreal, and prove Michael Laimo to be a compelling stylist and relentless storyteller. None have been collected previously, and some are original to this volume.

A masterful anthology featuring 19 pieces of short fiction, Growing Things is an exciting glimpse into Paul Tremblay's fantastically fertile imagination. From global catastrophe to the demons inside our heads, Tremblay illuminates our primal fears and darkest dreams in startlingly original fiction that leaves us unmoored. As he lowers the sky and yanks the ground from beneath our feet, we are compelled to contemplate the darkness inside our own hearts and minds.

The Collection, Volume 2 contains the following 17 terrifying stories from Bentley Little's The Collection: "Monteith", "Paperwork", "Pillow Talk", "Roommates", "Skin", "The Baby", "The Idol", "The Mailman", "The Man in the Passenger Seat", "The Murmurous Haunt of Files", "The Phonebook Man", "The Pond", "The Potato", "The Sanctuary", "The Show", "The Washingtonians", "The Woods Be Dark".

In this deliciously strange debut collection, Leon Craig draws on folklore and gothic horror in refreshingly inventive ways to explore queer identity, love, power and the complicated nature of being human. In the 13 darkly audacious stories of Parallel Hells, we meet a golem, made of clay, learning that its powers far exceed its Creator's expectations; a ruined mansion which grants the secret wishes of a group of revellers and a notorious murderer who discovers her Viking husband is not what he seems.

For more than three decades, Ellen Datlow has been at the center of horror. Bringing you the most frightening and terrifying stories, Datlow always has her finger on the pulse of what horror readers crave. Now, with the tenth volume of the series, Datlow is back again to bring you the stories that will keep you up at night. Included in the pages of The Best Horror of the Year have been such illustrious writers as Neil Gaiman, Kim Stanley Robinson, Stephen King, Linda Nagata, Laird Barron, and many others.

If you like scary stories, you’ve come to the right place! Over 80 tales of terror told in a true story style that will send shivers down your spine.

Doors of Darkness II: Trick or Treat contains 27 short stories loosely connected on Pike Street during the 80s at Halloween.

First published in the US in 1988 and in the UK in 1990, The Wine-Dark Sea contains eight unsettling stories that explore protagonists' fears and desires, at once illogical and terrifying, and culminate in a disturbing and enigmatic ending. Aickman's "strange stories" (his preferred term for them) are a subtle exploration of psychological displacement and paranoia; his characters ordinary people that are gradually drawn into the darker recesses of their own minds. For fans of the horror genre, Robert Aickman is a must read.

Adolescence is a time of "firsts." First kiss. First love. First loss. First job. And in this case, a very different type of "first": murder. This short story collection of murder mysteries adds a sinister spin to the joy and pain of firsts that have always been a major part of life, whether it be high school cliques who take the term "backstabbing" too seriously, stumbling upon a body on the way home from school, or receiving a Snapchat message that promises something deadly.

Three magical romances set in the contemporary English countryside and the fight for good versus evil....

“Sink your teeth in” (People) to the scariest, hungriest, undeadliest collection of vampire tales ever assembled—with stories from Stephen King, Dan Simmons, Bram Stoker, and many more.

Two frightening psychological thrillers, as only Willow Rose can deliver it. Better Watch Out: Some kids are scared of the dark, others of monsters living under their beds. Some are even afraid of clowns. None of those things scare Sara. But she is terrified of one man who comes to her house every year in the middle of the night. The Bird: When five-year-old Winnie finds a little bird that is hurt, she wants to take it in and take care of it. Her mother is reluctant. She is terrified of birds. As she rightfully should be.

Two horrifying psychological thrillers from the Queen of Scream, all-star best-selling author Willow Rose. Mommy Dearest: When Crystal meets her future mother-in-law for the first time, she is excited. She knows it might be a challenge to have her live with them for an entire month, but still. It’s an old woman we’re talking about here. How much trouble can she cause? Chain Letter: They received a letter. They dismissed it as a prank, but as they soon will learn you never...ever ignore a chain letter.

This collection of 18 short tales, a novelette, and a short novel takes the listener inside the dark imagination of Elizabeth Engstrom, author of acclaimed horror classics like When Darkness Loves Us. In these stories, you will hear about a woman asked to be complicit in her own mother’s death, a grandmother with a macabre hobby, a bizarre, phallic-shaped flower that portends evil for a married couple, a father whose son is caught up in a sinister government experiment. These are weird and unsettling tales that will linger with the listener.